Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — It is no secret that the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters specialize in a physical brand of basketball. That’s a challenge for San Miguel big man JuneMar Fajardo, who said that his team will need to dig deep to make it to the finals.
With what could be a brutal set of games for the San Miguel Beermen on the horizon, Fajardo said that they are already expecting the kind of play that the opposition have become well-known for.
“Sa pananaw ko mahirap na series to kasi alam naman natin yung Rain or Shine, the way sila maglaro physical talaga, pero expected naman yon,” said the Best Player of the Conference frontrunner.
[Translation: “In my opinion, this is a hard series because we know that the way Rain or Shine plays is really physical, but that is expected.”]
But the Elasto Painters are a familiar foe for the Beermen, who are looking to defend their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup trophy this conference.
“Ilang beses na din namin nakatapat yung Rain or Shine kaya hindi na bago sa amin. Basta kelangan focus lang kami sa game,” said Fajardo. “Kakailanganin namin ng hardwork at total efforts para malampasan ang Rain or Shine.”
[Translation: “We have faced Rain or Shine many times, so their physicality isn’t something new to us. All we need to do is just focus on the game,” said Fajardo. “We will need to work hard and give all our effort to get past Rain or Shine.”]
The San Miguel Beermen will face off against the Elasto Painters in a best-of-seven semifinals series. The winner of will move on to the finals against the victor of the Alaska-GlobalPort matchup.
But even with the chance to defend the Philippine Cup this year, Fajardo isn’t looking too far ahead.
“Hindi ko alam hanggang ilang games, one game at a time na lang,” said Fajardo.
[Translation: “I don’t know how many games this series will last, we will take it one game at a time.”]
The Beermen will play the first game of their best-of-seven semifinals series against the Elasto Painters on January 5, Tuesday night, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
CNN Philippines’ Jan Ballesteros contributed to this story.
Also read: PBA Semifinals: Romeo erupts with 41 as GlobalPort nips Alaska in Game 1
