CONVERGE’S 106-102 win over defending champion San Miguel Beer in their eliminations duel last Oct. 21 is now a thing of the past.
For starters, the Beermen showed up in that game without prized big man June Mar Fajardo due to a throat operation and it was import Devon Scott’s maiden match in the mid-season tourney.
“At that time, we didn’t have June Mar. Now we have June Mar, so I think we have a good chance of playing better with June Mar around,” SMB assistant coach Jorge Gallent said. “We have someone who can help us with the boards, score and be a presence inside the paint.
“We will watch a lot of tapes and watch what went wrong with that loss and we will find ways to get better at it,” he added.
The Beermen battle the FiberXers today in a tiff kicking off the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
Game 1 of the best-of-3 series pitting fourth-ranked Converge and fifth seed SMB is set at 3 p.m., before No. 3 Ginebra takes on No. 6 NorthPort in the opener of their race-to-2 showdown at 5:45.
The Beermen, coming off a 113-108 escape over Meralco five days ago to end with a 7-5 mark, will bank on Scott, Fajardo, CJ Perez, Vic Manuel, Marcio Lassiter, Jericho Cruz, and Mo Tautuaa.
After a seven-game winning run, Converge has lost its last two outings in the eliminations, counting a 96-115 defeat to the Kings seven days ago.
The likes of reinforcement Quincy Miller, Aljun Melecio, Maverick Ahanmisi, Jeron Teng, RK Ilagan, and Justin Arana will be counted upon by the FiberXers, who finished the elims with an 8-4 card.
Ginebra tactician Tim Cone is not one to look past the Batang Pier.
“We had a tough time against them in the last game. Early part of the fourth quarter, we were able to do a little bit of a breakaway,” Cone said, referring to his charges’ 122-105 thumping of NorthPort when they first met last Nov. 27.
“They are a talented team. They are a tough match-up particularly for us because we like to play big, and they like to play small and quick.”
The Kings wound up with a 9-3 record after the eliminations and will pin their hopes on import Justin Brownlee, reigning MVP Scottie Thompson, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Christian Standhardinger, Jamie Malonzo, Stanley Pringle, and Jeremiah Gray.
The Batang Pier absorbed a numbing 75-76 setback to Rain or Shine five days ago that dropped them to 6-6 after the elims.
Reinforcement Prince Ibeh, Robert Bolick, Roi Sumang, Arvin Tolentino, and Will Navarro will spearhead NorthPort’s charge.
