Chris Ross had been preaching to his teammates about sharing the ball back when he was sidelined by a knee injury. In his return to the San Miguel lineup, he made sure to lead by example by orchestrating the offense for the Beermen.
“It is kind of easy when you play on a team like this, you got so much talent and guys really bought in to our system,” said Ross who weaved his magic on the offensive end, dishing out 12 of SMB’s 33 assists in their 123-93 demolition of the Blackwater Bossing in the quarterfinals.
“I just preach to the guys, just pass the ball, the ball will find the right guys. When I came back, I wanted to make sure I was doing that too. It is harder to guard when the ball is moving like that. It showed,” added the veteran playmaker.
Ross said his injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Beermen who had several players stepping up for his absence. Guys like Robbie Herndon, Simon Enciso, CJ Perez, Paul Zamar and Jericho Cruz had their fair share of the spotlight in the eliminations that saw SMB seize the No.1 seed with a league-best 9-2 record.
“It was really a blessing in disguise that we got hurt because it gave everybody's confidence," added Ross.
With the Beermen already in the semifinals, Ross, who returned ahead of his initial schedule, is eager to help SMB regain its glory in the all-Filipino conference not just for him but also for the new players in their team.
“It is a bunch of guys that are hungry and want to win a championship. We have a lot of guys that have not won a championship,” Ross said.
“The guys have been left over – me, June Mar, Marcio – we pride ourselves on trying to help those guys achieve their goals and be successful.”