The Jorge Gallent era for the San Miguel Beermen begins this Sunday, with the San Miguel Beermen playing in their debut in the 2022-23 PBA Governors’ Cup against the winless Phoenix LPG Fuel Masters. Check out below our preview of this weekend matchup.

Catch this game live on Sunday,  January 29 at 6:45 pm, Manila time.

San Miguel Beermen (0-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Simon Enciso
• SG: CJ Perez
• SF: Marcio Lassiter
• PF: Cameron Clark
• C: June Mar Fajardo

The Beermen are set to see action for the first time since the calendar flipped to 2023. The last time San Miguel hit the floor was way back in December when they got eliminated by the Bay Area Dragons in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semis. 

This time, the Beermen will kick off the conference with a new import in the form of Cameron Clark. The reinforcement isn’t exactly a new face in the PBA, as he played six games for the NLEX Road Warriors back in the 2021-22 PBA Governors’ Cup and averaged 24.8 points on 49.6 FG% shooting and 11.8 rebounds. As usual, the Beermen’s lineup is stacked, with Junemar Fajardo leading the locals. Clark should find it easier to operate with San Miguel than when he was with NLEX, given the quality of talent around him.

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters (0-2)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Tyler Tio
• SG: RJ Jazul
• SF:  Sean Manganti
• PF: Jason Perkins
• C: Du’Vaughn Maxwell

Phoenix might be thinking of replacing its import, whether it’s the problem for the team’s bad start or not. A 0-2 start should have tripped up some alarms for the Fuel Masters, who lost their conference opener to the TNT Tropang Giga (123-119) and then to the Blackwater Bossing last Friday (108-105). However, Du’vaughn Maxwell has shown immediate improvement from his PBA debut versus the Tropang Giga in which he mustered 21 points on 8/16 shooting. 

Against the Bossing, Maxwell dropped 37 points on 14/23 makes from the field to go with 17 boards. Defense is seemingly the main issue so far in the Governors’ Cup for Phoenix, which it has to tighten up quickly before facing a traditional powerhouse on Sunday. The Beermen might need a few games to adjust to the system of their new coach and knock off some rusts after a lengthy rest, so those are potential pluses for Phoenix.

PREDICTION:

Spread: Phoenix (+6.5) covers the spread.

Over/Under: The (205.5) total hits the Over.