Barako, RoS eye Dubai win

MANILA, Philippines—Barako Bull and Rain or Shine try to stay in the playoff picture of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup when they tangle before Filipino basketball fans in Dubai Sunday night (12 midnight, Manila time).

That’s how harsh this compressed conference is: Four losses and you could very well be on your way to the exit.

“It’s already desperation period for us. We’re on the verge of being on a panic mode,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao of his Elasto Painters, who dropped their first two games in the single-round eliminations.

Barako Bull’s Junel Baculi feels exactly the same way after losing two games in a row following a swashbuckling opening-day win.

“This Dubai trip is important for us,” he said. “We’re down to six steps to the playoffs. One misstep and we may be out.”

Only six out of the 10 teams will move to the playoffs and four losses could prove fatal.

The top two teams after the eliminations advance to the best-of-five semifinals outright while the next four teams tangle in a race-to-two quarterfinal affair to decide the other teams that will advance to the Final 4.

Between the Elasto Painters and the Energy, the former are at a disadvantage since Guiao’s boys will next face a well-rested crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra Kings the following day at the Al-Shabab Sports Club.

“They [Kings] have the time to acclimatize and watch us,” said Guiao.

All three teams are coming off setbacks.

The Elasto Painters squandered a 17-point lead and crumbled in the crunch against the Powerade Tigers, while the Kings (1-1) self-destructed in defense, failing to contain LA Tenorio from scoring seven points in the last 18 seconds in a 74-76 defeat to the Aces.

A devastating loss to the Air21 Express capped the back-to-back losses for the Energy.

“It’s not the lack of ability to win but the inexperience to close out games,” said Guiao. “It’s the same thing that happened to us in the Powerade (Philippine Cup semifinals) series. We’ve been too reliant on Paul Lee in closing out. Whatever you say, he’s a rookie.”

An obvious handicap for the E-Painters is their import. Duke Crews has been explosive but stands only 6-foot-7, at least three inches below the average height of the imports.