THERE is still an opening for Blackwater to make the PBA Governors Cup quarterfinals. But that hole is very tiny indeed and it would take a lot of doing on the Bossing's part before they could squeeze through.
Coach Jeff Cariaso maintains he and the rest of Blackwater are up to the task that starts with the game against Phoenix Super LPG Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After going winless through their first seven games in Group B, the Fuel Masters are out of the running for inclusion among the top four teams advancing to the last eight following the 10-game intragroup eliminations.
A Phoenix win over Blackwater, and by a margin of at least 13 points, plus victories over Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday and NLEX two days later would only put the Fuel Masters fifth in the bracket at best.
At 3-4 and in a tie for fourth in the group with NLEX, Blackwater has a little bit more leeway. But not much as it still has to contend with streaking SMB on Saturday and Rain or Shine at eliminations' end on Sept. 23.
Sponsored content: To land fourth and advance, the Bossing need to rack up more wins while hoping that the Road Warriors fail in all of their remaining assignments against Rain or Shine, Phoenix and Ginebra.
"Lahat na lang ng natitirang big game, every day big game," noted Cariaso.
"Lahat sila mabigat, each a big challenge," added Cariaso. "Pero ready naman kami. We'll be ready both mentally and physically."
First order of business for Blackwater is to apply the lessons it learned from a 98-112 loss to Ginebra last Tuesday.
"The last few days we've been working on how to improve, defend better," related Cariaso.
Sponsored content: "In fairness to Ginebra they were really well-prepared," added Cariaso. "There were things that we expected pero hindi kami nakapag-execute, so it made it harder for us."
Avoiding the listless start that caused them to trail the Gin Kings by as many as 17 points in the second period is also a must, according to Cariaso. "Hopefully, maganda maging start naming," he said. "Against Ginebra medyo bad start 'yun, e. So we have to start better." (NC)
