THE Flying V Thunder are not done winning yet.
The newcomers easily swept the eliminations of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup with 10 straight victories that would go down as a footnote if they don’t win it all.
“It will be a letdown if can’t win in the playoffs. At the end of the day, we want to go all the way and win a championship,” Flying V Coach Eric Altamirano declared.
But Altamirano was quick to admit that he and his troop can’t look past the semifinals.
The top-seeded Flying V faces No. 4 Centro Escolar University in a best-of-three series many believe the Thunder will dominate the same way they overpowered the opposition in the eliminations.
Game One is set at 3 p.m. at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
“Nobody expected us to be here [semifinals], but our collective effort made the difference,” CEU Coach Yong Garcia said.
“It will be tough beating Flying V in two games. But I kept reminding my players to treat every game as a championship match. Hopefully, our experience in the quarterfinals will make a difference in this series.”
Making league history should be an added motivation for the Thunder.
Flying V is four wins away from winning the championship via a 14-0 sweep. Only two teams—the 2012 and 2014 NLEX teams—topped the conference without a loss.
The other semifinal at 5 o’clock pits second-seed Cignal against dark horse Marinerong Pilipino.
The Hawkeyes are seeking to add the Foundation Cup to their Aspirants’ Cup title they won early this year. But Coach Boyet Fernandez said their chances don’t look good.
“If you look at it, we’re the underdog. We lost to Marinero twice: one practice game, one in the eliminations,” Fernandez said, recounting the Hawkeyes’ 66-65 defeat to the Skippers on June 8.
Late recruits Robbie Herndon and Renzo Subido, Fernandez said, has also transformed the Skippers into a tough contender.
“They have a totally different lineup from when we faced them,” Fernandez said.
The Skippers are on a seven-game winning streak and Coach Koy Banal is optimistic his chargers could keep it up.
“With God there’s no limit. But Cignal is no easy task, considering we will only have one day of preparation. So again, we will just rely on the right hand of God, the grace of God,” Banal said after his side erased a twice-to-win situation and eliminated Tanduay in the quarterfinals.