Interesting PBA PH Cup matches
The much-anticipated Barangay Ginebra-Star duel is set on Christmas Day, June Mar Fajardo and his San Miguel Beer teammates take their crack at Ginebra on Jan. 8, James Yap faces off with his old team on Dec. 18 while the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters take on their former coach, Yeng Guiao, and his new team the NLEX Road Warriors on Dec. 23.
These are among the most interesting matches in PBA Season 42 that fired off before a good Sunday crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The initial regular twinbill in the season is Wednesday also at the Big Dome, pitting Blackwater versus Phoenix Petroleum at 4:15 p.m. then TNT KaTropa against Rain or Shine at 7 p.m.
But Yap’s debut with ROS will have to wait as the two-time MVP winner is starting to join the Elasto Painters in practice only today.
“I’ll miss our first two games but nevertheless I’m thrilled to play this season,” said Yap set to play with the E-Painters coming from an arthroscopic surgery to scrape bone spurs in his right knee.
“I’m happy with my teammates here (ROS). I’ve played with some of them in the past, including Beau (Belga) and Jewel (Ponferada),” Yap also said.
Curiously, Yap plays his first game on an ROS jersey versus Mark Caguioa and his Ginebra teammates on Dec. 4 at the MOA Arena.
Ginebra and Meralco, the title protagonists in the last Governors Cup, are the last two teams to make their initial showing in PBA Season 42, tangling with TNT KaTropa and Blackwater, respectively, on Sunday at the Big Dome.
On Friday, it’s Mahindra against GlobalPort then Alaska versus NLEX, capping week one of the 2016-17 Philippine Cup featuring out of town sorties in Antipolo, Lanao del Norte, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Cebu, and Angeles City.
The Hotshots square off with the Fuel Masters in Tubod, Lanao del Norte on Dec. 10; the Beermen and the Road Warriors mix it up in Cagayan de Oro on Dec. 17; then the Road Warriors will be back on the road against the Texters in Angeles City on Jan. 7.
The last road game in the elims will be in Iloilo on Jan. 14 pitting Governors Cup title protagonists Ginebra and Meralco.
Meanwhile, the rematch between Philippine Cup finalists San Miguel and Alaska is set Dec. 3 at the Big Dome.
Mac Belo and Raphael Banal debut with Blackwater against fellow rookie Matthew Wright and Phoenix in the curtain-raiser Wednesday.
Other interesting play dates include the showdown among Globalport’s and Star’s elite guards on Dec. 2 and the Globalport-Ginebra rematch on Dec. 11.
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