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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider PBA: Beermen get reality check

PBA: Beermen get reality check

Published Jun 6, 2019 12:00 am
by Waylon Galvez PBA's reigning five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo doesn’t deny it. San Miguel Beer wants to win the Grand Slam. “Lahat kami gusto manalo ng Grand Slam (We all want to win the Grand Slam),” Fajardo said Wednesday night when the Beermen debuted in the PBA Commissioner's Cup – the second title the franchise is aiming for this season to stay on track for the league's version for a Triple Crown. The team's campaign in the season's second conference, however, saw the SMB franchise sustain a humiliating 121-88 loss against the NorthPort Batang Pier at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer is double-teamed by Prince Ibeh and Paolo Taha of Northport Batang Pier. (PBA Images) June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer is double-teamed by Prince Ibeh and Paolo Taha of Northport Batang Pier. (PBA Images) Fajardo said that in a way, the setback to NorthPort gave the entire SMB team a needed reality check that aiming for a Grand Slam is a hard thing to do – a feat the franchise achieved in 1989. In the history of the PBA, San Miguel claimed the league’s third Grand Slam during the 1989 Season, which the team after the now defunct Crispa won the first two in 1976 and 1983. The last team to capture a Grand Slam was San Mig Super Coffee in 2014, after Alaska claimed its own 'Triple Crown' in 1996. This marks the 30th anniversary for SMB this season since it captured the 1989 Grand Slam in the PBA starring a legendary cast of players like Ramon Fernandez, Hector Calma, Samboy Lim, Franz Pumaren, Yves Dignadice, Alvin Teng, Ato Agustin and Ricardo Brown. “Aware naman kami na hindi ganoong kadali na manalo (Grand Slam) (We are aware that it’s not going to be easy),” said the 6-foot-10 Fajardo, who had 19 points in the setback to NorthPort. “One conference at a time kami, tapos na yung all-Filipino, so ngayon second conference, kailangang doblehin yung kayod, kung pwede triplihin yung hard work (We take it one conference at a time, the all-Filipino is done, so now it’s the second conference, we need to double our effort, or triple it),” added the Pinamungajan, Cebu native. Fajardo said that the setback to the Batang Pier is somehow an early 'wake up' for SMB. The team of coach Leo Austria has a couple of days to figure things out. They face TNT KaTropa this Saturday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City in what promises to be an exciting match. “Ito yung best time na magsama-sama kami (This is the best time for us to be together as one),” said Fajardo. “Ilang beses na din kami nandito sa ganitong sitwasyon, good thing first game pa lang namin (We’ve been here a number of times in this situation, but the good thing is this is our first game),” he added.
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