San Miguel head coach Leo Austria is liking the challenge brought by TNT in their best-of-seven Finals series of the PBA Philippine Cup.
After being on equal footing at 1-1, Austria, however, warned his wards that there should be no room for complacency against a "well-oiled machine" team, which played without its head tactician Chot Reyes.
Reyes is currently busy with his Gilas Pilipinas duties as the national team is all set for the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Friday, Aug. 26.
If there's one factor that Austria had to address, that would be the Beermen's tendency to relax in the second half which enabled the Tropang Giga to turn the tides in Game 1 last Aug. 21.
This time around in Game 2, San Miguel, behind the efforts of June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, and Vic Manuel, bounced back and made sure not to repeat the same mistakes as the Beermen eked out a 109-100 victory at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday, Aug. 24.
"Sinasabi ko sa kanila na lagi kaming lamang pagdating ng third quarter, nagre-relax kami. So nawawala 'yong killer instinct," said the eight-time PBA champion coach. "Mabuti na lang ngayon 'yong pride nila as a player at talagang nasundot nang kaunti.
"From start to finish, talagang very close. And then 'di sila bumitaw. Unlike 'pag lamang kami may tendecy mag-relax," he added.
Emphasizing that this is already a Finals series, the 64-year-old Austria said that it will be a herculean task to defeat a champion-caliber team in the Tropang Giga.
Austria also cited the lack of presence of TNT standout Mikey Williams, who, despite suiting up for 30 minutes, was limited to seven points on a 3-of-10 shooting.
"Swerte lang din kami dahil hindi gumawa si Mikey, siguro may dinaramdam 'yong incidecnt nung first quarter. Still, mahirap talunin ang TNT and I'm sure next game marami silang adjustments," said Austria. "On our part, we will see and try to figure out and tomorrow (Thursday) kapag pinanood na namin 'yong film."