Ugliest send-off
Converge made sure that Macau’s rough and humiliating participation as a guest team in the PBA Governors’ Cup would come to an end in the same stinking manner that characterized the Giant Pandas’ stint.
The FiberXers battered the Giant Pandas to near-submission in carving out a 162-108 victory at Ynares Center in Antipolo on Friday that also served as a warmup for Converge’s marquee prequarterfinal showdown with the TNT Tropang 5G.
“It’s a very big game on Sunday,” said coach Delta Pineda. “That is why we wanted to give everyone some confidence before we face TNT.”
The FiberXers tied the Tropang 5G at 7-4, turning Sunday’s match at the same venue as a battle for the No. 3 position to end Group A hostilities, as TNT still has a chance to overtake the San Miguel Beermen, who are holding an 8-3 slate, for second.
Converge set franchise records for most points in a game, most lopsided winning margin and most assists with 53 as Macau hardly showed any chance of ending its campaign with a bang.
Instead, the Giant Pandas went out with another blowout loss to go 2-10 in their second conference in the league.
Their average losing margin of 33 this conference was marred by a 60-point loss to NLEX nine days ago that set a PBA record for the ugliest setback, making the league say that it will never again invite Macau in future conferences.
Macau also struggled during the Commissioner’s Cup, but returned for the season-ending conference with the promise of fielding a much-better team.
But that never became the case as the Giant Pandas lost their main men to better playing opportunities.
The Giant Pandas stint will likely make the league take a harder look at any future participation by foreign clubs, though the Omni Erdenet Miners, a playoff-contending team in Mongolia, reportedly inquired about the possibility of joining during their preseason camp in the country.
Kobey Lam scored 49 points for the Giant Pandas, but his third PBA stint was a far cry from the time he came within a win of winning a title with Bay Area in the 2022 to 2023 Commissioner’s Cup and making the playoffs for Hong Kong Eastern in the same conference last season.
Import Cam Clark scored 32 points for the FiberXers, who will have a massive challenge ahead after Rondae Hollis-Jefferson returned for the Tropang 5G on Tuesday in blasting the Giant Pandas by 55.
“He’s a great player, and he’s proven himself over the years, so it’s going to be a great match,” Clark said.
Juan Gomez de Liaño boosted his bid to be a cinch for the Rookie of the Year with a second straight triple-double and fifth for the season, posting 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists.
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