ONE GAME AT A TIME
Beermen refuse to look far, stay focused on Converge
Games today: (Philsports Arena) 4:30 p.m. — Converge vs San Miguel 7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT
Unbeaten San Miguel Beer tries to set one foot inside the quarterfinals when it faces winless Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup today at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Still unblemished after five outings, the defending champions are fancied to get past the struggling FiberXers in their 4:30 p.m. encounter to draw closer to a playoffs seat.
But head coach Jorge Gallent doesn’t want his wards to look far ahead. He just wants the Beermen to tackle the current task at hand.
“One game at a time. So now we only think of Converge. That’s the ladder,” Gallent said.
“We have 11 steps, we’re going towards (the next) six steps. That’s what we think of. The quarterfinals (seat) is not yet with us. It’s not there so we’re not thinking of it.”
San Miguel is coming off over a week of rest after beating Terrafirma in a close decision, 113-110, last 10 April.
Converge, on the other hand, is desperate to keep its head above water.
With a 0-7 slate, the FiberXers have no more room for mistake as another loss would kick them out of the playoffs race following their 107-113 loss to Phoenix last Friday.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra battles TNT Tropang Giga at 7:30 p.m. with both squads staking their twogame winning runs.
The Kings aim to solidify their spot in the top four as they try to improve their 5-3 card despite missing athletic wingman Jamie Malonzo due to a calf injury.
Malonzo will be out for at least six to eight weeks after slipping and hurting his left leg in the closing seconds of Ginebra’s 95-88 win over NorthPort last Sunday.
Kings head coach Tim Cone will now bank on rookie Ralph Cu to continue his stellar performance and fill the void left by Malonzo. Cu was the hero of Ginebra’s latest conquest coming a dish shy of a triple-double after putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“That used to be a deep position for us, now, it’s pretty thin. But if we continue to get the kind of games we got from Ralph, that’s what we talk about in terms of the next man up,” Cone said.
“Sidney’s (Onwubere) gonna have to step up, Stanley (Standhardinger) stepping up some more so that’s the position that we have to fill out with Jamie not ready to go.”
The Tropang Giga sport a 4-3 card bunched in the tight middle of the pack.
After blowing hot and cold at the start of its campaign, TNT has shown some stability after notching its first consecutive wins in all-Filipino conference beating Meralco, 92-90, last 7 April and NLEX, 104-101, last Saturday in Candon, Ilocos Sur.