BLACKWATER and Alaska did not get off to the fine start they wanted in the PBA Commissioner's Cup.
But there's still enough time -- and games -- to recover, beginning with the collision between the Elite and Aces Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Blackwater has dropped its first two games against Columbian Dyip and Phoenix, moving it closer to its 0-4 start in the same tournament last year.
For its part, Alaska also had an unpleasant debut, getting edged out by Rain or Shine 103-109 in overtime just last Friday.
With each combatant aching to get untracked, expect their meeting to be a real scratch-and-claw affair.
Sponsored content: Elite coach Leo Isaac said it would all be a matter of how his charges match up against Alaska's vaunted pressure.
"We need to play with a lot of energy from the start until the end of the game," said Isaac, in part referring to the way his Elite finished in a 102-107 loss to the Fuel Masters last Wednesday.
In that game, Blackwater came charging back from an early 22-point deficit to catch up at 98, only to fade inside the last two minutes.
Alaska also did much of the chasing against Rain or Shine. The Aces did succeed in forcing OT, but only through Chris Banchero's buzzer-beating triple.
It's just that the Elasto Painters simply had more to spare in the extension, thus spoiling Antonio Campbell's impressive 40-point, 20-rebound performance in his very first game in the league.
Sponsored content: The burden is now on Blackwater to figure out a way on how to contain Campbell, as well as Alaska's other main threats in Calvin Abueva, Vic Manuel, Jeron Teng, Jayvee Casio and Banchero.
For the Aces, limiting the production of Jarrid Famous, averaging 27 points and 19 rebounds, apart from Mark Belo, Allein Maliksi, JP Erram and Mike Digregorio, should be crucial.(NC)
