TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
PETRON Blaze has failed to take care of its own end of the business in its last few games.
The Boosters plan to do so starting Saturday when they take on an Air21 crew that has its own concerns in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Express need a victory to complete the elims with a 6-8 record, which should be enough for it to book the eighth and last slot in the quarterfinals.
However, Barako Bull can tie the Bert Lina-owned franchise if the Energy Cola prevail over Rain or Shine Friday and also-ran GlobalPort Sunday.
Air21 coach Franz Pumaren prefers to just focus on the team that beat his team via a 53-60 count the first time they met.
“We just need to take care of our own business. But for now, the situation is beyond our control,” said Pumaren, whose team has actually dropped its last three outings.
Far loftier is the goal of Petron.
Coming up with wins in their last two games is a must for the Boosters if they hope to at least play off for the No. 2 spot and earn its accompanying twice-to-beat advantage in the ensuing quarterfinals.
“Wala kaming ibang iniisip kundi manalo sa last two games,” said Petron star forward Arwind Santos, with the team when it snapped out of a three-game skid with an 87-77 victory over Barako Bull last Sunday.
“Sinaraduhan na kami ng pinto pero baka magbukas pa ang bintana para sa amin,” added Santos.
Should Petron win against Air21 and over Talk N Text at eliminations’ end Wednesday and Rain or Shine only manages to come up with a split against Barako and Meralco also Wednesday, then the Boosters and Elasto Painters both wind up with 9-5 slates, a tie to be broken by a one-game playoff.
Petron coach Olsen Racela is likewise admittedly titillated by the idea of his team clinching a top two slot after its seventh place finish in the season-opening Philippine Cup.
Yet he, like Pumaren, prefers to concentrate on the business at hand.
“We cannot do anything na with what happened in the past. Basta yung game lang at hand ang concentration namin,” he said.
One good thing that should be going Petron’s way is the expected improvement in the game of Henry Sims.
The former NBDL standout with the Erie Bayhawks has actually averaged 23 points and 14.5 rebounds his first two games, but Racela said the 23-year-old should dish out a more all-around game now that he has had more practices with the team he joined only Thursday last week. (NC)
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