MADE up of a slew of unheralded players and homegrown standouts, Pasig City MCW Sports will march into the battlefield as a heavy underdog when it slugs it out against the favored giants in the 2023 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) playoffs today (Oct. 6).
The No. 5 seed Pasig, with only a select of ex-PBA stalwarts at its disposal, however is not lacking in belief that it could defy the odds starting with an anticipated road trip against No. 4 Caloocan in the quarterfinals of the North Division.
“It’s a motivation itself,” said team owner Buddy Encarnado, a decorated, long-time executive especially during his time with the Sta. Lucia Realtors in the PBA, in an attempt to achieve the same feat in the MPBL.
Pasig, led by Ryan Costelo and Robbie Manalang with Jason Ballesteros and Josan Nimes as the only ex-PBAers, finished the elimination round at 19-9 for fifth place, next to Caloocan with a 20-8 slate for a homecourt disadvantage in Round 1.
The best-of-three series starts at 6 p.m. today at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga before the Game 2 next Friday in the Batang Kankaloo’s turf at the Caloocan City Sports Complex.
The duel will serve as a prelude to the main game between top-seeded Pampanga at home and No. 8 Marikina at 8 p.m. Other pairings in the North feature Nueva Ecija-Pasay and Makati-San Juan as the South has Bacoor-Iloilo, Batangas-Imus, GenSan-Muntinlupa and Zamboanga-Quezon for Round 1.
But Pasig is undeterred despite the odds, especially riding on an 82-74 win in the elimination round against Caloocan bannered by former PBA players Gabby Espinas, Mac Baracael, Reil Cervantes and Ronnie Matias.
“We will face that challenge, especially that they will have homecourt advantage. What more can we ask for? This will mold our team in this kind of atmosphere,” Mr. Encarnado concluded. — John Bryan Ulanday
