GlobalPort, Phoenix battle to end year on high note
After ending its horrifying two-game skid with a 94-90 win against Meralco last week, Phoenix now focuses to close the year out with a bang.
And through 44-point beatdowns and injuries to his key players, coach Ariel Vanguardia is nothing but grateful that his Fuel Masters is still in the thick of the playoff race as 2016 comes to a close.
“There’s a lot to be thankful for kasi we’re not out. The way we were playing, we should have been 0-5 so let’s be thankful we’re 3-3,” he said.
But the job still ain’t over, and the Fuel Masters stake their record against GlobalPort in the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup Wednesday at Cuneta Astrodome.
Playing in the final game day of the year at 4:15 p.m., Vanguardia is hoping that all of his pep talk will not go for naught as he seeks to end the year with Phoenix breaking out of the four-team logjam at sixth place with Star, Alaska, and Ginebra.
“We have five games and if we have a winning record, we might make it to the playoffs. Intindihin na lang namin na ngayon, we have a clean slate,” he said.
But the Batang Pier is also motivated to end the year right, especially after Terrence Romeo’s forgettable showing in their 99-91 loss to Blackwater last week.
The super scorer had to take the cudgels for the ejected Stanley Pringle, racking up 22 points but doing so in 21 shots. He also had nine assists and eight rebounds in the defeat.
One thing’s for sure, GlobalPort, especially the duo of Romeo and Pringle, does not want 2016 for them to end that way.
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