Former national team player Ricci Rivero marks his return in the half-court game when he makes his debut in the PBA 3×3 on Saturday at Robinsons Place in Manila.
The 24-year-old guard will be donning the Blackwater jersey in the Third Conference of Season 2 as the standalone tournament is down to its final leg before holding the P1 million grand finale next week.
Rivero, who played for the national team in the 2015 U18 3×3 World Championship and the 2018 U23 3×3 World Cup, has been activated by the Red President and will join brother Prince Rivero, Hubert Cani, and Alfrancis Tamsi during the pool play on Day 1 of competitions.
Blackwater kicks off the 12-game schedule at 11 a.m. as it goes up against NorthPort in Pool A that also included Leg 5 champion Platinum Karaoke.
In Pool B are Cavitex, runner-up to Platinum in last week’s championship, Barangay Ginebra, and Terrafirma, while Pool C will have TNT, Purefoods, and J&T Express.
Rounding up Pool D is Meralco, San Miguel, and Pioneer Elastoseal.
Meanwhile, Platinum Karaoke guns for a back-to-back championship with a different look as Raphael Banal and Yutien Andrada will suit up for the team together with Brandon Bates and Yves Sazon.
Banal and Andrada replaced Nico Salva and Terrence Tumalip.
The top eight teams after the pool games will advance to the knockout stage on Sunday, where the champion receives the top prize money of P100,000.
The season’s last grand finals is set Feb. 25-26 also at Robinsons Manila, where the top 10 teams with the highest tour points at the end of the six-leg tournament are seeing action.
The top four teams to finish are automatically seeded in the playoffs, while the six others play in the pool round to fight for the remaining four berths in the knockout phase.
