THE REVAMPED AirAsia Philippine Patriots may have fell to the debuting San Miguel Beermen, 76-84, in the To Be Number One Basketball Challenge but head coach Glenn Capacio remained upbeat as the squad builds on for the third season of the AirAsia Asean Basketball League.
Capacio took the loss graciously, saying: “They deserved to win, matagal na silang nagpeprepare at kami naman isang buwan pa lang so malayo pa talaga kami as far as being a team.” But Capacio vowed to work things out to be ready and be a contender again in the ABL tournament which fires off on Jan. 14.
“Ang advantage sa amin ngayon is may idea na kami sa mga kalaban namin sa season but we have to prepare better dahil magiging competitive ang mga teams,” Capacio added.
The Patriots got blitzed by the Beermen in the second period as the latter took a 41-33 lead. San Miguel then pulled away for good in the final canto with a 7-0 run anchored on the play of import Richard Jeter.
The coming season, according to Patriots team manager Erick Arejola, could be a lot tougher for the them than in the first two seasons with the presence of the Beermen. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio