Star looking to pounce on skidding GlobalPort
The Star Hotshots look to sustain their rise while the Globalport Batang Pier hope to start a rally even with a crippled lineup as they clash in a key match in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City Friday night.
Game time is at 7 p.m. with the Hotshots aching to stay on the run and move up in the upper half of the chart while the Batang Pier virtually fight for dear life.
The Hotshots have got some relief in winning their last two games with import sub Ricardo Ratliffe in tow.
Ratliffe and his teammates clobbered the Tropang TNT Texters, 96-88, then waylaid the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 91-75, as the Hotshots improved to sixth place in a tie with the Blackwater Elite, the Mahindra Enforcers and the Texters at 3-4.
Ratliffe averaged 22 points, 15 rebounds and 2.5 assists in those games.
The Batang Pier, meanwhile, have plunged all the way down to the cellar in losing all their last four games – the last three without Stanley Pringle and the last one sans Pringle and Terrence Romeo.
With a rest of over two weeks, Pringle could already be ready to plunge back into action, but not Romeo who is nursing a calf muscle strain.
Minus Pringle and Romeo, the Batang Pier rode the solid PBA debut of import Shawn Taggart as they barely dropped their last game versus Alaska, 101-103.
A surprise semifinalist in the recent Philippine Cup, Globalport is pressed to win at least three of its last four games to have a shot at the post-elims play in the mid-season tourney.
But it looks like a tough climb for the Batang Pier with Romeo sidelined by an injury.
The 5-foot-10 playmaker/gunner leads all local players in scoring with an average of 25.3 points a game. He’s No. 6 overall, trailing imports Tyler Wilkerson (35.2), Al Thornton (33.3), Shane Edwards (27.6), Denzel Bowles (26.4) and David Simon (25.7).
Taggart would need a lot of help if the Batang Pier were to compete in each of their last four games versus the Star Hotshots, the NLEX Road Warriors, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
Taggart, Globalport’s third import in the tourney after Brian Williams and Calvin Warner, debuted with 36 points, 16 rebounds and three assists versus the Alaska Milk Aces Saturday.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
