ALREADY on critical spots just five games into the tourney, Rain or Shine and Converge will be out to pump life on their sagging bids as they slug it out in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.
The FiberXers are winless in five starts and the Elasto Painters are slightly ahead at 1-4, having arrested a fumbling conference start with a 100-85 rout of the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters on March 31.
But coach Yeng Guiao and his troops are still in the woods, and they have a lot of catching up to do if they're to make it to the playoffs.
A source of hope for the E-Painters was a giant turnaround from a 0-5 start last conference, a feat that allowed them to salvage a spot in the post-elims play.
"At least 1-4 kami ngayon, may konting improvement. Tignan natin," said Guiao.
Sponsored content: Bleeding all season long is the FiberXers.
Some bright lights for this team come from Justin Arana, the Rookie of the Year last season who is still going great guns this campaign. The problem is lack of support.
Cranking it up on both ends the last time, the Elasto Painters pulled off a breakthrough triumph over Phoenix, with Adrian Nocum rifling in 28 points spiked by a sizzling 5-of-9 three-point shooting.
There were also Beau Belga and Jhonard Clarito combining for 39 points to help the team break off a slump.
Guiao felt they didn't do real bad in their losses.
Sponsored content: "Except for the loss to San Miguel, our previous losses were pretty close. We just couldn't close out games, we couldn't finish in the endgame. Hirap kami especially pag nagmimintis sa free throws. We also weren't getting our desired percentage sa three points," Guiao pointed out.
They hope to pick up from where they left off versus Phoenix as they try to make it two in a row against Converge. (SB)
