By JONASTERRADO
BLACKWATER tries to slay another giant in defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel tonight when the two unbeaten teams clash for the solo lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Elite will attempt to pull off the same trick that enabled them to beat TNT KaTropa and the San Miguel Beermen earlier in the conference and extend their best start in team history to 4-0 in the 7 p.m. meeting with the Kings.
Ginebra is likewise looking for win No. 4 and gain some momentum before Sunday’s marquee encounter with San Miguel also at the Big Dome.
San Miguel takes on winless Columbian Dyip at 4:30 p.m., looking to bounce back from losing 103-100 to Blackwater last Sept. 5.
Coach Bong Ramos hopes to see Blackwater capitalized on Wednesday’s hard-earned win over NorthPort and enhance its status as a team on the rise.
Blackwater had to rally from two double-digit deficits behind a number of players to post a 113-111 victory.
“We want to face Ginebra coming from a win because that will be a good momentum for us,” Ramos said after his boys’ spirited comeback.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone will be in a quandary as to how he’ll deal with the absences of Greg Slaughter, Joe Devance, Sol Mercado, Jervy Cruz, Julian Sargent and Raymond Aguilar due to injuries.
But he’s hoping to see the Kings benefit from the strong plays of Scottie Thompson and Japeth Aguilar for the national team in the recent FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in order to survive the grueling stretch.
“We will lean on them to push us through these back-to-back games,” Cone said. “When it gets tough, the tough get goibng. We’ll see if we can live up to that.”
Meanwhile, San Miguel will still miss June Mar Fajardo due to his injured right shin but is banking on Christian Standhardinger to keep his consistent play both here and abroad.
Standhardinger averaged 28.0 points per game this conference while scoring 30 points for the national team in last week’s World Cup Qualifiers loss to Iran.
BOLTS IN A BIND
Meantime, injuries and eligibility concerns have put the Meralco Bolts in a dilemma ahead of their stint in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup slated Sept. 27 to Oct. 2 in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Coach Norman Black all but ruled out veterans Ranidel de Ocampo and Jared Dillinger due to injuries while Chris Newsome hopes to be cleared to play as a local player for the club tournament which will be participated by a PBA team for the first time.
The Bolts will be reinforced by 7-foot-1 former Barako Bull import Liam McMorrow as they look to hurdle a tough Group B composed of defending champion Al Rayyan of Lebanon, Japan’s Alvark Tokyo and Thailand’s Mono Vampire.
