SAN Miguel Beer assistant coach Peter Martin said that seeing American reinforcement George King adjust well to the team’s system makes him think that the Beermen’s import woes could be a thing of the past.
For one, the sweet-shooting King stood at the forefront of the Beermen’s second half onslaught that enabled them to subdue Converge, 126-122, on Wednesday in the battle of unbeaten teams in Antipolo City.
The 6-foot-4 King finished with 41 points, his highest output in his young stint with SMB, along with 11 rebounds and five assists to lead San Miguel, which joined NLEX on top of the standings in Group A.
The 59th overall pick of the Phoenix Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft currently averages 36.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals as San Miguel opens the tournament with a 3-0 record.
Martin said that King’s presence provides stability to the team, given his familiarity with the PBA after playing for the Blackwater Bossing previously for two conferences under then coach Jeff Cariaso.
“Sometimes he’ll get the (play) board, and he (King) will draw the play for us. Makes our job really much easier,” Martin told the press after the game as he continues to call the shots in lieu of head coach Leo Austria, who continues to recover from a still undisclosed illness.
“He talks to the players. At the start, he won’t be so aggressive. First game, he just opts to pass more but I told him, it’s up to him. He knows how to play with these guys. He knows how to motivate,” he added.
King’s presence brought greater confidence among the locals, a situation that was obviously different from the team’s recent Commissioner’s Cup campaign where the Beermen first tapped Marcus Lee, before eventually replacing him with Justin Patton.
Patton, would then go AWOL (absent without leave), forcing the team to bring explosive gunner and Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player candidate Bennie Boatwright into the mix.
Unfortunately, the 6-10 Boatwright’s arrival failed to save San Miguel’s sagging campaign as the team bowed to Rain or Shine in their quarterfinals duel.
Martin is glad they got a gem of an import although he knows the high-scoring standout from Colorado will need a few more games to work on their chemistry.
