San Miguel's Firepower for the Playoffs: Will It Be Enough?

After Wednesday's games were played, the San Miguel Beermen is one of the five teams that finished the elimination round of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup  with a 7-4 win-loss slate. With all the things the defending champions have to deal with all throughout the season, many are doubting if the Beermen will have enough firepower to make a deep run into the playoffs.

Sans June Mar Fajardo and Terrence Romeo, the Beermen had to endure ups and downs in the 11-game elimination round of the all-Filipino conference. After winning the season-opener last March, San Miguel started the Clark bubble with a two-game slide before winning their next four games. Their winning streak was cut short by the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters and they even lost to the NLEX Road Warriors. They finished the elimination round with back-to-back wins against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and the NorthPort Batang Pier.

Filling in a big void left behind by the five-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) awardee June Mar Fajardo. Moala Tautuaa became the man in the middle for the Beeermen. Tautuaa averaged 18 points per game in 11 games (seventh in the league). He shot 61% from the field (second-best in the league) including 36% from the three-point line. In their 120-99 victory against the Batang Pier, Tautuaa was one of the three San Miguel who breached the 20-point barrier with 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and a block. 

Firepower wasn't the problem of the Beermen as they have three other players who averaged in double figures. We saw some glimpses of the vintage Arwind Santos who had 23 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday.  Against Ginebra last Sunday, three Beermen had double-double performances led by Tatuaa's 20 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Ross had a big game as well with 11 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Even Riego Gamalinda had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. 

Question: Will that firepower going to be enough for San Miguel to go the distance without the Kraken down low?

Yes, San Miguel still has enough firepower to go for a six-peat. They still have the pieces to continue their reign in the all-Filipino conference. More importantly, they still have something that we cannot see in the box score: championship experience.

How far San Miguel will go in the playoffs will now depend on how they will bounce back from their surprising loss against the Meralco Bolts to open the PBA quarterfinals. 

Photo is from the PBA