D-LEAGUE: JUMBO TRIES TO STICK CLOSE TO LEADERS
Jumbo Plastic looks to score a third straight W when they face the Racal Motors on Monday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
The Giants (4-1) are coming off back-to-back wins against Wangs Basketball and MP Hotel since losing to the Café France Bakers last Nov. 13. Jumbo Plastic coach Stevenson Tiu hopes his troops would sustain their winning attitude as they gear up for the playoffs.
“Every game counts. So it’s important for us to [win] games that we are supposed to win,” Tiu stressed.
While saying experience should work in their favor in the scheduled 12 noon encounter, Tiu cautioned that the Alibaba are no pushovers.
“They’re no longer a school-based team. The may still have some issues chemistry wise but that should not be a problem for coach Caloy (Garcia). His PBA experience should serve him in good stead,” Tiu said.
The other games pitting Bread Story-LPU against AMA University at 2 o’clock and Cebuana Lhuillier against MJM M-Builders at 4 p.m. also promise to be interesting as teams make a push for the playoffs halfway through the elimination round.
Jumbo Plastic is tied with idle Café France at third place behind unbeaten leader Hapee (5-0) and Cagayan Valley (4-0) but still in contention for an outright semifinal berth.
Injuries to forward Jan Colina (shoulder) and McLean Sabellina (fractured finger) and the loss of guards Brian Heruela and Janus Lozada due to various reasons have left the Giants undermanned.
But the second unit has done well in their absence the past two games and Tiu is counting on them once again as the Giants try stay within sight of the leaders.
The Alibaba (2-3) bring up the rear of the standings in the company of MP Hotel, MJM Builders and Tanduay Light but their desire to improve on their position makes them dangerous. (DBC)
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