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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider SMB refuses to be complacent even with perfect record: '8-0 is nothing'

SMB refuses to be complacent even with perfect record: '8-0 is nothing'

Published Apr 27, 2024 05:48 am

At A Glance

  • San Miguel is not sitting on its laurels even after enjoying a perfect 8-0 slate so far in its title-retention bid in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.

San Miguel is not sitting on its laurels even after enjoying a perfect 8-0 slate so far in its title-retention bid in the 2024 PBA Philippine Cup.

The Beermen became the first team to go undefeated through the first eight games in a decade after a 98-91 victory over last conference’s Finals rival Magnolia Hotshots last Friday, April 26 – a feat last achieved by the TNT Tropang Giga in 2014 when it went 13-0 in the Commissioner’s Cup.

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CJ Perez is looking at keeping the team's consistency in the coming games.

Despite the triumph, SMB refused to be complacent as the Beermen knew the rest of the field are more eager to put a dent to their spotless record.

“For sure iyong target nasa amin yon. 8-0 is nothing, kailangan naming maging consistent sa ginagawa namin sa practice at sa mga games,” said SMB star guard CJ Perez, who put up 25 points – none bigger than the last three he buried with 27 seconds left to douse a late Hotshots rally.

The winning run isn’t entirely a good sign for SMB as over the last 15 years, the four teams that won its first seven games ended up falling short of the title. Three of those four squads didn’t even reach the Finals according to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.

History, though, isn’t always against SMB as the last team to have won the title after a perfect start was actually the Beermen in the Fiesta Conference in 2009.

To be fair, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for SMB this conference.

The Beermen showed some semblance of vulnerability especially when they are having slow starts to their games, evident in the close win over Terrafirma and when it trailed big against Converge in the first half of their match.

“We just tend to be complacent about it but it's good that teams don't win in the first half. It’s good that we bounced back when we started bad in the past two games. At least going to the second half we just played San Miguel basketball,” said head coach Jorge Gallent.

SMB now only has two more games left in their eliminations assignment, first against NLEX on Sunday and Blackwater on Wednesday before closing it out against Meralco in an out-of-town game.

Related Tags

San Miguel Beermen PBA Philippine Cup
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