SAN Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria knows what his team needs to do to realize its immediate goal of claiming a top two slot in the PBA Commissioner's Cup eliminations.
"Walang choice. Must-win kami in our last two games," said Austria. "One win may get us there sa top two pero kailangan dalawa, para sigurado."
The Beermen set out on the first of those two games Wednesday when they tackle Blackwater at the Cuneta Astrodome.
For the Elite, the game is a no-bearing one since they have long been eliminated from inclusion among the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
The game carries with it immense importance for SMB, which lies half-a-game behind co-leaders Barangay Ginebra and Star and just ahead of TNT KaTropa, which wound up its elims assignments with an 8-3 slate.
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The Hotshots and Kings have one game left in their respective eliminations schedule.
Should the Beermen prevail over Blackwater Wednesday and GlobalPort at eliminations end Friday, then they could at least tie for a top two slot which carries with it a twice-to-beat advantage in the ensuing round.
A solitary win in those last two games would jeopardize SMB's bid since it won over Star but lost to both Ginebra and TNT.
A third or fourth-place finish would relegate SMB to a best-of-three duel in the quarters, but that is not a tantalizing prospect for Austria right now.
"We still have our destiny in our hands at wala kaming ibang tina-target sa ngayon kundi iyung top two,"said Austria. "Hindi naman masama iyung malagay ka sa best-of-three pero as of now wins in our last two games ang goal namin."
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Besides, Austria knows Blackwater, notwithstanding its eliminated status, intends to lay out an ambush.
"Nothing to lose sila, kaya the pressure is actually on us," explained Austria. "So kapag pinag-combine nila iyung dalawang factors na iyon baka lalo silang ma-inspire para maging spoilers."
Elite coach Leo Isaac has a basic gameplan of his own. "We intend to go out and give our best effort," he said simply.
What should give SMB momentum is its 109-97 win over Alaska last Saturday, when Charles Rhodes, Marcio Lassiter, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross led a balanced attack that made up for June Mar Fajardo seeing limited minutes due to fever.
Fajardo has fully recuperated and should be ready against Blackwater.
That is bad news for the Elite, who are coming off an 82-96 loss to Ginebra last Friday notwithstanding a gallant stand led by Greg Smith and Mike Digregorio.
