The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Robert Andaya
Three straight wins and counting for Blackwater Bossing.
With veteran coach Jeffrey Cariaso calling the shots and Christian David and Rey Suerte leading the charge, Blackwater is looking good with a perfect 3-0 win-loss record after the first week of competitions in the PBA Philippine Cup.
The Bossing have now duplicated their 3-0 start to the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup and Cariaso is looking forward to getting more wins in the coming weeks.
It’s the best start in a conference for the Bossing since winning their first four games during the 2018 Governors’ Cup.
Last March 6, Blackwater played hard enough to roll back Converge FiberX, 90-78, behind another strong showing by David and RK Ilaganon the the offense front and Troy Rosario, Bradwyn Guinto and Tyrus Hill on the defense end.
The Bossing also hurdled their first two assignments, beating the Meralco Bolts, 96-93, on opening day at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City last Feb. 28; and TNT Tropang Giga, 87-76, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last March 2.
But Cariaso is not getting too excited about the team’s perfect start.
“So far it’s a good start. But we’re staying humble, we’re staying focused because we know how quick things can turn,”said Cariaso, adding there’s still a lot of work to do and certainly it’s not the time for the Bossing to lower their guards.
“We’ll just continue working hard,” added the 52-year-old Cariaso., widely known as the “Jet” during his playing days with the Alaska Milk from 1995-2010.
Complacency is one of the major concerns of Cariaso.
“We just have to keep pushing. We’ve been here long enough to understand how quick things turn for you. We want to maintain the good things that we’re doing now and then we want to improve on the things we feel we have to improve on, and there’s still a lot,” explained Cqriaso, the San Francisco, California-born Filipino-American player-turned-coach.
Against Converge, Blackwater rode on the hot hands of David and Ilagan and the defensive prowess of Rosario, Guinto and Hill
“We had a gameplan on how we want to defend Justin (Arana) and I meant what I said, he’s a hard cover, so we knew it was gonna be important to defend well,” recalled Cariaso.
“Alec (Stockton.), I think, is playing the best in his career so far right now. He’s patient, he’s taking his time. I call him pesky and persistent and now that he’s developing his shot and being more consistent, he’s even more of a phenomenal player,” added Cariaso.
“So we had a gameplan on how we want to defend and again tonight I’m happy with the way we came out and defended those two in particular.”
Against TNT, it was Rosario’s turn to shine
Rosario finished with 20 points while anchoring a solid defensive effort that enabled the Bossing to take control of the game.
The Bossing posted a 20-point fourth quarter spread before easing up a bit in the end.
Guinto, James Kwekuteye, James Yap and even recent TNT player Jaydee Tungcab did their part
Last Feb. 28, former Rain or Shine guard Rey Nambatac finished with 27 points and a career-high 10 assists in leading the Bossing to a 96-93 escape over Meralco.
It was Blackwater’s first win since its 103-84 win over Converge in the Commissioner’s Cup opener back in November, after which it lost 10 straight games and wound up next-to-last in Cariaso’s first conference with the team.
With a 3-0 start in the PBA Philippine Cup , Blackwater and Cariaso are now looking to turn things around.