STRUGGLING ELITE TACKLE LEAD-SEEKING BOLTS
Newcomer Blackwater is in distinguished company, but the honor is something the Elite would probably choose to bestow on someone else.
After dropping their first two games in the PBA Philippine Cup, the Elite are slowly realizing their worst fears coming into the pro league – that it would take two or more seasons to be able to compete with the big boys.
A third loss Tuesday – at 4:15 p.m. against the Meralco Bolts at the Smart Araneta Coliseum – would turn a bad dream into a nightmare although in their present position, the Elite can’t have much to complain about since no less than Grand Slam champion and five-peat seeking Purefoods Star (formerly San Mig Super Coffee) share the predicament in hugging the mat with a 0-2 slate.
And so with Barako Bull, which fired head coach Siot Tanquincen one day before the opening of the 40th PBA season, leaving assistant Koy Banal, who eventually took over, absolutely no time to prepare himself for his new post.
Both Banal and Blackwater coach Leo Isaac, the former Ginebra San Miguel stalwart, and even Purefoods’ Tim Cone, who missed three key players in Sunday’s loss to San Miguel Beer, are doing the best they can with what they have – which isn’t much.
But there are nine more games left in their elimination round schedule so there’s more than enough time to get out of the rut.
More than his two other peers, however, Isaac knows that time is of the essence for Blackwater.
Cone has probably lost forward Ian Sangalang for the conference to a knee injury. But superstars James Yap (calf muscle) and a recharged Marc Pingris, who sat out the Beermen game, are slated to suit up in their next game on Friday against GlobalPort, so one can be sure the Hotshots are about to make their move back to contention.
Barako Bull, likewise, is expected to climb out of the cellar before the halfway mark of the elims, especially once Banal finds the right chemistry to get the Energy cracking.
It is therefore left to Blackwater to get its act together starting this afternoon to finally barge into the win column and avoid a disastrous losing streak.
The Bolts won’t be easy pickings, however, with coach Norman Black pouring his championship experience as a top PBA import and Grand Slam coach himself (1989) into reviving Meralco as a force to reckon with.
Meralco, which could tie two other teams for leadership, is coming off a draining 112-108 double overtime victory over Barako Bull, while Blackwater fell to Manny Pacquiao and Kia Sorento, 80-66, in front of a mammoth crowd of 52,000 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, and then to Rain or Shine, 82-75.
This game marks the first time Blackwater will take the floor against two-time MVP Danny Ildefonso, who the Elite drafted highly from the expansion pool but later released to the Bolts owing to a reported contract disagreement.
The Bolts will be relying on Jared Dillinger, Reynel Hugnatan, Gary David, Rey Guevarra, Sean Anthony, Cliff Hodge and Ildefonso, while the Elite will be bannered by Alex Nuyles, Sunday Salvacion, Paul Artadi, Eddie Laure and Riego Gamalinda. (WJRHT)
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