MANILA, Philippines — Rain or Shine and San Miguel Beer collide in an early meeting between the two powerhouse squads in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations Tuesday even as retooled Globalport tests newcomer NLEX in an interesting doubleheader at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Elasto Painters, runners-up to eventual Grand Slam champion San Mig Coffee, now Purefoods, last season, and the Beermen slug it out in the 7 p.m. contest for the right to join rookie team KIA and Barangay Ginebra for the early lead.
Globalport, starring No. 1 draft pick Stanley Pringle, gets going at 4:15 p.m. against NLEX, the third new club this season which will field the core of the Air21 franchise it bought to join the league.
The Elasto Painters will be starting a fresh era with former Rookie of the Year Paul Lee as they try to get off to a good start in a campaign to win a first all-Filipino crown for mercurial head coach Yeng Guiao.
Reigning MVP June Mar Fajardo will be coming off a dominant season and a respectable stint in two international events for Gilas Pilipinas.
The 6-foot-10 cornerstone has led San Miguel in lieu of Arwind Santos, another former MVP who was his willing backup last season.
This game will also mark the return to head coaching duties of Leo Austria, who won an Asean Basketball League title for San Miguel before being tapped to take over from Todd Purves this season.
Fajardo will be Guiao’s main concern as the Painters are relatively short-handed in the frontline with Beau Belga, at just over 6-foot-4, being their best banger.
Sophomore pro Raymond Almazan, the former NCAA MVP out of Letran, should be a far better player from last season.
He looked to have bulked up a bit during the traditional parade of teams on Sunday at Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Lee, though, is still Rain or Shine’s heart and soul and will come into this season a vastly improved player, also after playing for the Philippines in the Fiba World Cup, the Asian Games and the Fiba Asia Cup in China earlier.
Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood are the other reliable players returning for Guiao, while San Miguel will still parade a talented rotation of swingmen led by Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter.
Impressive in the off-season with Pringle, much is expected this time from the Batang Pier, who won just a combined two games in the last two conferences under coach Pido Jarencio.
“We’re definitely better than a one-win (per conference) team,” Pringle had told the Inquirer in a chance meeting in Seoul, South Korea, during the Batang Pier’s buildup three weeks ago.
“I’m excited to be finally playing in the PBA.”
Globalport is a guard-heavy team with sophomore Terrence Romeo and veteran all-star Alex Cabagnot completing what team owner Mikee Romero describes as his “three-headed monster” combination.