Terrafirma’s Isaac Go. –PBA PHOTOS SMALL
Terrafirma in turn felt very hot.
With 20 straight losses, Dyip is looking to end the Philippines Basketball Association’s (PBA) second-longest losing streak, and import Lester Prosper is optimistic that the sun will finally shine on what has been a victory. The Commissioner’s Cup has been bleak so far.
“All we needed was a win to stop the bleeding,” Prosper said.
Friday might be the best chance to do that. Interestingly, Terrafirma will try to put an end to its decline against Blackwater.
When Dyip battled Bossing in the Governors Cup last season, they hoped to add to the misery of a franchise that is in the later stages of a record PBA spiral.
It was two days before Valentine’s Day and Terrafirma showed little interest, dropping 12 points in the fourth quarter to beat Blackwater’s 25th consecutive loss.
Bossing will eventually set the bar for a drop at 29.
On Friday, they have a chance to repay the favor.
Up until the current Commissioner’s Cup, what makes Blackwater blush the most about its historic slide is the fact that 2nd place on the infamous list is Presto, whose 18-loss slip has been hit by a single ball. little equal to the distance from position 1. .
But Terrafirma took a shortcut to the defunct franchise and gave Blackwater a chance to close the gap between itself and second place.
That’s not the concern of Bossing coach Ariel Vanguardia, who is just looking for a quick recovery from Wednesday’s loss to NorthPort.
“We can still do what we want, as long as we don’t lose consecutive games. We just need to maintain our aggressiveness and convert those big hits,” Vanguardia said.
Prosper, meanwhile, said Dyip has, well, somehow prospered and just built on their growth.
“If you look at the previous games, they didn’t fight like this,” said Prosper of the team, who hasn’t won since their 25th loss to Blackwater. “Now, they’re coming and you can see some kind of electricity, some sparks and that’s what I’m proud of.”
“We have to play with more energy and we have to make better decisions,” Prosper said. “If we keep doing this, if we keep improving, we can definitely get a win.”
Despite being 0-4 at the start of the mid-season tournament, Terrafirma had several chances to win, only to falter in the 4th quarter by losing to Converge, Magnolia, Rain or Shine and Meralco.
Prosper accounted for most of Dyip’s output with 34.8 points, 19.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, averaging 34.8 points, but it would take the help of locals to make a stop.
A loss to Blackwater would make things worse for Terrafirma: The team’s next three opponents are Bay Area powerhouses, Barangay Ginebra and TNT.
Meanwhile, Ginebra coach Tim Cone couldn’t help but pay tribute to the Ateneo program that spawned Phoenix rookie Tyler Tio.
“It’s amazing how good Ateneo is. Their backups come to the PBA like superstars,” said mentor Gin Kings.
Cone hopes Tio, recently named Player of the Week by the PBA Press Corps, will create trouble for Ginebra as both teams clash in another Friday’s game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Tio was the bright spot in Phoenix’s slow start with 16.5 points and helped Phoenix start 0-3 with a 111-97 victory over NLEX recently.
Ginebra are looking for their third win in four outings, their spirits high after taking on the Bay Area’s first defeat 111-93 last Sunday.
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