MPBL

San Juan seeks revenge

October 5, 2024 People's Tonight 428 views

SAN Juan seeks revenge while Manila eyes a repeat when they tackle lower-rated rivals on Saturday at the start of the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season playoffs at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The San Juan Knights, the North Division top qualifier with a 26-2 card after the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament, are pitted against the Rizal XentroMall Golden Coolers, the eighth and last qualifier with a 15-13 slate, at 8 p.m.

Rizal, however, boasts a 104-100 triple-overtime stunner over San Juan on June 10, which the Knights are expected to avenge owing to their deeper and bester roster.

Manila SV Batang Sampaloc, the No. 4 qualifier, clashes with Caloocan, the fifth seed, at 6 p.m., with the Stars slightly favored to duplicate their 69-66 victory over the Batang Kankaloo on April 23 at the San Andres Sports Complex.

In their first encounter, Manila’s Greg Slaughter and Jorey Napoles weren’t around yet, so the 7-footer Slaughter and the versatile Napoles will be additional problems to solve for the Batang Kankaloo led by Jeramer Cabanag, Joco Tayongtong, Gabby Espinas, Paul Sanga and Reil Cervantes.

Bidding to regain the MPBL crown it won in 2019, San Juan will draw power from Orlan Wamar, Nikko Panganiban, AC Soberano, Joshua Torralba, Michael Calisaan, Dexter Maiquez, Zach Huang, Reynel Hugnatan and Mike Malonzo.

The Golden Coolers are banking on Kraniel Villoria, Alwin Alday and Marco Balagtas to carry them through.

San Juan coach Sen. Jinggoy Estrada expects a tougher campaign for the Knights in the playoffs, where he expects North No. 2 Pampanga, No. 3 Nueva Ecija, and South top qualifier Quezon Province and Zamboanga to shine.

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