CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The Pampanga Delta and the La Union PAOwer start their title series for the National Basketball League (NBL) Season 3 Black Arrow Express-President’s Cup on Thursday night at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
The match is set at 6 p.m. behind closed doors and under strict health protocols after it got an approval from the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Games and Amusements Board to stage a bubble in Pampanga.
Only the two teams decided to push through with their participation in the bubble that was set as the resumption of the playoff round.
The Delta will no longer have Encho Serrano and Justine Baltazar for the finals, but beefed up their roster by getting seasoned veterans Dexter Maiquez, Michael Juico, and Levi Hernandez, who all played for the Pampanga MPBL team recently.
But Pampanga team manager Alan Trinidad downplayed the label of being the favorites in the best-of-five championship series.
“I think it’s an even battle unless we finish the first game. After the first game, we can gauge the team. They say that I have a new line-up but that doesn’t make me [have] the advantage. Galing sila sa pahinga, galing sila sa liga, mga kalaban namin mga bata at tumatakbo. We have to work hard at ‘wag mag-pacing. Kapag pagod ka, papalitan ka namin,” said Trinidad, who has Pampanga governor Dennis Pineda as head coach of the squad.
La Union coach Louie Aquino is embracing the underdog status and will look for his main gunners Mitchelle Maynes and Jonathan Ablao in Game One.
“Alam naman natin na ang Pampanga, sobrang dami ng player diyan at alam naman natin na ang Pampanga, mas malayong nauna ang programa compared sa La Union. Sinasabihan ko na lang ‘yung mga player na maglaro lang tayo, i-enjoy lang natin ‘yung game. Ngayon kung maganda ang pinakita natin at nanalo tayo, bonus na ‘yun. ‘Yun lagi ang motivation namin sa series,” said Aquino.
“Siguro [underdog kami], kasi kami ang visiting team at obvious naman sa line-up, malayo ang diperensya sa height,” said Aquino.
The entire series will be aired live on the league’s Facebook page. Solar Sports will also carry the finals but on a delayed basis to be shown the following day.
Spin fans unite at the Spin Viber Community! Join the growing community now and complete the experience by subscribing to the Spin Chatbot.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
