WHICH teams would be quicker to pick up from where they left off would be known today when the PBA Philippine Cup finally resumes at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
TNT and Blackwater kick off the day’s tripleheader, which the league decided on as part of moves to make up for lost time following a month-long play stoppage and hasten the severely-disrupted conferences’ windup by late October.
San Miguel Beer and Terrafirma clash in the second game, followed by the match pitting unbeaten leader Magnolia against Meralco.
The Beermen want to make it three straight wins and improve their record to 4-1. To do that, they would be coming in full force with the return of Terrence Romeo from a minor knee injury he suffered in their season-opener.
“Everybody is excited dahil nga finally makakalaro na ulit,” said SMB coach Leo Austria, adding his players have the extra motivation of helping June Mar Fajardo get over his grief following the sudden passing of his mother early last month.
“Nakikita ko sa kanila they are too eager to play, lalo na para kay June Mar na last few days nakaka-ngiti-ngiti na,” related Austria. “Gusto nila, naming lahat, na tumawa na talaga si June Mar.”
Terrafirma is still having manpower problems with Joshua Munzon, Roosevelt Adams, Gelo Alolino and Christian Balagasay all nursing injuries, leaving coach Johnedel Cardel with just 11 healthy players to work with.
Cardel remained hopeful his team could pull off a man-sized upset that would not only cut short the Dyip’s 0-4 start to the tournament but also put an end to their 12-game losing streak dating back to last year’s edition of the same tournament.
“Habang tumatagal na walang panalo pahirap ng pahirap i-motivate mga players,” admitted Cardel. “But upbeat pa rin naman ang mga players and I told them na basta mag-tulungan, be unselfish and i-adopt ‘yung mindset na it’s not who you play but how you play.”
Magnolia admittedly still has some kinks to iron out but coach Chito Victolero believes his team will quickly get back the form that carried them to a 4-0 start and dispel the threat of 4-1 Meralco.
“I think ready naman ang team ko,” said Victolero. “Of course, may konting adjustment pa mga players sa condition at timing, but tingin ko naman habang tumatagal ‘yung game makukuha din nila ‘yung mga ‘yun.
“We’ll just try to focus and give emphasis sa defense at rebounding namin.”
Like in TNT’s first game and before it got off to a 3-0 start, coach Chot Reyes had some trepidation going into the match with Blackwater.
“A bit of excitement and apprehension,” was how Reyes put it. “The former over the fact we’re finally getting to play. The latter because we don’t know what shape we will be.”
Blackwater coach Nash Racela practically echoed the same sentiment, adding he doesn’t really know how the Bossing would fare after just a week of scrimmages since entering the semi-bubble set-up in the province Monday of last week.
“We tried our best with the preparation time given us, which is one week, to get back condition, to get back our timing,” said Racela. “Hopefully, again, one week would be enough.”
The sense of urgency is especially heightened for Blackwater since its 0-4 start has stretched its winless skein to 12 dating back to last year.
“Maka-isang panalo lang naman magtutuloy-tuloy na, hopefully,” said Racela.
