The San Miguel Beermen and the TNT Tropang Giga need a Game 7 to decide which between these teams will advance to the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup and which will head home. This is for all the marbles, ladies and gents.
Catch this game live on October 17, 4:35 pm, Manila time.
The San Miguel Beermen (3-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Chris Ross
- SG: Terrence Romeo
- SF: Marcio Lassiter
- PF: Arwind Santos
- C: Junemar Fajardo
The Beermen got their shots — and they got the win in Game 6, 103-90. After getting held down to only 74 attempts from the field in Game 5, San Miguel went 41 of 90 from the floor. The Beermen are at their best when the pace is high such as in Game 6, and they can continue dictating the game’s speed by winning the rebounding battle. Junemar Fajardo came up huge again for San Miguel with 11 points and 14 rebounds in Game 6, while Marcio Lassiter stepped on the gas and poured in 19 points with a 5-of-8 line from deep.
Mo Tautuaa exploded for 24 points off the bench as well. He’s been some sort of a barometer for the Beermen, so the performance of Fajardo’s backup this Sunday will be one to closely monitor. It’s also possible that TNT’s frontcourt is fading due to six games worth of pounding from San Miguel’s tandem of Fajardo and Tautuaa. That’s quite evident from the 48 points the Beermen scored in the paint in Game 6 to just 26 by the Tropang Giga.
The TNT Tropang Giga (3-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Brian Heruela
- SG: RR Pogoy
- SF: Mikey Williams
- PF: Troy Rosario
- C: JP Erram
One big reason why the Tropang Giga won Game 5 was Mikey Williams, who had 18 points (7-15 FG) in that contest. But the high-scoring rookie went cold in Game 6, as he went just 3 of 14 from the floor and finished with only nine points. But he wasn’t the only only one who suffered a power outage in the loss. RR Pogoy scored just six points on 2-of-10 shooting. If anything, Ryan Reyes scored 16 points off the bench, while Jayson Castro also had 16.
But Ryan’s offensive contributions should be treated as a bonus because his primary job is to defend. If the Tropang Giga are to beat San Miguel in Game 7, they will have to coax ample scoring outputs from Williams and Pogoy. Coach Chot Reyes is known to be a great motivator, so leave it to him to talk his top scorers into bouncing back in the most important game of the conference so far for the Tropang Giga. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt the team if Reyes continue to feel hot on offense alongside Brian Heruela, who had nine points (3-3 FG) and five rebounds in 16 minutes in Game 6.
PREDICTION:
Spread: If you believe in the recent trend, this game should be won by TNT in a lopsided manner. But this is Game 7, where both teams will empty their clips and, as cliched as it sounds, give it their all. It’s going to boil down on which team has the better bench, and I believe it’s San Miguel. Take SMB to cover (+1.5).
Over/Under: San Miguel can make the Tropang Giga’s defense look bad, as the Beermen have proven over and over again in the series. TNT has also done the same to San Miguel’s porous defense. Really tempted to take the Over here because of the trend, but I also believe in pressure. Both teams will play with a more conservative pace, given what’s on the line. Take the Under (191).
