San Miguel Beermen’s Kris Rosales during a PBA Philippine Cup semifinals game against Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings. –PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Kris Rosales wasn’t heavily used by San Miguel Beer in the PBA Philippine Cup elimination round or even in the quarterfinals.
It’s a much different story in the semifinals.
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“I want to take advantage of the time given to me, whether it’s three, five minutes or whatever the case may be,” said Rosales with Inquirer Sports after losing Game 3 of the semis to Barangay Ginebra at Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
“When I’m in there I just want to have a positive impact on the team.”
Sunday didn’t go too well for Rosales. In San Miguel Beer’s 100-90 loss to the Gin Kings, he finished with just three points and one assist.
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However, in the Beermen’s lone win of the series, Rosales was the x-factor with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes of action in Game 2.
Even more impressive was the fact that he wasn’t fielded in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
But the numbers aren’t the concern for Rosales. He’d much rather work on stopping the Gin Kings’ guard tandem of Scottie Thompson and RJ Abarrientos.
“It’s [defense] been my focus. I know when I get in that I’ll have certain matchups so my job on this team is to make sure I contain those matchups.”
“These guys are good players and sometimes you won’t be able to sh*t them down but you can limit them. That’s just what I aim to do when I get in. Anything on the offensive side is just a bonus.”
Rosales hopes to help the Beermen even the series at 2-2 this Wednesday for Game 4 at Araneta Coliseum.