San Miguel vows to go hard vs Ginebra

They may be sister teams, but don’t expect San Miguel Beer to take it easy when it battles Barangay Ginebra in the best-of-seven semifinals series of the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup starting tomorrow.

Beermen coach Jorge Gallent heaved a sigh of relief, saying that they can’t afford to relax following their razor-thin victory over Converge in Game 5 of the best-of-five quarterfinals late Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Beermen posted an early 2-0 series lead but the FiberXers erased the deficit through sheer hard work and determination.

In Game 5, the Beermen were on the brink of a massive disaster but eight-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo caught fire to lead them to a 109-105 win that sent them to the next round against the dangerous Kings.

Fajardo had a monster night with 40 points and 24 rebounds as San Miguel completed its heart-stopping escape for a 3-2 series victory.

“Well, when we played Converge, you know, it started with Games 3 and 4 when we started to relax and then we gave them an opportunity to come back,” Gallent said.

“So, we just can’t relax in any team we play.

“Converge was here for a reason. That’s why during the playoffs, we could not relax against them because it’s a pesky young team. So, you know, we had a hard time going back on defense and everything.”

Gallent said they are putting their messy quarterfinal campaign behind to start fresh against Ginebra — a well-coached and disciplined squad bannered by a veteran import in Justin Brownlee.

“This is back to zero. It’s a series, so it will be more on adjustments,” said Gallent, who is looking to squeeze more from import EJ Anosike, Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Jericho Cruz in a bid to put away the Kings and advance to the finals against the survivor of the other semifinal series between TNT Tropang Giga and Rain or Shine.

“Our last two games, none of that matters. It’s just the past. The best thing about this now, we start 0-0.”