TNT Tropang Giga and San Miguel Beer take on dangerous opponents in search of victories that would shore up their hopes for making the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Wednesday.
TNT plays Matt Mobley, who’s eight inches below the import height limit for the conference, when the Tropang Giga take on a victory-oriented Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons at 3 p.m.
San Miguel Beer, which like TNT is outside of the magic 8 on similar 4-5 won-lost records, square off with a Terrafirma side that should still be in euphoria after snapping a 25-game losing streak last Friday.
The Bay Area Dragons are playing well with 6-foot-2 import Myles Powell proficiently leading his team with averages of 37.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
But despite losing only two of their 11 games so far, Bay Area Dragons coach Brian Goorjian said they couldn’t be complacent as they aim for the top two spots for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
“It’s an important game for them as it’s an important game for us,” said Goorjian, noting that he respects his TNT counterpart Coach Chot Reyes. “Reyes is a man I respect and I like and I know his team’s going to be tough and prepared.”
TNT Team Manager Jojo Lastimosa believes Mobley can inject life into TNT’s sagging campaign.
“We expect Matt to be a creator and inject energy in our offense,” said Lastimosa of Mobley. “He’s not a big guy who can dominate inside but we are hoping we can make our team faster.”
Mobley, who replaced Cameron Oliver (sprained ankle), had stints in Germany, France, Turkey and Belgium.
The Beermen, on the other hand, are hoping the Dyip won’t be bringing the momentum of their 124-114 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors that pulled them out of the pit.
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