ARE THEY REAL NOW?
Coach Tim Cone was glad that Barangay Ginebra was able to “snap out a little bit” from the challenges of playing on-and-off in the PBA Philippine Cup when it rolled to a convincing win over NorthPort exactly a week ago.
“We came out and did what we were supposed to do,” Cone said. “There were some sloppy moments, but by and large, we played [how] we want to play.”
But on Wednesday, the Gin Kings will look to be a better version of themselves with an intriguing challenge against the NLEX Road Warriors, who have won three of their first four games to open their all-Filipino campaign.
Game time is at 7:30 p.m. at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
While Ginebra carries a 2-1 record, there has been a case of inconsistency, and the team, overall, is playing far from its true form, especially being a month removed from losing to TNT in the Commissioner’s Cup Finals.
While it defeated Terrafirma and NorthPort by a combined margin of 46 points, Ginebra was given a rough beating by San Miguel Beer, though the final score of 104-93 didn’t reflect how dominated the Gin Kings were that night.
The Gin Kings take on the Road Warriors, who are hoping to sustain their form led by ace scorer Robert Bolick, as they seek a follow-up to an 80-72 win over the Blackwater Bossing in Montalban, Rizal.
Rain or Shine, smarting from its defeat to Converge also last Wednesday, faces Blackwater at 5 p.m. for a chance to go 3-2 in the conference.
Belga returning?
The Elasto Painters will look to bounce back and hopefully can be at full strength as coach Yeng Guiao hinted at the possible returns of veteran Beau Belga and rookie Caelan Tiongson to the mix.
Meanwhile, defending champion Meralco will have another international participation as the PBA’s representative in the final phase of the Basketball Champions League (BCL) Asia slated next month.
The league announced on Monday that the Bolts were tapped by virtue of having won last year’s Philippine Cup and that the elimination round schedule of the team will be adjusted to give way to their campaign.
It will be the second foreign competition for Meralco, which came so close to qualifying for the Final Four of the East Asia Super League.
The BCL Asia is set from June 9 to June 15, with the venue still to be determined.
