A GLIMPSE of its immediate future should be had by Terrafirma when it tangles with Converge Wednesday in the PBA Season 49-opening Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The protagonists are each looking for an opening win that should serve them in good stead moving forward in the 10-game, intragroup format that also features defending champion TNT, opening day winner Meralco, NorthPort and Magnolia in Group A.
For Dyip coach Johnedel Cardel, new additions, led by two key players, and the reactivation of a seasoned veteran should help his side move in the right direction - perhaps even a second straight quarterfinals stint.
"Excited ang buong team and basta ang sinabi ko lang sa kanila, 'No pressure. Basta laro lang tayo and kung saan makarating okay pa rin,'" related Cardel.
Such guarded optimism is borne by the fact Terrafirma still has some work to do on team chemistry following the addition of Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle, Brent Paraiso and the return of Kevin Ferrer following an ACL tear he suffered in early June of last year.
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Mark Nonoy and CJ Catapusan also have to wrap up their MPBL commitments, leaving fellow rookies Paolo Hernandez and Didat Hanapi to hold the fort in the meantime for Terrafirma's newbies.
Also, import Antonio Hester just had a day of practice with the team after coming in last Monday as a last-minute replacement for Brandon Edwards, who suffered an ACL injury during a tune-up game with Meralco last week.
Gone are Stephen Holt and Isaac Go (to Barangay Ginebra), Javi Gomez de Liano (Korean league), JP Calvo and Eric Camson, who all helped the Dyip make the elite eight of the last Philippine Cup.
"Kailangan lang talaga mag-jell ulit. Hopefully, it will just take us a few games para ma-develop 'yung chemistry,," said Cardel. "May mga Nawala man, mga quality players naman kapalit so mas lumalim ang bench ko."
Apart from having to wait until top draft pick Justine Baltazar winds up his MPBL duties, Converge also did some tinkering with Franco Atienza now handling the reins in an interim capacity following the departure of Aldin Ayo.
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Atienza, who served as one of Ayo's deputies in the latter's four-conference stint with the FiberXers, sees little problem in his ascent, maintaining the system would basically remain the same for his intact lineup.
Fueling Atienza's optimism is the continued presence of Justin Arana, Alec Stockton, Bryan Santos, Mike Nieto, Schonny Winston and Patrick Maagdenberg, to name a few.
The well-traveled Scotty Hopson should also help Converge start avoiding the 3-19 record it wound up with last season. (NC)
