Games on Wednesday
(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
5 p.m. — Blackwater vs Rain or Shine
7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs NLEX
CAN streaking NLEX continue its smooth ride in the PBA Philippine Cup?
That’s certainly the objective of the NLEX Road Warriors — winner of their last three games after dropping their conference debut against San Miguel — especially with a trio of heavyweights up on their plate in the next nine days.
First up is Barangay Ginebra (2-1), which puts them to a tough test tonight at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. The 7:30 p.m. duel with the back-to-back-seeking Gin Kings ushers in a tough stretch that will see coach Jong Uichico’s troops waging battles with unbeaten leader Magnolia (5-0) on May 11 and defending champion Meralco (2-3) on May 16.
For Robert Bolick, a key part of NLEX’ success so far are the improved ball movement and player activity off the ball in a new approach they’re all fully buying in.
The Gin Kings are still trying to get their footing coming off a draining seven-game series against TNT in the Commissioner’s Cup finals.
“It’s been a tough conference for us so far, just having less preparation time (between conferences),” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“We wanted to give the guys a mental and physical break when they came back from the finals and extend that as much as we could without walking in and playing. So we did everything to try to get ready. It was kind of like in a ‘hurry-up motion’ and so it’s a struggle for us mentally. But we snapped out of it a little bit in our last game (131-106 rout over NorthPort last Wednesday).”
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine (2-2) expects to have back on board Beau Belga (vertigo) and Caelan Tiongson (back spasms) as it shoots for a bounceback at 5 p.m. against Blackwater (1-3).
The Elasto Painters badly missed the two frontliners in their 97-107 defeat to Converge with the FiberXers totally dominating the boards, 62-40, and inside scoring, 56-38, behind Twin Towers Justin Arana (18-17) and Justine Baltazar (13-22).
Notes: The PBA named reigning Philippine Cup kingpin Meralco as the country’s representative to the Basketball Champions League Asia set June 9 to 15. Accordingly, commissioner Willie Marcial said the league will adjust the Bolts’ schedule in the ongoing Philippine Cup to accommodate this international campaign. The All-Filipino eliminations will run until June 15 with the playoffs eyed for a June 18 start. — Olmin Leyba
