BARAKO Bull collides with a young sister team in Shopinas.com in the 37th Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Friday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Coming off a huge 100-86 triumph over defending champion Talk ’N Text on Wednesday, the Energy eye their third-straight win when they take on the Clickers at 5:15 p.m.
The Tropang Texters battle the struggling B-MEG Llamados in the 7:30 p.m. match.
Barako Bull ended a 14-game losing streak to Talk ’N Text and the win somehow gave the Energy the momentum—and some respect in the tournament.
“It’s a good feeling to be up among the leaders despite our team not rated [high] at the start of the tournament,” said head coach Junel Baculi. “Hopefully we can sustain the momentum because we will be facing a very young team [Shopinas].”
After dropping its opening game to league-leader Petron Blaze, Barako went on to win its next two assignments. Baculi said their defense and balanced offensive earned them those victories.
“One big factor was our defense. The veterans are willing to defend and they are also willing to share the ball,” he said.
Two-time Most Valuable Player Willie Miller exploded for 27 points, his best output in the last five conferences, while No. 10 overall pick Dylan Ababou had another 20-point performance for the Energy.
Ababou, who was benched by Baculi against the Boosters, also had 20 markers in their 88-75 win over Barangay Ginebra.
“Maganda ang sistema ng team. Kung sino open, may lisensya tumira kaya kung sino mainit, doon kami,” said Miller. “Importante kasi sa amin manalo, hindi kung sino ang maka-iskor.”
Mick Pennisi also had his best output in the last seven conferences with 18 markers. Veterans Don Allado, Dorian Peña, Wynnie Arboleda and Leo Najorda also contributed especially on defense.
Barako Bull expects a run-and-gun game against the Clickers of head coach Franz Pumaren who have yet to win in three games.
Meanwhile, the Tropang Texters will try to recover from their recent loss, their first after a 2-0 start, as they go up against the Llamados, who are toting a 1-2 mark.
B-Meg was beaten by an undermanned Meralco team on Saturday, 78-84, denying new head coach Tim Cone of posting his first back-to-back wins with his new team.
Talk ’N Text mentor Chot Reyes said the Llamados present the same problem like what they encountered against the Energy.
“We were exposed as a team versus Barako Bull,” said Reyes as the Tropang Texters played without Kelly Williams (vacation) and Ranidel de Ocampo (broken nose) for the third-straight game.
“We will have difficulty against teams of superior size and heft and the same situation with B-Meg, plus more. Let’s see how we bounce back,” he added.
The Llamados will be bannered by James Yap, Kerby Raymudo, Peter June Simon and Marc Pingris though despite of the talent-laden roster, the team has yet to fully grasp the triangle offense brought Cone to the team.
In Photo: Willie Miller tries to ward off the sticky defense of Jason Castro in their game on Wednesday night.
