WAITING TO POUNCE
AIR21 is bristling to pick up from where it left off while Rain or Shine simply wants to survive the day unscathed.
Which team can realize its immediate goal would be known Tuesday when the Express and Elasto Painters clash in the PLD Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The odds seem to favor Air21, which went as far as the semifinals of the Commissioner’s Cup, no mean feat for the same team that wound up last in the two previous conferences.
The Express eventually lost to eventual champion San Mig Super Coffee and would again have to make do without Sean Anthony for at least one more week.
Rain or Shine has a bigger problem since some of its key players would either be in the sidelines or suited up but not yet fully recovered from their respective injuries.
“My biggest concern is how to soon my team can get back to being healthy,” admitted E-Painters coach Yeng Guiao, whose team got as far as the semifinals of the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup despite the absence of JR Quinahan before getting swept by Talk N Text due to injuries to Chris Tiu, Jervy Cruz, Paul Lee and import Wayne Chism.
“Chris and Jervy are still not available tomorrow, Paul is still not 100 percent and JR is still a month away from practicing,” added Guiao.
That doesn’t mean Rain or Shine is ready to just go through the motions.
“I’m still confident the rest of the team will step up and deliver a decent game,” insisted Guiao.
“AZ (Arizona) Reid is almost in game shape and gives us the advantage with his quickness and familiarity with the system and the local conditions,” added Guiao, referring to the one-time Best Import awardee who has been in town since the first week of this month.
In contrast, Air21’s own reinforcement, Dominique Sutton, arrived just five days ago and has been cramming up to learn not only coach Franz Pumaren’s gamebook but also the PBA style of play.
While Reid is on his third tour of duty here, Sutton is a fresh face and became sort of a mystery when he opted to transfer out of Kansas State, where he teamed up with Michael Beasley and current Alaska import Bill Walker, and finish up his college career at North Carolina Central.
After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft, the 27-year-old has strutted his wares in the NBA D-League, the Dominican Republic and, most recently, in Greece.
“Hopefully he can adjust to our system and the PBA brand of play come gametime tomorrow,” related Pumaren. (NC)
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