COLUMBIAN Dyip is looking to continue pulling off stunners following its surprising first act in the resumption of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
After a stunning debut, Columbian Dyip (1-0) aims to notch a second straight win and earn solo leadership as it looks to shock debuting Meralco in their 4:30 p.m. encounter at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today.
In the nightcap, Phoenix Fuel also makes its debut when it plays Blackwater (0-1) at 7 p.m.
Fans didn’t expect Columbian to make much impact with no significant changes in its line-up this conference as the team was a cellar-dweller with only a win to show in the previous Philippine Cup.
However, the Dyip raised some eye brows when it started off its campaign with a big bang.
Columbian showed it is poised to make significant improvements after it handily routed the favored Elite, 126-98, last Sunday in the tournament’s initial game.
From out of nowhere, free agent Jerramy King exploded to put the league on notice. The former Rain or Shine reserve scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Dyip to victory.
Dyip coach Ricky Dandan was pleased with what his team did, but hopes his wards can do an encore against the Bolts.
“We had a nice start and it’s important for us to get a win right away,” said Dandan. “But Meralco is next . We’’ll be up against a team that scouted us well and we all know what (Arinze) Onuaku can do. We need to handle him well.”
Dandan is of course talking about returning Bolts’ import Arinze Onuaku, who was a Best import awardee two seasons back.
He is expected to give Meralco the much-needed boost it needs.
In the second game, Phoenix will also be parading a returning import in James White, formerly of Columbian, while the Elite hope that the locals can help their import Jarrid Famous this time around.
Famous was solid in his debut for Blackwater, scoring a huge double-double against Columbian with 35 points and 22 rebounds, but hardly got any help from his locals.
An interesting clash between White and Famous is expected as both reinforcements play similarly.