DESPERATE TIMES
This should have been an elite, blockbuster match-up except that one combatant is now virtually fighting for survival and the other aching to check a sudden slump.
Nonetheless, they are expected to figure in a battle especially as they’re in desperate time.
The protagonists are the last two teams that reigned supreme in the pro league.
On one side is Purefoods Star, the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title-holder with a championship streak stretching from the 2013 Governors’ Cup to the 2014 edition of the same tourney, and on the other end is San Miguel Beer, the team that ended the Hotshots’ title run in the recent Philippine Cup.
But again they’re in desperate times.
Purefoods tries to snap a three-game losing skein while San Miguel looks to avoid further slide at the bottom of the standings as they mix it up in a crucial match at 5:15 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We’re both desperate for a win so I expect a real battle,” said Purefoods coach Tim Cone.
“We’ve both had time now to adjust to our new ‘old’ imports, so both teams should be able to pick up their play,” Cone also said, referring to Denzel Bowles and Arizona Reid.
The Hotshots dropped their most recent game against the Barangay Ginebra Kings – a match they played with hardly a preparation as Bowles had just taken over from Daniel Orton then.
The Beermen, meanwhile, split their first two games with Reid, winning over the Meralco Bolts then yielding to the NLEX Road Warriors.
At 1-5 overall, the Beermen promise to do what it takes to win.
“It’s a virtual must-win for us. Gagawin namin lahat para makuha ito,” said San Miguel Beer coach Leo Austria.
The Hotshots are in the middle of the chart at 4-3. What’s alarming is their three-game downfall after winning all their first four tiffs in the mid-season tourney.
Purefoods lost its last three games to Rain or Shine, Kia and Barangay Ginebra after winning its first four games against Globalport, Alaska, Blackwater and NLEX.
Partly to blame for Purefoods’ slump is the sidelining of main local player James Yap. It’s still uncertain if the two-time MVP winner is now ready to return. (SB)
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