Barangay Ginebra looms as the favorite to repeat as leg winner in the resumption of the PBA 3×3 Season 3 First Conference on Monday at the Ayala Malls Circuit.
Behind the young yet experienced quartet of Donald Gumaru, Kim Aurin, Ralph Cu, and Ralph Salcedo, the Kings swept their way to the championship of Leg 1 behind a dramatic 19-17 overtime win over upset-conscious San Miguel Beer last week.
All four have been playing together under coach Kirk Collier since Season 2 and are part of Barangay Ginebra’s lineup in the ongoing PBA On Tour.
The constant exposure obviously worked to their advantage and paved the way for the Kings to win.
the P100,000 prize money and drew first blood in the half-court game’s new season
The Kings open their repeat bid against the Meralco Bolts as the top seeded team in Pool A.
The Beermen on the other hand, leads Pool B, and are expected to contend anew behind On Tour regulars Marvin Lee, John Apacible, and Chester Saldua, together with the immovable Ken Bono.
Pool C meanwhile, will have Cavitex Braves on top.
Grand slam winner TNT, which failed to advance in the semis after being ambushed by San Miguel in the quarterfinals, meanwhile activated Samboy De Leon in lieu of Gryann Mendoza and joins Almond Vosotros, Lervin Flores, and Ping Exciminiano in the Leg 2 roster.
The Triple Giga will be coming into the games fresh from their stint in the FIBA 3×3 Macau Masters.
TNT is bunched with Ginebra and Meralco in Pool A.
With San Miguel in Pool B are guest teams Wilcon Depot and Pioneer Elastoseal, together with Northport, while completing Pool C with Cavitex are Terrafirma, Blackwater Smooth Razor, and Purefoods TJ Titans.
Terrafirma and Blackwater kick off the 13-game hostilities on opening day at 10:30 a.m., with the Smooth Razor parading Fil-Am Patrick Jamison for Monbert Arong.
The top two teams in Pool A and top three teams in Pools B and C will advance to the knockout stage to be played on Tuesday.