Taking down heavyweights in their previous assignments have given Phoenix and Terrafirma a major shot in the arm moving forward in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup.
The Fuel Masters stunned defending champion San Miguel Beer, 109-103, to improve to 1-1 and hand Willy Wilson his first victory at the coaching helm. Same with the Dyip of debutant mentor Ronald Tubid, who pulled the rug from under NLEX, 97-91, in their previous outing for a split of their first two games.
And now the two squads get a chance to grab a share of the lead at 2-1 with Magnolia and TNT.
Phoenix seeks this objective as it battles the Road Warriors (1-1) at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. Terrafirma eyes the same versus Converge (1-1), another squad bent on getting back on track, in the 5:15 p.m. curtain raiser.
Wilson’s youth-laden crew rocked the order last Oct. 12 when it sent mighty SMB to a 0-2 start and recorded its first win against their decorated opponents after 10 successive setbacks.
‘It’s very significant even without talking about the 10-game losing streak. It’s just knowing that we have the ability to beat a champion team like SMB,’ said Wilson.
Tubid is preaching essentially the same.
‘Sinasabi namin sa mga bata na kaya nilang manalo basta magtyaga lang,’ he said.
The goal, according to Wilson, is to build on this and keep improving.
‘No expectations as far as wins or losses. Let’s just play our best and let’s continue to grow. I don’t want us to be the same team that we were yesterday,’ said the Phoenix chief strategist.
Meanwhile, the FiberXers made some tweaks in roster ahead of today’s game, activating big man Larry Muyang, in his PBA comeback, as well as Archie Concepcion and John Lloyd Clemente.