By Dennis Principe
Games Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. – NLEX vs Northport
6:45 p.m. – San Miguel vs Ginebra
Crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra will try to score a follow-up to its impressive opening day win when the Gin Kings return to the hardcourt in today’s PBA Philippine Cup action at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It won’t be an easy outing however for Ginebra as it is slated to face defending champion San Miguel Beer at 6:45 p.m.
Despite coming off a shock 124-118 loss to perennial doormats Columbian Dyip Friday night at the Cuneta Astrodome, San Miguel remains as the team to beat this conference as aside from keeping its championship core intact during the offseason, the Beermen added major firepower into their roster with the acquisition of volatile shooter Terrence Romeo.
“I guess he is able to find a home here with San Miguel. He was a bit aloof but only during his first day with the team but when I approached him to make him feel welcome, he has responded positively since,” said veteran forward Arwind Santos in Filipino.
A dogfight though could happen tonight as the Beermen are sure to make up for that humiliating loss to the Dyip while Ginebra is expected to pick up from where they left off, a 90-79 win over TNT KaTropa during last Sunday’s season opener at the Philippine Arena.
“One of the beauties of our team is we can beat you big and we can beat you small so the versatility of our team is a weapon for the coaching staff,” said Cone.
At the same time Cone is expecting a San Miguel team that would be able to maximize the presence of Romeo regardless of the negativity that has, at times, overshadowed the former FEU stalwart’s true on-court impact.
“They have an attack core and it wasn’t like, you know, Terrence came in and disturbed the core or (Christian) Standhardinger came in and disturbed and changed the core,’ said Cone. “The core is still very much there and they just added to it so I don’t think there’s going to be much missteps for them at all.”
In today’s first game set at 4:30 p.m., NLEX will have a rough road ahead of them as the Road Warriors battle NorthPort Batang Pier who seemed to have found a potent backcourt partner for resident star guard Stanley Pringle.
Batang Pier’s ballyhooed rookie Robert Bolick, picked third overall during the recent Rookie Draft, immediately made a huge splash in his PBA debut by scoring 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting during NorthPort’s 117-91 splattering of Blackwater Elite last Wednesday at the Big Dome.
NLEX just came from a tough 96-87 loss to Rain or Shine last Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome though they saw decent performances from the comebacking Kevin Alas and new recruit JP Erram.
Coming back from an ACL injury that sidelined him for nearly 11 months, Alas tallied 12 points in playing nearly 30 minutes against the E-Painters while Erram, who was acquired through a three-team trade during the offseason, came up with 10 points and five rebounds but had four turnovers in 26 minutes of action.
