Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Despite winning the series opener, the Alaska Aces are not exactly holding the advantage in the Smart Bro-PBA Philippie Cup finals against the San Miguel Beermen.
Read: Aces draw first blood, outlast Beermen
San Miguel Beer star June Mar Fajardo, according to coach Leo Austria, is on a day-to-day basis.
“According to the doctor, Fajardo will be back in the series but I don’t know when,” said Austria after his team dropped Game 1 of the best-of-seven skirmish.
“He told me it’s not serious, no need for surgery. Pero he’s on a day-to-day basis.”
Austria said Fajardo, who sat out Sunday’s (January 17) game to rest his swollen left knee, left a gaping hole inside the paint, leading to the stinging loss.
“We don’t have June Mar anymore,” said Austria, who nonetheless lauded the inspired efforts of the rest of the Beermen.
“But the way we played tonight, I think the desire is there, kulang lang ng big man. I was really happy with how the team played.”
He added: “We had a good chance of upsetting them, but turnovers killed us in the last five minutes.”
Read: Fajardo injures knee, but Beermen still oust RoS in Game 6
Fajardo’s status, however, gave the Beermen some edge in terms of unpredictabilty on offense.
“I think this whole series will have to be a game of rapid adjustments. We don’t know how they’re gonna play without June Mar,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.
But Compton loves the challenge anyway.
“We try to cover all bases. We’ll try to prepare and have our options on how we limit them like we did last time in the eliminations. We’ll just try to be thorough and always be ready if (Fajardo) comes in,” Compton said.
Right now, the amiable Alaska mentor is happy with the Game 1 victory, and they will ride the crest of the much-needed boost heading into Game 2 on Tuesday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“Personally, I don’t really believe in making a big deal out of one game in a seven-game series,” he said.
“But it was good to win and I’d much rather be up 1-0. We gotta win three more, they gotta win four.”
PHOTOS: PBA finals Alaska vs. SMB (Game 1)
