D-LEAGUE: UNDERMANNED JUMBO RESUMES CHASE FOR TOP 4 SPOT
Jumbo Plastic tries to win two straight with a depleted line up when the Giants square off against the MP Hotel Warriors on Monday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup.
While he is not exactly alarmed, Jumbo Plastic coach Stevenson Tiu said the loss of key players threatens their bid for a Top Four spot in the playoffs.
The Giants started the season without forward Jan Colina (injured shoulder). And last week they lost guard Brian Heruela (signed by PBA expansion team Blackwater) and shooting guard Jan Lozada, who sought his release to play in another league instead.
The latest shocker is the injury to center-forward McLean Sabellina, who fractured the index finger in his shooting hand in the closing seconds of the Giants’ 81-65 romp over Wangs Basketball on Thursday for their third win in four games.
Tiu said Sabeliina is listed as doubtful for the 2 o’clock match-up at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City and possibly for a few weeks depending on the severity of his injury.
“He’s a big loss in our rotation. His absence will surely hurt our offense. Hopefully, the healthy ones will make up for his absence,” Tiu said.
Jumbo Plastic’s next three games are against teams in the bottom half of the team standings – MP Hotel, Racal Motors and AMA University — but Tiu stressed the bottom line is winning.
“It is important for us to win games that we are supposed to win. If we can’t do that it will be tough making the Top Four,” said Tiu, who expects a lot of physicality against the Warriors.
The Warriors (1-3) have lost their last two games and their desire to avoid a third defeat surely makes them dangerous.
In the other games, Racal Motors (1-3) faces AMA University (1-3) at 12 noon while MJM M-Builders (1-3) takes on Bread Story-LPU (1-3) at 4 p.m.
Racal Motors and MJM M-Builders are coming off breakthrough wins after a 0-3 start. The Alibaba defeated the Warriors, 78-65, while the Builders routed the AMA University Titans, 90-75, on Nov. 17. (DBC)
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