TNT Katropa, Rain or Shine clash
TNT KaTropa and Rain or Shine clash in a duel of fancied teams in Day Two of the 2016-17 PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
The Texters and the Elasto Painters are among those considered as top championship contenders although both are still in the period of adjustment under a new coach.
They mix it up at 7 p.m. in a game to be marked by the pro debut of Gilas players Roger Pogoy and Mike Tolomia, the return of Caloy Garcia as ROS head coach and the assumption of coaching rein by Nash Racela at TNT.
James Yap will still wait awhile before finally strutting his stuff as a ROS player. He barely returned to practice Monday after undergoing an arthroscopic surgery to scrape bone spurs in his right knee.
Meanwhile, Jeff Chan, Beau Belga, Gabe Norwood, Raymond Almazan, Jericho Cruz, Maveric Ahanmisi and Chris Tiu take the cudgels for the team with the help of trade acquisition Jay Washington, free agent recruit Dexter Maiquez and rookie draftee Tolomia.
They take on the TNT squad that has remained intact, keeping its old nucleus led by Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier, Ryan Reyes, Harvey Carey, Kelly Williams, Matt Ganuelas, Danny Seigle, Troy Rosario and Moala Tautuaa.
Spicing up the team are rookies Pogoy and Levi Hernandez and trade acquisition Frank Golla.
The biggest change is the entry of Racela as replacement to Jong Uichico as head coach.
“The guys are responding well to coach Nash. Simple lang ang binago nya sa team. It’s mental. You have to hustle, work hard if you want to be on the court,” said TNT team manager Virgil Villavicencio.
At Rain or Shine, Garcia is using the same coaching philosophy learned from Yeng Guiao. Helping Garcia in his return as ROS bench chieftain are Mike Buendia, Ricky Umayam and former PBA players Jolly Escobar, Don Dulay and Matt Makalintal.
The E-Painters hope to sustain a consistent performance they enjoyed under Guiao.
Until the last Governors Cup, the E-Painters were consistently making the Final Four, highlighting their run with their Commissioner’s Cup title conquest last year.
The Texters, on the other hand, were the three-peat Philippine Cup champs before they slowed down in the last three seasons.
They looked poised for a grand comeback in the last Governors Cup before being upset by the Meralco Bolts in the semifinals.
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