FANS will have a basketball celebration as they enjoy a Christmas treat when the 2015-16 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup quarterfinals kick off this Christmas day featuring an explosive double-header.
Crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra, the No. 4 seed, and Star, ranked No. 9, face off in a much-anticipated war at 7 p.m. in front of an expected jam-packed crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City tonight.
Prior to that, opening the quarterfinals is an equally explosive match-up between No. 5 GlobalPort and No. 8 Barako Bull at 4:15 p.m. in the first game.
The Gin Kings and the Batang Pier each hold twice-to-beat incentives against their respective opponents. They move forward to the next phase of the quarterfinals with a win today.
Otherwise, if either the Hotshots or the Energy, register a win, a knockout game will be forced against their opponents.
Even with the twice-to-beat advantage his team holds, Ginebra coach Tim Cone is wary of Star. He personally knows that his former team is capable to playing big in the playoffs.
‘’Playing Star will really be hard,’’ said Cone. ‘’Those guys know how to win big games. They are veterans. We have the advantage but we need to be better against them. We expect a very hard game.’’
The Gin Kings are entering the quarterfinals with a lot of momentum. They closed the elimination round by winning six of their last seven games to move all the way up to No. 4. Cone’s Christmas wish is simply another win against the dangerous Hotshots.
‘’We need to go out there and win. There will be no love lost,’’ said Cone.
Star coach Jason Webb shared the same sentiment as Cone regarding this colossal battle ahead.
‘’Magiging mahirap ito against Ginebra. We’ve placed ourselves in this situation and we need to rise,’’ said the rookie coach of the Hotshots.
The Hotshots, despite their talented line-up, haven’t found any groove yet this conference and they haven’t even had a winning streak yet.
On the other side, GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio cited toughness as one attribute his Batang Pier needs to close out the unpredictable Barako Bull.
‘’Going into the playoffs, kailangan maging matibay itong team lalo. Malalakas lahat and kailangan at our best kami,’’ said GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio.
The Batang Pier has been playing tremendous basketball this conference. They are living up to the predicted pre-season improvement that was expected of the team.
‘’Nagtutulungan and nagbibigayan ‘yung team kaya ang ganda ng takbo naming. Sana magtuloy pa,’’ said Jarencio.
Games today, Dec. 25
Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City
4:15 p.m. – GlobalPort vs. Barako Bull
7 p.m. – Barangay Ginebra vs. Star