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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider PBA teams in 'crucial' stretch ahead of restart

PBA teams in 'crucial' stretch ahead of restart

Published Aug 29, 2021 02:59 pm

This week’s expected restart of the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations is considered very crucial for teams needing an early momentum in their quarterfinal bids.

Meralco Bolts (PBA)

Teams are scheduled to undergo RT-PCR tests, the final step before the league can map out the first set of games for the conference which was delayed for a month due to stricter restrictions imposed on Metro Manila.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial had earlier said that the Philippine Cup could start either with a tripleheader on Wednesday, Sept. 1 or a doubleheader on Thursday, Sept. 2.

Practices have started since last week in different venues around Pampanga as preparation for the restart and Meralco’s Raymond Almazan perhaps echoed everyone’s sentiments of the importance of the training sessions prior to the resumption of games.

“This one week (of practice) crucial sa amin, paano yung conditioning namin. At the same time, meron pa kaming nalimutan na sistema na dapat i-recall,” said Almazan during an interview with the program The Game.

Some teams could benefit from the long break since it gave injured players more time to recuperate.

Magnolia, currently on top at 4-0, lost Paul Lee during its win over Terrafirma prior to the break due to a hamstring injury while San Miguel Beer’s Terrence Romeo hurt his knee during a season-opening defeat to Meralco.

SMB, at 3-1, is not far behind Magnolia, TNT (3-0) and Meralco (4-1) in the standings and slightly above Rain or Shine (4-2).

Defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, with a 2-2 slate, is hoping that the break would not serve as hindrance after a slow start to its title-retention drive while NLEX, carrying the same record, will play without Kiefer Ravena possibly until the playoffs.

Alaska (2-3), NorthPort (1-3), Phoenix Super LPG (1-4) need a quick turnaround while winless Terrafirma and Blackwater, both at 0-4, will have to dig deeper if they can still keep themselves in the playoff hunt.

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