MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin is not afraid of San Beda College.Although his boys were beaten twice by the Red Lions in the eliminations of the 86th NCAA basketball tournament, Agustin is not about to raise the white flag.In fact, the incoming coachof San Miguel Beer in the PBA believes they have already figured outhow to thwart the Lions when they collide on Wednesday at the start of their best-of-five finals series at the Araneta Coliseum."If we can stop their transition attack, then we have a great chance of beating them," Agustin said. "Transition defense will be key to the series."The Stags were dominated by the Lions (88-76) and (90-82) in the elims, and Agustin points to their failure to stop the Lions from their fastbreak attack as the culprit behind their defeats.Agustin said they will watch the videos of their games against the Lions to help themmap out their defensive strategy.The return of Ronald Pascual, the team's second best scorer, will also help their campaign, Agustin said.Pascual, who averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, missed five games due to fever but was back in the team's 61-52 win over Jose Rizal University last week that put them back into the finals. "Ok na siya I'm sure by first game ng championship, mag-100 percent na siya," said Agustin of the high-leaping 6-foot-3 sophomore.The Lions will enter the finals series holding a 1-0 edge, which they earned after fashioning out an unprecedented 16-game sweep of the eliminations.
This means the Stags will need to beat them thrice to snare their 13th crown overall. "We're not afraid of San Beda," Agustin, whose team swept the Lions in a best-of-three finals last year, said. "It's OK with us (San Beda's 1-0 incentive in the finals)."San Sebastian's energetic forward Calvin "The Beast" Abueva and Pamboy Raymundo is expected to be at the forefront of the team's offensive. Abueva, the league's leading MVP contender, norms league-best 12.6 boards, third-best 16.3 points while averaging 1.6 assists, a steal and a block a game. Raymundo cored 29 points in their last outing versus the Red Lions.
