San Miguel Beer is only four wins away from an unprecedented fifth straight PBA Philippine Cup championship.
That’s after the defending champion booked a return trip to the finals in the All-Filipino conference after dominating its rugged best-of-seven semifinals series with semis newbie Phoenix Pulse, 4-2.
The Beermen made a strong statement that they are still the standard in the league as they defend their crown. They wrapped up their semis tussle with the Fuel Masters last Thursday night in Game 5, 105-94.
Looking forward to what lies ahead, San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria wants to keep his team’s approach simple.
“I’m positive that we learned a lot from previous series and we can carry it along,” said Austria. “I hope we could sustain our momentum in the finals.”
Austria and his wards are now on a very brief break following a grueling three-week stretch that saw them conquer TNT KaTropa in the quarterfinals and Phoenix in the semis in exhausting playoffs.
Now, the Beermen await their challenger in the big stage.
They can either have a rematch of last year’s finals with Magnolia or a fresh challenge from Rain or Shine.
Ahead 3-2, the Hotshots are trying to take the last finals berth as they look to finish off the Elasto Painters in Game 6 of their series, which is happening as of press time.
San Miguel handled Magnolia, 4-1, in last season’s Philippine Cup finale to win its fourth straight crown.