BARAKO Bull faces a confident Kia five on Sunday as the Energy target a rare 3-0 start in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.
The Energy and the Carnival—both coming off huge upsets—clash in the opener at 3 p.m.
In the main game, sister teams Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer collide in a battle of winless teams at 5:15 p.m.
The Energy of Head Coach Koy Banal enter the game with fresh legs, having played their last game last Sunday in Biñan, Laguna, where they pulled off a 69-68 escape over the Kings for their second straight win.
But Kia is also coming off an inspiring win, shocking the All-Filipino champions Beermen, 88-78, to snap a two-game skid and give playing Coach Manny Pacquiao a fitting present in his return to the bench.
It was the franchise’s second victory in the league after going 1-11 in the Philippine Cup and Head Coach Chito Victolero is confident they could pile up more wins this conference. “The players are working hard every day. Talagang one game at a time lang ang focus namin,” said Victolero, who called the shots while Pacquiao was in the United States to attend to personal matters.
“Malaking bagay rin ‘yung import namin. He’s a good leader and his leadership is helping us so far,” he added.
Victolero is referring to 7-foot-4 Peter John Ramos, the former Puerto Rican national team center who is giving Kia a different look this tournament.
Ramos had 22 points and eight rebounds against the Beermen before fouling out but the locals completed the job on the efforts of LA Revilla (12 points), Mark Yee (11) and JR Cawaling (10).
The Carnival will be up against a Barako Bull squad that got involved in a three-team trade with Ginebra and San Miguel last week.
The Energy sent their enforcer Dorian Peña to the Kings and got the seldom-used Justin Chua. The Beermen received Jay-R Reyes in that deal.
But Peña’s exit might only pose a little effect on Banal’s frontline rotation as import Solomon Alabi has been pretty consistent for the Energy.
Alabi had 13 points and 20 rebounds against the Kings, while locals Chico Lanate (17 points), JC Intal (14) and Dave Marcelo (11) contributed big offensively to stun Ginebra.
The Kings of Head Coach Ato Agustin, meanwhile, hope to arrest a two-game slide against San Miguel Beer.
Ginebra beefed up its frontline with the acquisition of Peña as Michael Dunigan has yet to flash his old form. Dunigan had a disappointing 11-point, 12-rebound game against Barako Bull and shot just three-of-13 from the field. Dunigan will be up against Ronald Roberts, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds in his PBA debut. June Mar Fajardo (18) and Arwind Santos (14) were the only other Beermen to hit double figures in scoring in that loss.
Image credits: PBA Image