San Miguel seeks Finals return

“No, we’re not thinking of the championship yet. It will come, but we still have to do our job.

Defending champion San Miguel Beer guns for a return trip to the Finals as it battles Alaska in Game 3 of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five finals showdown today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Action fires off at 7 pm with the Beermen looking to sweep the Aces to march into the Finals for the fourth time in the last five conferences.

But for head coach Leo Austria, the battle is not yet over.

“No, we’re not thinking of the championship yet. It will come, but we still have to do our job,” said Austria, who is wary of a possible Alaska fightback.

“We’re not yet thinking of a sweep. But now that we have a chance to do it, it’s going to be a big advantage for us.”

Leading the Beermen’s bid for a sweep are June Mar Fajardo and import Renaldo Balkman, who wreaked havoc in the Beermen’s 105-94 come-from-behind victory in Game 2.

The 6-foot-10 Fajardo tallied 21 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two steals while Balkman racked up 31 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and a steal as the Beermen clawed their way back from a 16-point lead to win the crucial battle.

But the Aces will not just roll over and die.

Although Alaska coach Alex Compton admitted that San Miguel is the strongest team in the country, they will not go down without putting up a fight despite the absence of Calvin Abueva and Chris Banchero.

Abueva remains suspended while Banchero rushed to the United States for a family emergency.

“They got six championships in the last three years. I don’t think anybody has figured them out,” Compton said.

“But we’re going to fight again. We’re fighting a championship team and we’re missing some pieces, but we’re not going to fight.”

Compton said they may be crippled, but they will fight for pride.

“We’re going to play as hard because we can honor this game, honor the Alaska uniform and leave it all out there. We’re going to play with the same level of passion because there’s no other way to do it.”

With Abueva and Banchero out, import Diamon Sampson will have to perform hard and surpass his 19-point, 15-rebound output in Game 2.

Meanwhile, the league cancelled Game 2 of the other semifinal pairing between Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine yesterday due to inclement weather.

“Your PBA is cancelling its game today due to the floods and continuing inclement weather.

Safety, security of the fans, players and officials are always of utmost importance,” said Commissioner Willie Marcial in an official statement.

Game 2 has been moved to Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.