CONVERGE and Rain or Shine are being noticed even by the other top brasses of the PBA – the board of governors.
A couple of them who were present during Wednesday’s pre-season press conference said that based from their offseason moves and their performance over the past conferences, they expect the FiberXers and the Elasto Painters to figure prominently in the race for the title.
Of course, the traditional powerhouse squads such as reigning Philippine Cup champion San Miguel, TNT, and Barangay Ginebra will stay in the hunt for the title, but the road has become tougher due to the emergence of Converge and Rain or Shine.
“Lahat naman, ‘yung goal is to be in the playoffs, to be in the semis, to be in the final,” said NLEX team governor Ronald Dulatre. “But based doon sa mga tune-up games that we played, siguro ‘yung Converge medyo maganda ‘yung tinatakbo.”
READ: Delta tempers expectations after Converge's strong preseason run
Dulatre can speak from experience as NLEX was blown out by Converge by 30 points during their tune-up game, 128-98.
Juan Gomez de Liano, Converge's No. 2 pick in the 50th Season, has been one of the biggest reasons for the FiberXers' emergence, and has been compiling excellent numbers in their four victories during the preseason.
"But of course, nandiyan pa rin San Miguel, Talk ‘N Text, Ginebra, and Magnolia with their new coach (LA Tenorio)," Dulatre added.
Magnolia team governor Jason Webb said the emergence of the young teams such as Rain or Shine, semifinalist in all three conferences of the 49th Season, will be an added challenge in their bid to go farther in the playoffs.
“I think when you talk about the Philippine Cup, it is owned by San Miguel. If you want to get through and do well in the Philippine Cup, you have to pass through San Miguel,” said Webb, who has been with Magnolia as a head coach and assistant coach before moving to the front office role.
“But when you look at the younger teams that have become a problem at nagpapahirap sa ibang mga teams, you have to talk about Rain or Shine and Converge. Hopefully, our team can compete with these teams and you add the regular na malalakas like TNT and Meralco."
The Elasto Painters mainly kept their core from last season but added a reinforcement by signing free agent guard and four-time PBA champion Stanley Pringle to join the likes of Adrian Nocum, Jhonard Clarito, Santi Santillan, and Andrei Caracut.
But Webb also said that the real test for all the teams will the Philippine Cup goes a third of the way.
“After the first four, five games, you are going to realize sino talaga ‘yung magagaling dahil wala pang nag-chachampion sa preseason games. We will see from there. But everything will have to be able to play to their line-up,” said Webb.
Without going into specifics, Meralco team governor Billy Pamintuan said he won’t be surprised if there will be a different finalists for the coming season.
“I think if you look at the tune-up games the past few weeks, lahat naman ng teams nag-improve. Kaya sabi natin, it is going to be an exciting Philippine Cup. It is going to be very, very competitive. Baka ma-surprise kayo kung sino ‘yung papasok sa finals diyan," he said.
"It will be good for the fans and the league."
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