Two powerhouse teams collide on Tuesday when the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup returns to action at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Reeling from its first loss of the tournament, the Phoenix Accelerators (T-1st, 5-1) is aching to get back to the win column as it takes on the Tanduay Rhum Master (T-2nd, 5-2) at 6:00 p.m.
Coach Eric Gonzales is hopeful that the Accelerators were able to assess themselves during the 10-day break as he rued the lackadaisical showing his team had in their 93-78 defeat to Racal.
“Minsan kasi para silang namimili ng kalaban. I don’t want to call it arrogance or complacency, pero pag ganun ang attitude nila, we’re in big trouble,” he said.
And Gonzales hopes that against the streaking Rhum Masters, Phoenix will go back to its old ways.
“Hindi joke na kalaban yun. We have to play the game correctly, because if not, we’ll pay for it and we’ll lose the game. We need to give our best effort,” he said.
Tanduay, meanwhile, is on a run of its own. However, coach Lawrence Chongson is opting to look at the bigger picture rather than his team’s string of victories prior to the break.
“Siguro yung character lang ng mga bata, medyo immature pa. We pointed it out and we know na wala pa kami sa level ng upper echelon ng teams dito sa D-League,” he said. “Sana we play up to the level of Phoenix.”
In the curtain raiser, the Racal Tile Masters (T-2nd, 5-2) seek to further establish itself at the top two spots as it goes up against the Topstar ZC Mindanao Aguilas (7th, 0-6) at 4:00 p.m.
Coach Caloy Garcia is hoping for a repeat of the Tile Masters’ 102-83 rout of the Aguilas last June 14 as they eye their sixth win in eight outings.
But Topstar ZC Mindanao is just motivated to get that breakthrough win as it remains as the only team yet to score a victory this conference.
