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PBA: After ending title drought, Austria downplays Grand Slam expectations

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="San Miguel coach Leo Austria." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/sports/09/05/09052022-after-ending-title-drought-austria-downplays-grand-slam-expectations.jpg"/><figcaption>San Miguel coach Leo Austria.</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- The San Miguel Beermen were still celebrating their victory in Game 7 of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup finals when the attention shifted to their campaign in the next conference -- and beyond.</p><p>San Miguel ended a three-year title drought on Sunday night, overpowering the TNT Tropang GIGA, 119-97, in Game 7 to win the All-Filipino crown. They dethroned TNT in stunning fashion, limiting them to just eight points in the final quarter to run away with the victory.</p><p>The title was San Miguel&#x27;s 10th in the All-Filipino conference, but their first since the 2019 PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup. </p><p>&quot;I cannot imagine that we will win another championship,&quot; said SMB coach Leo Austria afterward. &quot;We were struggling pagdating sa playoffs.&quot;</p><p>&quot;[But] I&#x27;m so happy with the players because they learned a lot, ano, how to win a championship,&quot; he added. &quot;I hope na &#x27;yung nangyari sa kanila dito, ma-realize nila na this is the way. And I hope na ma-continue namin ito until next conference or third conference.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/04/22/after-3-years-san-miguel-regains-all-filipino-crown">GAME RECAP: After 3 years, San Miguel regains All-Filipino crown</a></li></ul><p>Winning the second and third conferences is the achievement that has eluded San Miguel, despite their many successes since Austria took over in 2014. They had a run of five straight All-Filipino titles from 2014 to 2019, and won the Commissioner&#x27;s Cup and the Governors&#x27; Cup as well.</p><p>But a Grand Slam has proven elusive. They came close in 2017 and again in 2019, but each time lost to Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinals.</p><p>With these setbacks in mind, Austria sought to downplay their chances of winning a Grand Slam this season as well.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s really hard to win a Grand Slam. It will depend on an import eh,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Commissioner&#x27;s Cup, in particular, will be tough as teams are allowed to hire imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10. That gives other teams a player who can defend June Mar Fajardo one-on-one, something that few squads are capable of during the All-Filipino Conference. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/04/22/fajardo-caps-dominant-all-filipino-campaign-with-finals-mvp">READ: June Mar Fajardo caps dominant All-Filipino campaign with Finals MVP</a></li></ul><p>Moreover, their import will take away minutes from other members of their frontcourt, likely Moala Tautuaa and Vic Manuel. Both were crucial to San Miguel&#x27;s run to the Philippine Cup crown.</p><p>&quot;With the import, nadadagdagan &#x27;yung kalaban namin ng isang magaling na player. Sa amin namin, may dadagdag na magaling na player, pero mae-ease out din &#x27;yung isang magaling na player,&quot; said Austria. &quot;Kung nage-gain sila ng 100%, maybe sa amin, 50%.&quot;</p><p>The Grand Slam, Austria insists, is &quot;a long shot.&quot; </p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re thinking of a game-to-game basis,&quot; he said. &quot;We&#x27;re focusing on our next game.&quot;</p><p>For now, however, the focus is their celebration. The three years in between titles were difficult for San Miguel, as they broke up their famed &quot;Death Five&quot; core and added a handful of new players. </p><p>It took time for everything to fall into place, and they suffered some painful playoff exits. In the 2021 Philippine Cup, they lost to TNT in seven games in the semifinals. In the Governors&#x27; Cup, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Meralco.</p><p>&quot;We have to enjoy this championship dahil three years din kaming walang title,&quot; Austria said. &quot;We&#x27;re so happy, dahil this is the most prestigious conference.&quot;</p><div><strong>PBA Season 47 games can be streamed live and on-demand on iWantTFC with a Premium subscription, available worldwide except PH and US.</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iouw65I1qt8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The San Miguel Beermen were still celebrating their victory in Game 7 of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals when the attention shifted to their campaign in the next conference.

PBA: After ending title drought, Austria downplays Grand Slam expectations

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PBA: After ending title drought, Austria downplays Grand Slam expectations

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 05, 2022 06:33 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

PBA

PBA Philippine Cup

San Miguel Beermen

Leo Austria

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