At A Glance
- Rain or Shine stakes its clean slate against All-Filipino champion San Miguel as they provide the fireworks to the PBA 51st Anniversary celebration on Wednesday, April 8, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Rain or Shine's Adrian Nocum spearheads the attack against SMB. (PBA Images)
Rain or Shine stakes its clean slate against All-Filipino champion San Miguel as they provide the fireworks to the PBA 51st Anniversary celebration on Wednesday, April 8, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Elasto Painters, currently with a 4-0 record, face an acid test against the Beermen in the main event at 7:30 p.m. and will come after the first offering where Blackwater is battling Titan Ultra at 5:15 p.m.
The Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup twin bill will be free for the PBA fans to watch on a first come, first served basis as part of the league’s celebration of its foundation on April 9.
But setting the festive mood aside, Rain or Shine is laser focused against San Miguel — a game that should also serve as a barometer to the playoff chances of the Elasto Painters even as they are currently at the top of the standings.
To be fair though, ROS’ list of victims are no pushovers having defeated Blackwater, Macau and perennial contenders TNT and Meralco.
The game, however, will be ROS' first test against teams from the SMC bloc, with the Beermen even riding a two-game winning streak including an 85-82 triumph over Barangay Ginebra just last Sunday, April 5.
SMB, for one, boasts a twin tower of June Mar Fajardo and Justin Patton along with other potent weapons in Don Trollano, CJ Perez and the returning Jericho Cruz.
But ROS isn’t one to cower against giant foes.
The Elasto Painters, on top of coming in well-rested, know how to neutralize their opponent’s size advantage with their speed — something that was evident in their victories against TNT which has 7-foot-3 beanpole Bol Bol and Blackwater, which has hulking import Robert Upshaw III.
Expected to spearhead that run-and-gun attack for ROS are Adrian Nocum, Andrei Caracut, Jhonard Clarito, Felix Lemetti and Gian Mamuyac while import Jaylen Johnson along with Caelan Tiongson and Santi Santillan man the paint