Dose of own medicine

If San Miguel Beer captures the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, it won’t be because of the star-studded team overwhelming the depleted TNT Tropang 5G with its firepower.

Rather, it would be a story of head coach Leo Austria beating the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G in their own game.

The tournament’s top scoring team has given the defense-oriented TNT a dose of its own medicine in the best-of-seven finals series that the Beermen are in control of with a commanding 3-1 lead.

Defense has keyed in San Miguel’s three straight wins against a rival known to limit its opponents below their average output.

And the Beermen will definitely rely on making stops once again to finish off the Tropang 5G and hoist their 30th title overall — 11th in an all-Filipino conference — in Game 5 still being played of press time.

The statistics in the showdown’s first four encounters point to San Miguel outhustling TNT on the defensive end.

Even the controversial Game 1, which went the Tropang 5G’s way, showcased the Beermen’s defensive effort in overhauling a 24-point deficit. San Miguel could’ve completed an epic comeback if not for the crucial breaks of the game that favored TNT.

The Beermen’s pesky defense has yielded an average of 7.2 steals per game.

San Miguel also frustrated coach Chot Reyes and his crew as the Tropang 5G have been throwing the ball away with a norm of 17 turnovers per game. The Beermen are making a killing off TNT’s miscues by converting them to an average of 25 points per outing.

In Game 4 won by San Miguel, 105-91, last Sunday, the team kept Calvin Oftana scoreless in the first half and gave RR Pogoy a hard time on the field with a 4-of-12 shooting clip.

The Beermen also tightened their defensive screw on TNT’s shooters especially in the fourth quarter where they converted only two of 10 attempts after making nine in the first three periods.

“If you notice, Talk ‘N Text is shooting a lot from the three-pointer area. Actually, in their first two games, more than 50 percent of their shots came from the outside,” Austria said.

“So, we have to extend our defense from the perimeter,” he added.

It is calculated move by Austria in the series, as he is confident that driving lanes and shaded areas will be well defended with the likes of CJ Perez, Rodney Brondial Mo Tautuaa and behemoth June Mar Fajardo manning the area.

San Miguel’s defensive wall underneath, by design, forces TNT to take their shots beyond the arc.

“Because they know their big man at the post has minimal impact (on offense),” Austria said.

TNT averaged 26 inside points per game in the first four starts. San Miguel is dominating with a norm of 51.5 points.

“Maybe because that’s the philosophy of the coach. Every coach has a different philosophy. They are successful in that. But this is a championship game, and everyone has their own adjustments,” he added.

“I think our adjustments clicked.”

Austria has attributed the Beermen’s successful shift from being an offensive-minded team to a defense-oriented squad in the finals to the players’ flexibility and adaptability.

“I think most see us as a complete team. But there’s a lot of improvement from our team,” he said.

“We have to keep on improving. We cannot settle with just our current performance. We have to excel in some other departments. That’s how we compete. And we keep on learning every game.”