Leo Austria says San Miguel’s previous playoff miss is driving the Philippine Cup campaign

The San Miguel Beermen once again demonstrated why they are a powerhouse in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) by topping the elimination round standings of the ongoing Philippine Cup with an 8–3 win-loss record.

San Miguel is set to face a Meralco Bolts team eager to defend its Philippine Cup title. The matchup also serves as a rematch of last season’s finals. However, this time, the Beermen hold a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, while Meralco only managed to secure the eighth and final playoff spot with a 6–5 record.

The Beermen have bounced back impressively from their disappointing run in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, where they missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade. San Miguel head coach Leo Austria believes he doesn’t need to motivate his players ahead of the quarterfinals, as making the playoffs after missing the last conference is motivation enough.

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What impressed many was that the Beermen secured playoff qualification by winning five of their last six games—and even more impressively, four of those five wins came by 25 points or more.

“That’s one thing that was on the minds of our players—because we can’t afford to miss the playoffs again. Credit to the players, at the start of the conference, they worked really hard. We have to be consistent on defense, and that’s very evident,” Austria said in a media interaction.

Austria admitted that finishing first in the standings wasn’t their primary objective—securing a twice-to-beat edge was.

“It was not our goal. Our goal was to gain the twice-to-beat advantage, but finishing at the top is a good motivation for us. We were disappointed before, and we cannot afford to miss the playoffs again,” he added.

Notably, San Miguel defeated Meralco 110–98 in their elimination round meeting and will aim to repeat that performance when the two teams clash on Friday, June 20, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

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