Ross confident streaking Beermen have playoffs gear

San Miguel Beermen’s Jericho Cruz in the PBA Philippine Cup. –PBA IMAGES

San Miguel Beer has been on cruise control in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, taking down one opponent after another on its path geared towards what it hopes is a successful title defense.

Following a 98-91 triumph over defensive titan Magnolia on Friday night, the Beermen have now won eight straight games in the league’s premier conference and are one victory from matching TNT’s nine-game wipeout of the elimination phase during the 2014 Commissioner’s Cup.

But hardly anybody in the team is counting, according to skipper Chris Ross.

“We haven’t talked about it,” the 10-time champion guard told reporters of the winning streak on his way out of the Big Dome. “We’re just worried about each game. [We’re] game-by-game.”

“I honestly didn’t know that we were seven-zero until one of the coaches told me. I knew we haven’t lost, but I didn’t know how many we have won,” he added. “We haven’t talked about the streak one time as we just go out there, work hard—approaching these games all the same: If it comes to a win, it comes to a win.”

What Ross knows, though, is that San Miguel has become the proverbial bar that the 11 other PBA clubs measure themselves against.

“We get everyone’s best shots,” he said, shaking his head. “We know we got a target on our back, so we’re just trying to get better every game, trying to play to the best of our abilities.”

Ross said San Miguel should be extra guarded against vanity—something that perhaps also doomed that TNT squad from a decade ago as they burst at the seams at the worst possible moment.

The Tropang Texters, then coached by Norman Black, suffered their first loss in Game 1 of the Finals. The telco club won the next game but was unable to figure out the puzzle that was James Yap and Tim Cone as the series plodded along.

“It’s easy to be complacent after you’ve won how many games in a row,” said Ross.