BLACKWATER may be struggling to gain traction in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup but guest team Eastern expects the Bossing to provide a tough challenge when they meet Tuesday.
After showing their mettle against reigning Governors' Cup kingpin TNT in a 105-84 romp, the cagers from Hong Kong (3-1) shift focus on the new task of dealing with a Bossing crew (0-2) that's hell-bent on finally breaking through in their 5 p.m. tiff at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
A victory will enable the charges of Mensur Bajramovic to get out of a tie with idle NLEX (3-1) and take solo third behind NorthPort (4-0) and Meralco (3-0).
"Each game is tough, each game is a new challenge. PBA teams have different styles of playing and for each game we need to make adjustments," said the Bosnian mentor, whose squad is juggling playing stints in the PBA, the domestic league in HK as well as the East Asia Super League.
Eastern's only loss in Asia's first play-for-pay league so far came at the hands of Rain or Shine, 81-99, in a game that yielded several lessons for Bajramovic's wards.
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"We didn't play well against Rain or Shine, we didn't rotate and switch well on defense and we didn't move the ball," he noted.
With Glen Yang back after missing the ROS gig due to passport issues, Eastern made a quick course correction and quickly bounced back against the shorthanded Tropang Giga.
Another good lesson well learned is being wiser in handling Metro Manila's traffic jams.
The Cameron Clark-powered HK club's bus ride from its hotel in Quezon City took so long that they arrived late at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium during warm up time already.
"This (traffic congestion) was a big problem. We already did taping and dressing in the bus actually because we didn't predict well the (travel) time we needed. Now, we know Manila very well," said Bajramovic. "So now we will change our time of leaving from the hotel to come early."
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The venue in San Juan is also closer to Eastern's home base than the NAS.
Meanwhile, the George King-reinforced Bossing are raring to take down the HK cagers and get going after a fumbling start against Magnolia (100-118) and NLEX (95-107).
King and Co. will come into the game with fresher legs off a nine-day break. (OL)
