Head Coach: Leo Isaac
Key Players: Allein Maliksi, Mac Belo, JP Erram
Key Additions: Raymar Jose, Mike Cortez
Key Losses: Nino Cañaleta, Reil Cervantes, Chris Ellis
Fielding one of the most talented Blackwater crews in franchise history is enough for a lot of pundits to brand the Elite as a dark horse this 2018 PBA Philippine Cup.
But coach Leo Isaac doesn’t want any of those talks, saying that he’d rather let his team’s game do the talking.
“We’ll play it safe,” he said. “We don’t want to say words that we might not be able to fulfill. We’ll just give our very best every time we play and whatever experience and confidence we gained from last conferences, we’re hoping we could bring it this all-Filipino.”
Acquiring super scorer Allein Maliksi late last season, Blackwater may have just found the go-to guy it badly craved for since arriving to the league.
Add to that the rising play of Mac Belo, JP Erram, Mike DiGregorio, Roi Sumang, and rookie Raymar Jose, and the Elite may just very well stage one of the most shocking runs the league has ever seen.
On paper, Blackwater has positioned itself on a good spot, ready to compete with any team any given night, but Isaac knows that making that a reality is another monster of its own. That’s why he’s hoping that all of the sacrifice his team had in the offseason will eventually pay off.
“We have to content ourselves with developing players in hopes that someday, they will also be PBA superstars. But I can see that these guys have the potential to blossom as next PBA superstars,” he said. “We will give our very best because we’ve been training very hard. We expect ourselves to be a far better team than last year. There will be some surprises, but I think it will be due for our team because of the preparations that we have done.”
“I won’t say that easily, we will make the playoffs. What we know is we’ll give [teams] a run for their money.”
The question remains: Can Blackwater finally live up to its moniker and truly be elite?