Sep 21, 2018

Rain or Shine gets campaign going after long layoff, faces new-look TNT KaTropa

After letting its coach and its core players render service to the country in the Asian Games, Rain or Shine returns to action in the local pro league, taking on a new-look TNT KaTropa team in a Petron Blaze Saturday Special in the PBA Governors Cup in Passi City, Iloilo.

Coach Caloy Garcia and his troops will be up against a TNT team that is virtually a new team with a new import in Marqus Blakely and a new set of coaches led by new head coach Bong Ravena and consultant Mark Dickel, a former player of coach Tab Baldwin in the New Zealand national team.

Game time is at 5 p.m. with the E-Painters determined to get to a winning conference debut while the Texters are hoping to improve on their struggling 2-4 win-loss start.

Obviously, the Texters' poor takeoff in the season-ending tourney triggered the shakeup of the TNT coaching staff.

Ravena, a longtime assistant coach, has been elevated to head-coaching position, leading a group that includes first assistant coach Eric Gonzales and second assistant Alton Lister.

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The team is likely to adopt a new system that will be a combination of that of Ravena and Dickel.

Dickel was a two-time Olympian as a player of the New Zealand team who made a transition to coaching in 2011. He was among the key players of Baldwin in New Zealand's breakthrough semifinal finish in the 2002 FIBA World Cup Championship in Indianapolis.

Meanwhile, Blakely is well familiar to PBA fans, being a two-time champion import with Magnolia. He is TNT's third import in this tourney after Michael Glover and Stacy Davis.

Blakely will be ranged against J'Nathan Bullock in the TNT-ROS matchup.

The E-Painters are coming off a long, long layoff, being the last team to play their first game in the Governors Cup, allowed to have extra time to prepare after the return of their core players from their Asiad duty.

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Going to battle with coach Yeng Guiao and Garcia in the Jakarta Asiad were James Yap, Gabe Norwood, Maverick Ahanmisi, Chris Tiu, Raymond Almazan and Beau Belga.


Norwood and Belga then stuck with Team Phl in matches versus Iran and Qatar in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers.(SB)