TNT, Meralco fire off bid for Philippine Cup title

Games Friday (Cuneta Astrodome)

4:15 p.m. – Blackwater vs Meralco

7 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs TNT KaTropa

MANILA, Philippines – TNT KaTropa and Meralco, two teams that narrowly missed a crown last season, start their quest for another shot at a diadem as they tangle with Rain or Shine and Blackwater, respectively, in the 2017-18 PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome Friday night.

The Bolts and the Elite clash at 4:15 p.m. then the Texters and the Elasto Painters collide at 7 p.m. in the third play date of the season to be followed by the much-awaited PBA Christmas Day special featuring Barangay Ginebra versus Magnolia and NLEX opposite GlobalPort at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

TNT and Meralco loom as among the top contenders, being finalists last season that then made good offseason activities. The Texters were the losing finalists versus the San Miguel Beermen in the last Commissioner’s Cup while the Bolts finished runner-up behind the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the recent Governors Cup.

In preparation for the new season, the Texters pitched an 11-day training camp in Lithuania highlighted by four matches against a Kazakh squad, the Lithuanian junior men’s team and two Lithuanian club teams.

The Bolts, meanwhile, tweaked their lineups, enlisting veteran players whom they hoped could help them match or improve their Governors Cup second-place windup.

“We will open the year with four new faces and we are looking forward to being much competitive,” said Meralco coach Norman Black with new acquisitions in KG Canaleta, Mac Baracael, Nico Salva and Jason Ballesteros.

Meralco, however, will be undermanned at the start of the season minus Ranidel de Ocampo and Cliff Hodge who are out because of injuries.

Rain or Shine and Blackwater are also both excited with their own prospects.

“With only Rey Nambatac as new player, we will bank on familiarity. TNT is one of the teams to beat so it’s going to be a good test for us to start the conference,” said ROS coach Caloy Garcia.

“We want to have a good start this conference. With that being said, we are going all out for a win versus Meralco,” said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac.

The E-Painters made the playoff round of all three conferences last season but failed to make it past the quarterfinals.

They are saddled by injuries to Jericho Cruz, Jay Washington and Jireh Ibanes as they set out for the new season.

A welcome news is that Raymond Almazan will be back in action, having recovered from the injury that cost him a slot in the Gilas team that played Japan and Chinese Taipei in the initial leg of the FIBA Asia World Cup qualifiers.

The Texters, on the other hand, are in good shape although they don’t get much improvement in their roster power.

“Remember, we lost Ranidel de Ocampo at Larry Fonacier on trade deals,” said TNT team manager Virgil Villavicencio.

A new guy to watch at TNT is Cebuano guard Mark Tallo, son of former Seven-Up player Mark Anthony. Sydney Onwubere and Monbert Arong are the two other new faces in the team.