Rain or Shine and Converge, two teams in the middle pack of the standings, aim to stay within striking distance of the league leaders when they take on separate foes in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup double-header at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, May 28.
At A Glance
- Rain or Shine and Converge, two teams in the middle pack of the standings, aim to stay within striking distance of the league leaders when they take on separate foes in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup double-header at the PhilSports Arena on Wednesday, May 28.
Both the Elasto Painters and the FiberXers are well inside the Magic 8 so far although they are still outside the top 4 with the former sitting at the fifth spot with a 4-3 record while the latter is at sixth place with a 5-4 slate.
They both hope to improve that when Converge takes on the cellar-dwelling Terrafirma in the first offering at 5 p.m. and then Rain or Shine faces up against Phoenix in the second game at 7 p.m.
Between the two teams, however, the Elasto Painters have more chances of moving further up the standings with still four games remaining to their schedule, although they have to take care of business against the Fuel Masters first.
For one, Phoenix’s 2-5 record doesn’t entirely reflect its capabilities as it can give any other team problems on any given night especially with its young yet promising core that has Kai Ballungay, Ken Tuffin, Ricci Rivero and Tyler Tio to complement veterans Jason Perkins, RJ Jazul and RR Garcia.
Talking about young and promising teams, however, Rain or Shine should be the team on top of the head in such conversations with guys like Adrian Nocum, Andrei Caracut and Leonard Santillan all blooming to be the team’s main weapons.
The depth of head coach Yeng Guiao’s rotation should also pose a threat with Jhonard Clarito, Anton Asistio, Keith Datu all capable of spearheading ROS’ fast-paced offense.
Converge, on the other hand, should be the heavy favorite against Terrafirma.
The twin towers of Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar along with Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston expected to lead the charge for the FiberXers.
They cannot be complacent still even if they are up against a 1-7 Dyip as Terrafirma is surely raring to snap a seven-game slide and revive its flickering playoff hopes with a victory.