BATANG PIER EYE W TO AVOID COMPLICATIONS
Win their last game in the elims, and they won’t worry about complications of ties.
The GlobalPort Batang Pier still have this luxury, and they try to cash in on this in tangling with the San Miguel Beermen in the penultimate playdate of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup elimination round at the Smart Araneta ColiseumTuesday.
On the other hand, the Beermen vow to play their best to salvage anything they can – perhaps a respectable exit in the mid-season tourney.
Game time is at 7 p.m. with the Batang Pier automatically landing a place in the quarterfinals with a win due to a superior quotient in whatever ties.
A 22-point rout of Alaska and an 18-point demolition of Barako Bull have assured GlobalPort much buffer in quotient tiebreaks that would involve the three of them.
One possible scenario is a four-way tie for fifth among GlobalPort, Barako Bull, Alaska and Barangay Ginebra at 5-6.
In such eventuality, the Batang Pier are assured of a quarters entry.
But a GlobalPort loss would be risky especially if Barako Bull wins over NLEX in the day’s other game.
“The idea is not to think about the quotient and concentrate on our job to win the game,” said GlobalPort coach Eric Gonzales.
San Miguel still has an outside chance of making the quarterfinals, but the Beermen would need an extra lot to do it.
The Philippine Cup titleholder gets a shot at the last quarters berth via a quotient tiebreak with a win over the Batang Pier coupled by losses by Barako Bull to NLEX and by Barangay Ginebra to Alaska on Wednesday.
For coach Leo Austria, the idea is just to play the best they can.
If they fail to make it, the Beermen are ready to face the consequence of a fumbling start in the Commissioner’s Cup after ruling the all-Filipino tourney. (SB)
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