SMB out to check skid
Games today (MOA Arena) 4:30 p.m. – Columbian Dyip vs Alaska 7 p.m. – San Miguel vs Blackwater
San Miguel Beer takes on Blackwater tonight at the MOA Arena, promising to regroup and avert further slide after suffering a first back-to-back losses in the elimination round of the PBA Philippine Cup in five years.
The Beermen are optimistic it’s too early in the tournament and they still have all the time to figure out their mistakes and start winning again in chase of an all-Filipino five-peat.
June Mar Fajardo and his teammates are bunched with NLEX, Columbian Dyip and Meralco at sixth place at 2-3 going to their 7 p.m. duel with Blackwater which has been struggling even worse at 1-3.
Columbian Dyip also seeks to stop a twogame skid as it tangles with Alaska Milk in the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser.
The Dyip dropped their last two outings against the NLEX Road Warriors and the Barangay Ginebra Kings but are hopeful against an Alaska side crippled by injuries to Vic Manuel, Jvee Casio, Kevin Racal and Simon Enciso.
Alaska struggled all night in its season debut, yielding a 72-85 loss to Rain or Shine Sunday.
Back in the SMB-Blackwater match, the Beermen are the odds on picks despite losses to the TNT KaTropa and to the Elasto Painters.
“It’s not yet late. We’ll regroup and we’ll see what we can do to correct our mistakes,” said Arwind Santos, aching to make up for his absence in their last game to due to a case of food poisoning.
NOTES: NLEX guard Kevin Alas re-tore the ACL in his right knee in a freak accident in their game against Meralco Saturday. “I admit this is very depressing and frustrating because I worked my ass off for the past 10 months just to be healthy and be at peak shape,” said Alas on his Twitter account. “This is a tough situation for me, but tough times don’t last. This will only make me more resilient and much stronger.”