WITH an excellent win-loss record and a third place finish in the eliminations, from Converge’s standpoint, there is no longer an excuse not to make a deep run in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup.
The FiberXers enter the quarterfinal round of the Commissioner’s Cup with a lot of promise after finishing with an 8-4 win-loss slate, equalling their franchise record for victories that they notched during the 2022-23 season of the same conference.
In the season-opening Governors’ Cup, the FiberXers made strides by taking San Miguel to the fifth and final game of the quarterfinals before being ousted.
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Now, head coach Franco Atienza believes that the FiberXers have what it takes to make it past the quarterfinals after their performance in this season’s Commissioner’s Cup, something that the franchise hasn’t achieved ever since they bought the Alaska franchise two seasons ago.
“So ngayon ang goal is to be better on how we perform last conference. Wala ng moral victory sa amin. Kailangang manalo na kami,” said Atienza.
Rain or Shine is standing in the way of Converge’s title bid. The Elasto Painters are the No. 6 seed with a 7-5 win-loss record, just a game back of the FiberXers.
Converge and Rain or Shine will kick off their best-of-three quarterfinal showdown on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum. The FiberXers defeated the Elasto Painters, 103-96, last January 14.
“We will give it a good fight. Again, ang goal namin is to go deeper than we did last conference. And hopefully, we get our guys complete,” said Atienza.
The FiberXers are entering their fifth quarterfinal appearance in their franchise history and a similar finish will be an underachievement for the squad.
“It’s a good elimination spot pero natatapos ito. Balewala ‘yung good finish at the eliminations kung hindi namin ma-follow through sa playoffs,” Atienza said.
The final game of the elimination round saw Justin Arana miss the game due to a hyperextended left knee in their January 19 match against Blackwater at the Ynares Center.
With Arana out, the FiberXers were shorthanded in their January 24 contest against San Miguel and lost that game, 116-113.
But Arana had a lot of time to recover, and Atienza is confident that the Converge big man is ready to play against Rain or Shine.
“For sure, makakabalik na si Justin dahil he is doing his part,” said Atienza.
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