SMB Back Into The Groove
MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Beermen coach Bobby Parks saw a much-focused team in Saturday's night 94-59 home victory over the expansion Bangkok Cobras in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League.
Back at the friendly confines of the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Parks got a balanced scoring attack led by import Doug Thomas to bounce back from Wednesday's 71-63 road loss to the Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers.
“It was a long trip and I think some of our guys lost their focus,” said Parks, who prior to the Singapore game faced the Chang Thailand Slammers in Bangkok. “We didn't run our plays, it was one pass and then everybody was going one-on-one.”
“We basically worked on concentration and running our plays. We shot the ball well and we got into a faster start,” added Parks.
Thomas, who has been with the team for two weeks, led the Beermen's charge with 14 points and 11 rebounds and dazzled the good-sized audience with four slam dunks, including a thunderous left-hand jam in the third quarter.
That dunk made it 57-34 with 7:48 left in the third. Ex-pros and one-time Far Eastern University standouts RJ Rizada and Leo Avenido were also key in SMB's third win in five matches.
Rizada sent the tone early with 10 first quarter points before finishing with 13. Avenido likewise scored the same number of baskets in just 16 minutes off the bench.
Source: http://mb.com.ph/articles/350407/smb-back-into-the-groove
