CHICAGO - It’s a new normal in the PBA and I hope the trend continues because it’s some kind of wonderful.
After showing little signs of life for the longest time, the Blackwater Bossing appear to have emerged from a coma.
READ RK Ilagan sparks big finishing kick as Blackwater topples Phoenix
And that jolt of existence has resulted in a cluster of wins in the ongoing Season 50 PBA Governors' Cup.
On Tuesday night, the Bossing notched their third victory at the expense of group-leader Phoenix Super LPG, 106-100.
BURNING FUEL.
With this upset, which was powered by the combined 60 points of import Kentrell Barkley and Sedrick Barefield, Bkackwater halted a three-game skid.
And they did so by rallying from a 15-point deficit, a pleasant anomaly given that it’s the Bossing who usually surrender huge leads on the way to disappointing defeats.
Three wins in a conference is tantamount to a harvest at the Dioceldo Sy-owned franchise.
And it results in a feast for starved fans yearning for parity in the PBA.
With a 3-3 won-lost record in Group B play, coach Pat Aquino and his reinvigorated crew still need a lot of headway to be the playoffs.
THE BIG DANCE.
But the mere idea that Blackwater has injected itself in playoffs conversation is fascinating.
Once the poster child of lost causes, racking up a historic 29-game losing streak between late 2020 and early 2022, the Bossing are now championing a rebirth.
The facelift began to take shape when Aquino took over the helm this past April, bringing with him a championship pedigree that installed a culture of winning.
The top brass, particularly Sy and team manager Johnson Martinez, deserve credit for resisting the temptation to trade Barefield, Christian David, and Dolph Panopio.
Keeping those assets alongside a healthy and resurgent RK Ilagan have obviously done wonders.
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