“We really have to work double time on the defensive end,” said Blackwater coach Bong Ramos prior to their 4:30 p.m. faceoff with the Beermen at Smart Araneta Coliseum. “Defense is the key.”
The Beermen will be without prized center June Mar Fajardo, who will sit out for seven weeks due to a stress fracture on his right shin.
But even without the four-time MVP, San Miguel Beer still came out lethal in a 125-112 walloping of the NLEX Road Warriors in its conference debut last Saturday.
“If we don’t focus on playing defense, we will definitely face a big problem against SMB,” said Ramos, whose Elite surprised contender TNT in overtime, 104-98, over a week ago.
While Blackwater’s Henry Walker and San Miguel’s AZ Reid can cancel each other out, the return of Poy Erram can certainly help Blackwater’s cause in the paint, where Christian Standhardinger has effectively covered for Fajardo.
Erram and Standhardinger were teammates in the national team which placed fifth in the recent 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.
The Elite could also lean on Allein Maliksi, Nards Pinto, Mac Belo and Michael DiGregorio in matching up with the Beermen’s elite core of Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross.
Also returning from his Asian Games tour of duty is Stanley Pringle, who will suit up with Sean Anthony to check NorthPort’s 0-3 slide against Barangay Ginebra in the other game.
“With Pringle and Anthony back in the fold, NorthPort is a completely different team than what we’ve seen so far this conference,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone. “With those guys, they are true contenders. It’s our third game in six days so energy will be a concern for us. We know we have a battle in our hands.”
The Kings, aiming to rule the season-ending conference for the third consecutive time, won their first two games on the heroics of super import Justin Brownlee.