This conference has been a step in the right direction for the Blackwater Bossing no matter how it ends for the team. That being said, they are far from content with their body of work in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, so expect them to go all out this Wednesday against heavyweight San Miguel Beermen. Will the Blackwater score an upset? Or, will the Beermen give themselves a reason to celebrate?

Catch this game live on Wednesday,  July 27 at 6 pm, Manila time.

San Miguel Beermen (0-0)

Projected Starting Five:

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

The Beermen are coming off an 89-86 loss to the Meralco Bolts to close out their elimination schedule, but that hardly dents the image of San Miguel as arguably the best team in the league today. As the overall no. 1 seed, the Beermen will be bringing to the playoffs a juggernaut offense that finished the elimination ranked first in the league with 109.6 points per 100 possessions.  They are also the only team in the PBA this conference averaging more than 96 points per game, as San Miguel is bottling 101.7 points per outing. 

Blackwater certainly knows all about it, as the Beermen drowned the Bossing in a 110-107 overtime victory earlier this month of July. In that game, June Mar Fajardo wallopped Blackwater’s defense for 25 points while also grabbing 18 rebounds and recording 3 steals, while Jericho Cruz had 25 points as well along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. With Blackwater’s defense leaking harder of late, the Beermen seem to be bound to have a feast offensively this Wednesday.

Blackwater Bossing (0-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: JVee Casio
• SG: Rashawn McCarthy
• SG: Rey Suerte
• PF: Renato Ular
• C: Yousif Taha

Blackwater can consider itself lucky for even managing to make the playoff cut, especially after they lost all its last five games. The last time they saw action, the Bossing got taken down by the Magnolia Hotshots in a 75-66 loss at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Friday. The Bossing clearly struggled offensively in that game, but that’s almost always bound to happen for any team against that incredibly fortified Magnolia defense. 

Blackwater can hope for better and more efficient production on offense against San Miguel, which isn’t giving a premium on defense as much as the Hotshots. In fact, the Bossing went wild on offense in the aforementioned first meeting with San Miguel. Although they lost that contest, the Bossing shot 44.3 FG% there and drained 13 3-pointers. Rashawn McCarthy scored 22 points against the Beermen to lead all Blackwater players, while Rey Suerte, Baser Amer, JVee Casio, and Brandon Rosser each put up double-figure point totals as well. 

PREDICTION:

Spread: The Beermen (-8.0) cover.

Over/Under: The total (193.0) hit the over.