Four teams try to boost sagging bids

MANILA, Philippines - Four struggling teams try to catch up with the leaders as they rumble tonight at resumption of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup eliminations at the Cuneta Astrodome.

It’s San Miguel Beer versus Powerade at 5 p.m. then Barangay Ginebra and Air21 at 7:30 p.m.

The Kings are actually in the middle of the pack with a 2-2 (win-loss) mark but the Beermen (1-3), the Express (1-3) and the Tigers (1-4) are all scrambling in the lower half of the chart.

Facing the specter of early elimination, the Tigers decided to make another import change, taking in former Texas Tech stalwart Martin Zeno. He was measured at 6-foot-3 1/8 at the PBA office yesterday.

The Tigers are wary of the Beermen, who are out to bounce back strong from an embarrassing defeat the last time out.

“We knew we have no chance of winning against San Miguel if we stick with Russel Carter,” said coach Bo Perasol whose charges may need to sweep their last four games to have a shot at the playoffs.

Coming out flat Saturday, San Miguel suffered a 68-109 blowout at the hands of Smart Gilas. It was the Beermen’s worst defeat in 12 years.

The Beermen have yet to get into the groove with new recruits Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Noy Baclao and Rey Guevarra and new import David Young.

They’ve gone 0-2 (win-loss) after trading Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros, Dorian Peña and Paul Artadi to Air21.

The Express have also lost their last three games to the B-MEG Derby Ace Llamados, the Talk n Text Tropang Texters and Smart Gilas.

These teams have to get their act together now or Smart Gilas (4-0), Talk n Text (4-1), Alaska (4-1) and Rain or Shine (3-1) will find it easy advancing to the playoffs. The last four teams are out after the short one-round-robin elimination phase.

Meanwhile, Solar Sports is appealing the PBA of some relief on its P12 million accumulated fine incurred on breaches on their telecast contract.

In a meeting with commissioner Chito Salud Monday, Solar Sports officials offered commercial values, premiums and LED spots to cover for the fines.

Solar Sports’ proposal is likely to be tackled in the next PBA board meeting which was again moved to a later date on March 22. It was originally set Monday then reset to Friday.

The main agenda is Phoenix Fuel’s plan to buy the Barako Bull franchise. The San Miguel Corp. group is likely to oppose this in view of its own plan to field in Petron in place of San Miguel Beer in the coming Governors Cup.