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PBA: Spirit of championship core rubbed off on SMB newcomers, says coach

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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 veterans Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, and June Mar Fajardo celebrate after their triumph in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. This is their ninth championship together. PBA Images" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/09/05/ross-lassiter-fajardo.jpg"/><figcaption>San Miguel veterans Chris Ross, Marcio Lassiter, and June Mar Fajardo celebrate after their triumph in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals. This is their ninth championship together. <em>PBA Images</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- For many members of the San Miguel Beermen, their triumph in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals was a championship breakthrough.</p><p>The likes of CJ Perez, Moala Tautuaa, Simon Enciso, and Vic Manuel all won their first PBA crowns, making for an emotional moment when they defeated the TNT Tropang GIGA in Game 7 of the Finals on Sunday night. </p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung passion nila to win a championship, &#x27;yung attitude, andoon &#x27;yun,&quot; San Miguel coach Leo Austria said of his players.</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>Austria has said plenty about the newcomers&#x27; need to learn how to win at a high level, after coming off from different situations in their previous teams. Perez, for instance, is a former Rookie of the Year and an explosive scorer, but did not have any playoff experience when he was traded to San Miguel.</p><p>Enciso was a journeyman, while Manuel was a veteran of playoff heartbreaks. The &quot;Muscle Man&quot; lost three times to the Beermen in the Finals when he was still playing with the now-defunct Alaska Aces.</p><p>They all played major roles in San Miguel&#x27;s run to the championship, which Austria attributes to their grueling playoff campaign as well as the guidance of the team&#x27;s veterans.</p><p>&quot;I think nakabuti sa amin &#x27;yung mga playoff games namin, dahil we&#x27;re able to develop &#x27;yung winning character, and that&#x27;s very important,&quot; said Austria.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/29/22/energy-effort-made-the-difference-in-game-4-says-smbs-perez">READ: Energy, effort made the difference in Game 4, says SMB&#x27;s Perez</a></li></ul><p>Before arranging a Finals showdown with the Tropang GIGA, San Miguel first had to survive a determined Meralco team in the semis. Their series went the full route, with the Beermen winning Game 7, 100-89.</p><p>Against TNT in the Finals, San Miguel fell behind 2-3, but reeled off back-to-back impressive wins in Games 6 and 7 to claim their first All-Filipino title since 2019, and tenth overall. The fourth quarter of Game 7 was a masterclass as the Beermen outscored TNT 35-8 and pulled away for a 119-97 triumph.</p><p>Austria gave credit to his more experienced players for their willingness to guide their teammates during such a crucial juncture in the game.</p><p>&quot;I know na our players are really determined to win the game,&quot; he said. &quot;The experienced players, they&#x27;re sharing to each other, because alam naman natin na ang mga players namin ay ano eh, I think more than half ay galing sa ibang team.&quot;</p><p>&quot;They don&#x27;t have the experience in a championship,&quot; he noted.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="CJ Perez was one of the San Miguel players who won a first championship. PBA Images" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/09/05/cj-perez.jpg"/><figcaption>CJ Perez was one of the San Miguel players who won a first championship. <em>PBA Images</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>But players like June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross, and Marcio Lassiter are used to competing in Finals series, having won eight titles together leading up to this year&#x27;s All-Filipino conference. The remaining members of San Miguel&#x27;s famed &quot;Death Five&quot; core lived up to expectations in Game 7, leading their breakaway. </p><p>&quot;Si June Mar at saka si Chris Ross, because of their experience in the Finals, kaya nga sinasabing playoff player itong si Chris Ross eh, and ang leadership niya, talagang andoon. &#x27;Yun ang nagdala,&quot; said Austria.</p><p>&quot;Of course, June Mar is always our go-to guy. And Lassiter, actually, &#x27;yung tatlong &#x27;yun ang natira doon sa sinasabi niyong Death Five. So &#x27;yung spirit nila, nag-rub off to a lot of players,&quot; he added. &quot;They know that these three players are winners. Wala akong masasabi sa kanila.&quot;</p><p>San Miguel broke up the &quot;Death Five&quot; last year, trading Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot to NorthPort and TerraFirma, respectively. In exchange, the Beermen acquired Manuel and Enciso. </p><p>Enciso scored 12 points in Game 7, all on three-pointers, and Manuel added 16 points and seven rebounds. Perez, who was acquired in a blockbuster trade in 2020, top-scored for the team with 25 points along with seven assists. Tautuaa had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.</p><p>Austria is now expecting even more from these players now that they have a championship under their belts. </p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s a great motivation for them. Dahil alam nila, ang player pagka nanalo ng championship, ayaw na nilang ibigay &#x27;yan eh. Gusto nila, laging mananalo,&quot; he said. &quot;That&#x27;s why for me, it&#x27;s not really hard to coach them now because they know the glory of winning a championship.&quot;</p><div><br/><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 __idm_id__="13287425" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2184714" width="100%"></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>

For many members of the San Miguel Beermen, their triumph in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals was a championship breakthrough.

PBA: Spirit of championship core rubbed off on SMB newcomers, says coach

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PBA: Spirit of championship core rubbed off on SMB newcomers, says coach

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 05, 2022 11:34 AM PHT

|

Updated September 05, 2022 02:28 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

PBA

PBA Philippine Cup

San Miguel Beermen

Leo Austria

CJ Perez

Moala Tautuaa

Simon Enciso

Vic Manuel

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