Ginebra starts tough weekend with Blackwater faceoff
Governors Cup titlist Barangay Ginebra braces for a rough weekend in the PBA Philippine Cup as it plays two tough opponents, starting with Blackwater Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome then Phoenix Petroleum Sunday over at the Philsports Arena.
“Big weekend for us,” said coach Tim Cone of their back-to-back matches which could clear the picture where the Gin Kings are headed to in the all-Filipino tourney.
The Kings are tottering on the fringes of the Magic Eight at 4-4 while the Elite and the Fuel Masters have both placed a foot on the quarterfinals with their identical 5-4 slates.
In Blackwater, the Kings face foes coming from a confidence-boosting 103-100 triumph over the Alaska Milk Aces.
Their upset of the Aces has made the Elite more optimistic not just of a playoff entry but a top finish in the one-round-robin elims phase.
At the very least, Blackwater will land a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinals with a sweep of its last two games against Ginebra and Star.
“We will be going all out for a win versus Ginebra. A win will put us
in a good position going into the playoffs,” said Blackwater coach Leo
Isaac.
Ginebra, meanwhile, is coming off an 83-72 blasting of Meralco over in Iloilo City Saturday where Joe Devance put in 19 points and became the latest member of the league’s elite 5,000-point club.
The question is whether the Gin Kings will finally break their win-loss-win-loss ride in the tourney.
Japeth Aguilar and his teammates set out for their game against Blackwater looking to finally nail first successive victories since their Governors Cup title run.
A win will get Ginebra to either joint third or joint fourth.
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