CONVERGE will manage everyone’s expectations in Season 50 of the Philippine Basketball Association that starts with the Philippine Cup on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Head coach Delta Pineda said most teams are competitive and could adjust to the pace of every game prompting his coaching staff to dig into the deepest details.
‘There are very strong teams and veterans so do not expect too much. We have so many young players in our team,’ said Pineda, whose team has an average age of 27 with Kevin Racal (34) and recently signed Rafi Reavis (48) as the veterans.
‘In terms of experience especially in crucial games, veteran players have the experience to take charge, but you’ll never know what may happen,’ the rookie coach who’s also the vice governor of Pampanga, said. ‘We have been together for a few years so we adjusted and corrected some of our mistakes.’
No. 2 draft pick Juan Gomez de Liaño (25) will be joining forces with Schonny Winston (27), Alec Stockton (27) and big men Justin Arana (26) and Justine Baltazar (28).
Converge swept all its four tuneup games against Meralco, Blackwater, NLEX and San Miguel Beer (114-99), but Pineda reminded his players not to be excited.
‘We need everyone’s cooperation and we are doing everything to prepare them so we can achieve our goals,’ Pineda said. ‘We need their hard work. If we do not prepare well, we cannot expect good things.’
The FiberXers couldn’t go beyond the quarterfinals-Governors Cup and Commissioner’s Cup-last year in three seasons in the league.