Batang Pier seek better finish, face Enforcers

Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. – Mahindra vs Globalport

7 p.m. – Ginebra vs NLEX

MANILA, Philippines – Fired up by its Final Four finish in the previous conference, Globalport seeks to improve on its breakthrough in the league as it faces Mahindra to open its campaign in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.

The Batang Pier are the odds-on pick versus the Enforcers despite short preparation for the mid-season tourney with import Brian Williams.

Globalport and Mahindra clash at 4:15 p.m., then Barangay Ginebra and NLEX collide at 7 p.m. in matches pitting imports Williams versus Augustus Gilchrist and Othyus Jeffers against Al Thornton.

Ginebra behemoth Greg Slaughter will be out due to measles.

The Batang Pier broke new ground last conference as they made the semifinals on an upset of the Gin Kings in the quarterfinals.

“We’d love to match or surpass that finish, but first, we have to make the quarterfinals. That’s the initial target,” said Globalport coach Pido Jarencio. “The problem is that we’ve had a short preparation with our import.”

Williams is a well-built center-forward from University of Tennessee who helped San Miguel Beer win the Asean Basketball League championship in 2012. He is fresh from a stint in the Uruguay league.

Against Mahindra, Williams will be up against Gilchrist, a long-limbed player out of University of South Florida with previous overseas playing stints in Italy and Hungary.

The Enforcers are banking on Gilchrist in a bid to make a first PBA playoff appearance. Mahindra finished second to last in the last Philippine Cup with only two wins against nine losses. It lost to Globalport, 116-118, in overtime.

The day’s other game is a duel between two teams eliminated in the quarterfinals last conference.

NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez considers his team the underdog versus the Ginebra side, which could be very dangerous now in its second conference under coach Tim Cone.

“Facing Ginebra in our first game will be tough. Knowing how coach Tim prepares his team, we have our hands full,” said Fernandez. “Plus with Jeffers as their import, it will be a long night if we will not commit ourselves to playing defense.”

Jeffers, an NBA veteran with stints with Utah, San Antonio, Washington and Minnesota, took the PBA by storm in one game with TNT in the 2014 Governors Cup. He was limited to one game then, though, due to a contractual problem with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 6-foot-5 slasher-gunner sizzled with 38 points, 13 rebounds and two steals as the Texters pulled off a 105-99 win over the Meralco Bolts.

Before hooking up with the Timberwolves, Jeffers earned co-MVP honors in the NBA D-League by posting averages of 20.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals.

At Ginebra, Jeffers could well complement big men Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar.

“Our immediate goal is to get off to a quicker start but with Greg down with the measles and possibly missing the first two games, we’ll be hard pressed to reach that goal,” said Cone.

“Still, we have a lot of faith in our depth and the guys we have. We feel there is a good chance we won’t miss a beat,” Cone also said.