Blackwater head coach Jeff Cariaso hopes that the Bossing’s strong showing in the 2024 Philippine Cup could be a start of a promising run.

After finishing 1-10 last conference, Cariaso’s wards delivered big victories in the first two games after taking down two perennial contenders in Meralco and TNT to go 2-0 in the conference – the franchise’s best start since 2019.

The Bossing opened up the conference with a 96-93 win over the Bolts before following it up with an 87-76 decision over the Tropang Giga, 87-76.

The veteran mentor, however, was quick to play down the run, knowing full well that Blackwater still needs to earn everything it wants from hereon especially with teams also primed to get their grooves back after a couple of games

“I hope so,” said Cariaso when asked if the team’s 2-0 start could be the start to the franchise’s turnaround.

“We are very practical on how we do things. We know that we have to be at the top of the game if not better game in and game out to beat every team in the PBA because we know that every team has improved,” he added.

One of the younger teams in the league, Blackwater made some moves in the offseason after acquiring veteran players in the likes of James Yap, Rey Nambatac, Justin Chua and promising wingman Jaydee Tungcab.

It also helped that Troy Rosario has started to embrace his role as the team’s main gun while guys like Rey Suerte, RK Ilagan and even rookie Christian David all making solid contibutions.

The offseason movements seemed to be bearing fruit with the two wins but Cariaso doesn’t want the rare win streak to get into his players’ heads as they continue to focus on improving as one cohesive unit on the floor.

“We focus on us, improving. Taking two good steps alam naman namin, that's early two steps and we have to keep moving forward and keep working,” added the amiable mentor.