February 25, 2017

Ross credits TNT series for SMB's Game 1 victory

The San Miguel Beermen took the first game of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals by a blowout win against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 109-82. Both teams came out from Game 7 victories in the semifinals, but the Beermen showed no signs of fatigue coming into Game 1.

Last year’s Philippine Cup Finals MVP Chris Ross thinks that their series against TNT KaTropa toughened up his team.

“TNT really sharpened us. That is a really good team. They have all the tools to match up with us. They have the athletes and the shooters – they really sharpened us for this,” said Ross.

The Beermen came out with the best record in the eliminations at 10-1, dropping just one game, before bowing down to TNT twice after their Game 1 semis win.

“We only lost one game in the elimination, so coming into the playoffs, we were in a high horse and when TNT beat us twice in a row and put us in a brink, it really lighted the fire under us,” said Ross.

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For Ross, the team’s maturity is a factor on how they are able to recover from back-to-back losses. The experience, he notes, helps them come out with a winning mentality heading into the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

“It was good to see how we responded because when you lose two in a row – you don’t know how some of the guys and the coaches respond. We responded well even if we are on the brink twice. We are close in going down 3-1 and then we were down 3-2, we just saw the result that our guys have and how hungry we are to get this third in a row.”

The Beermen will try to take a 2-0 advantage over Ginebra as the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Finals travels to Lucena City, Sunday, February 26, 6:30pm at the Quezon Convention Center.

Story by: Ernest Hernandez
Photo by: Peter Baltazar