Kings back in action
WITH newly-installed PBA”50 Greatest Players” enshrinee Scottie Thompson leading the way, Barangay Ginebra hopes to put aside the disappointment of another failed title bid as it opens its campaign in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup against unpredictable Terrafirma at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday.
Thompson is one of only two active players added to the PBA “50 Greatest Players” list during colorful ceremony at the Solaire North last April 11 and the former PBA MVP is expected to take up the scoring cudgels for the Gin Kings, who lost to the TNT Tropang Giga for the coveted titles in two import-laden tournaments.
“Maraming malalakas na teams, especially San Miguel and of course, TNT ulit. So I think it’s a 50-50 chance for us. Actually, lahat naman ng teams 50-50 sa All-Filipino,” said Thompson, who joined eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer and eight other PBA greats who were honored during the PBA’s 50th anniversary celebration just before the Holy Week break.
Thompson and the Kings will shoot for win No. 1 against the Dyip in the featured encounter of another doubleheader at 7:30 p.m.
“Masayang labanan ito,” added Thompson.
The Kings will also not take things lightly even against a Terrafirma side looking to make good showing in its farewell PBA tourney.
The Dyip opened their campaign with a 95-87 victory over Phoenix in the inaugural last April 4 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium before falling to Meralco Bolts, 80-118, last April 6 and NorthPort Batang Pier, 75-97, last April 12.
Also making their debut on Wednesday are the TNT Tropang Giga, who will battle NLEX Road Warriors starting at 5 p.m.
TNT coach Chot Reyes admitted the team started practicing only two Mondays ago after he gave the players some time off following their PBA Commissioner’s Cup title campaign that ended only March 28.
“We’ve had good practices pero hard to tell. Iba naman kasi practice sa laro,” said Reyes.
“We need games. Normally pagka ganyan we’d have tuneup games. Pero wala, eh, dahil nag-start kaming mag-practice umpisa na rin liga. So iyon ang problema, pero we can’t complain kasi kailangan naman talagang bigyan ng break mga players,” added Reyes in an interview posted at the official PBA website.
Games Wednesday:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. — NLEX vs. TNT
7:30 p.m. — Terrafirma vs. Ginebra
