MORE than pride is at stake when Blackwater squares off with Terrafirma Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Bossing are eyeing to snap out of a four-game slide that dropped them to a 1-7 record and virtually on the brink of being eliminated from the race to the eight-team quarterfinals.
A win, however, will keep Blackwater's hopes alive of playing off for a quarterfinals spot going to its last three games in the 12-game eliminations.
For their part, the Dyip have already been eliminated after losing all their first nine games and now just want to start yet another early exit with at least a win in their remaining three games.
At first glance, Terrafirma seems to be on the verge of a breakthrough following a sorry loss to Magnolia just last Friday.
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In that game, the Dyip displayed uncanny grit by engaging their favored foes in a heated battle that had seven deadlocks and 19 lead changes before the Hotshots managed to pull through following a 14-9 windup.
In contrast, Blackwater saw its losing streak capped by a 63-86 loss to Barangay Ginebra just last Sunday in a game where the Bossing failed to find an antidote to the Gin Kings' defense, resulting in a 13-point quarter that fully started the former's downfall.
Blackwater's latest production is a season-low for the league and is sure to fire up coach Jeff Cariaso's charges even more.
First, the other Bossing must give more than ample support to import George King, who scored 27 points on 10-of-20 field shooting while struggling against the Gin Kings' help defense.
Now comes a Terrafirma crew that has dangerous post players in Louie Sangalang and Vic Manuel, not to mention a guard rotation headlined by former GlobalPort (now NorthPort) stalwarts Stanley Pringle and Terrence Romeo.
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Following a long sidelining due to a right calf injury, Romeo finally saw action against Magnolia but was clearly still far from 100 percent, notching just three points and two assists in just over 13 minutes of action.
But even with the former many-time scoring champion still not in peak form, the Dyip also has the likes of Kevin Ferrer, Brent Paraiso and Brandon Edwards to contribute in the scoring department. (NC)
