ROS, B’water to step up q’final drive

MANILA, Philippines - Rain or Shine and Blackwater seek to firm up their spots in the Top Four for a crack at twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals as they clash with Meralco and Barangay Ginebra, respectively, in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome tonight.

The Elasto Painters tangle with the Bolts at 4:15 p.m. then the Elite tackle the Gin Kings at 7 p.m. with ROS (5-3) and Blackwater (5-4) in a crucial doubleheader in the homestretch of league’s season-opening conference.

San Miguel Beer is way out in front with an 8-1 card but ROS and Blackwater go all-out to cut the gap although they expect a tough outing versus Meralco and Ginebra.

“Meralco is no pushover. They may be in the bottom but they always play hard. It’s hard to play against a team with nothing to lose,” said ROS coach Caloy Garcia.

Though ahead of Ginebra in the leaderboard, the Elite maintain they remain the underdogs against Japeth Aguilar and his teammates.

“We will be going all out for a win versus Ginebra. A win will put us in a good position going into the playoffs,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.

The Bolts are virtually out of the playoff with a 2-7 card while the Kings are in joint seventh with the Alaska Aces and the Star Hotshots at 4-4.

“(It’s a) big weekend for us playing two teams ahead of us in the standings. Blackwater is legit and playing great basketball. They are certainly a playoff team. They have real good young players, and we’re going to have to play smart and tough basketball to beat them,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone, whose Kings will next take on the surging Phoenix Fuel Masters on Sunday.

Ginebra faces tonight a rival coming from a confidence-boosting 103-100 triumph over Alaska Milk.

Their upset of the Aces has made the Elite further boosted their confidence as they seek not just a playoff entry but a top finish in the one-round-robin elims phase.

At the very least, Blackwater will land a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinals with a sweep of its last two games against Ginebra and Star.

Ginebra, meanwhile, is coming off an 83-72 blasting of Meralco over in Iloilo City Saturday where Joe Devance put in 19 points and became the latest member of the league’s elite 5,000-point club.

The question is whether the Gin Kings can finally break their win-loss-win-loss ride in the tourney.  A win will push Ginebra up to either joint third or joint fourth.