Exclusive: SMB assistant coach Peter Martin shares his take on their Semi-Finals series

Losing Game 1 of their semi-finals series against Ginebra was tough for San Miguel Beermen as they went from a grinding five-game quarterfinal match-up against Converge and another face-off in EASL but the coaches do not see their schedule as an excuse for their loss.

In an exclusive interview with Scoreline.ph, SMB assistant coach Peter Martin his piece on why they lost the game and on how they can bounce back from their loss and tie the series come Game 2.

First he shared about the lesson learned in their Converge series. He shared that the whole team relaxed and they thought that it would be an easy series for them but when they have given a little chance to the FiberXers, they put them to a grueling do-or-die game.

Martin added that even though they were a little bit tired against the fresh Ginebra squad, they don’t see it as a big factor on why they lost the opening game of the series. But that’s the price they have to pay off on being relaxed in their previous series.

“Despite the fact that we played 5 games, and we even played against EASL last Wednesday, we don't make that an excuse. Maybe it's just one small factor. But it's the Brownlee effect,” said Martin.

If you watched the game last night, he had 5 four-point shots and scored 20 points in the third quarter. That cannot happen against a team like Ginebra,” he added.

Asked on what they need to do in the next game in order for them to cope up against the Gin Kings, Martin said in jest, “Maybe don’t let (Justin) Brownlee hold the ball.”

He also said that they just need to have a defensive scheme against the six-time PBA champion import so that Brownlee’s explosion will not happen again, especially that they are not going up against a weak team.

“They are one of the strongest teams. If not the strongest team, the strongest team in the PBA right now because of Justin Brownlee. So he's the focal point. We saw it last night and we have to adjust,” Martin said.

The SMB assistant coach also told Scoreline.ph that they lacked in their schemes during Game 1 and needed to improve their effort level and surpass the effort level of Ginebra.

“If you know the series against them, with Justin Brownlee, we're 0-5 going up against Brownlee, so we should be more aggressive than them,” he added.

About June Mar Fajardo just scoring 16 points in their Game 1 against the Gin Kings after his 40-20 game explosion versus Converge, Martin said that it’s not a problem for them if the eight-time MVP is guarded very well as it will free his other teammates.

“Because if he's guarded, that means the others will be free. So what happens is, we just have to continue to get Junmar the ball. It doesn't mean that he's going to shoot it. It just means that he's going to be the catalyst or the focal point. And off of Junmar, he can just go there and the others will be free. You can't just go one-on-one with Junmar and they will be all ‘killed’ by the Kraken (down low).”

Martin also said that if the other players beside JMF would get free and make their shots, then Ginebra will be the one to adjust to their schemes.

He also added that even though they lost their first game, it means nothing as it is a long seven-game series. But Game 2 will be more important for San Miguel to win as it is hard to go down 0-2 in a series.

The Beermen also needed to be the aggressors and be the first to strike in their next game to dictate the tempo in tying the series.

Martin also asked for the full support of the Beermen faithfuls no matter what the result of the game is.

“I hope there's no more intrigue,” he said again in jest.

Then, he seriously said his gratitude to their fans, “If we win, we'll be together. If we lose, we'll be together. Thank you to all the fans of San Miguel.”