Beermen eye redemption against Converge

Eyes will be on San Miguel if it can avoid deja vu when the traditional league powerhouse takes on Converge as the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup continues this Wednesday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Tipoff time is scheduled at 7:30 p.m., with San Miguel coming in as the favorites as far as the Casino Plus sportsbook is concerned. They're favored to emerge triumphant with a -5.5 margin, with the over/under in points set at 207.5.

Bets can be made here: https://www.casinoplus.com.ph/home/inGame?name=basketball&title=SportBet.

Coach Leo Austria had already cautioned his charges about their poor start in the last Philippine Cup after the Beermen fell to a 119-112 defeat to Joshua Munzon and Titan Ultra last Saturday in their conference debut.

SMB lost its first two games of the previous conference after bowing to NLEX and Phoenix, in that order, and Austria wants none of that to happen again.

The crew did manage to turn it around after that and even went on to snare the Jun Bernardino trophy by tilt's end. Still, the champion bench tactician refuses to feel confident whatsoever, given the presence of towering imports this time.

"This time, a lot of teams are really improving really well because of the inclusion of the imports," he said. "It's very obvious that every team is trying to get a big import so that they can match up with our bigs, especially June Mar."

The focus will surely be on Marcus Lee, who submitted a subpar showing in that defeat as he only had four points, although he tallied five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the 24 minutes and 46 seconds he saw action.

Austria had previously said that Lee had jived well with the loaded local unit in practices, but that hasn't yet translated into a game; thus, the heavy scrutiny he's under entering their meeting with the FiberXers to see if they can really mesh well together.

It's only their second game, but SMB is already treating it as a must-win. The crew would want to get its confidence as soon as possible before the schedule gets tough.

"In the next few games, it's really the top teams na makakalaban namin--Converge, Talk N Text, and then nandoon 'yung Macau, Ginebra ... It's really tough for us," Austria enumerated. "Let's see how we can adjust."

That stretch starts with Converge, which is hoping to get back on track as well since Coach Delta Pineda's men are in the midst of a two-game losing skid after bowing to surprise leaders Terrafirma and, most recently, to Meralco.

It's also going to be intriguing, to say the least, if the FiberXers can welcome back the injured Juan Gomez de Liano in the clash between teams that have faced one another a few times in the quarterfinal stage.

Meanwhile, the Dyip will look to chalk up their fourth win in as many outings when they take on the erstwhile unbeaten Phoenix at 5:15 p.m.

The twinbill opener sees Phoenix favored to win via -5.5 margin, according to Casino Plus sportsbooks, with the over-under set at 203.

Much has been said about Terrafirma and its impressive run thus far, but Coach Ronald Tubid & Co. have no plans of stopping, with their sights set on going 4-0, which, if they do, would equal their best start in franchise history--set in 2016.

Regardless of the betting odds, not a few see them as the favorites, as they will be taking on a Fuel Masters team beset by injuries to its stars.

Tyler Tio and Kai Ballungay didn't play in their 93-86 loss to the Bolts--their first after opening the midseason tournament with back-to-back victories--last Saturday, with Jason Perkins playing limitedly due to a knee issue.

That leaves Coach Charles Tiu with possibly limited manpower once more versus the Dyip, with James Dickey III expected to carry much of the load offensively alongside Ricci Rivero and resident shooter Kenneth Tuffin.