Blackwater Elite borrowed a page from coach Tim Cone’s playbook by bringing in import Henry Walker one conference early. The result: the Elite (4 wins, 0 losses) are on top of the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup standings.
After a 0-6 start in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Blackwater brought in Walker to replace big man Jarrid Famous.
The team limped home with a 1-4 record to close out the conference but the familiarity and camaraderie that resulted from Walker’s early arrival has clearly charged the team with renewed vigor.
Last Friday the Elite leaned on Walker to beat defending champion Barangay Ginebra, 124-118, in overtime to vault to the top.
The Elite have been leaning on their fearsome outside shooting with shooters Allein Maliksi, Mac Belo, Mike DiGregorio, new arrival Paul Zamar and of course import Walker to devastate their opponents.
The Elite forced overtime after a triple by DiGregorio. Walker penetrated into the paint then zipped a pass to an open DiGregorio who drilled the trey from the right baseline corner.
The Elite then drained four more triples in overtime to tally the victory pulling away. Zamar, Walker, and Belo drilled the crucial triples in overtime to hand Ginebra its first defeat this conference.
Blackwater coach Bong Ramos said the character of the team shone through. He said he hoped winning has become a habit. He added it was a different Ginebra team because Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter missed the game but the Gin Kings hung tough in regulation period and almost pulled out the victory.
The other teams include the Magnolia Pambansang Manok (2-0), the Phoenix Fuelmasters (4-1), the Alaska Aces (3-1 loss), Ginebra (3-1), the San Miguel Beermen (2-1), the NLEX Road Warriors (3-2), TNT KaTropa (2-4), the Meralco Bolts (1-3), the NorthPort Batang Pier (0-5) and the Columbian Dyip (0-6).
The Rain or Shine Elastopainters have not yet played as of press time.
Ginebra import Justin Brownlee could have handed the Gin Kings the victory. But he missed on a drive in the dying seconds of the regulation period.
Brownlee started the extension period with a three-point play. Zamar, Walker and Belo then each drilled a triple as Blackwater started to pull away to post another upset win.
Walker finished with six triples and scored a total of 39 points. Zamar unloaded a career-high 17 points.
The Elite also posted surprise victories over TNT and San Miguel Beer. Blackwater shocked San Miguel, 103-100, to tally its second straight win this conference. Blackwater relied on a late surge to outscore SMB 29-18 in the last 12 minutes. Walker accounted for 10 points in that decisive run.
The Elite also needed an extra five minutes to take down the KaTropa, 104-98. It was the first time in franchise history for the Elite to beat TNT. Prior to that game the KaTropa held an 11-0 record over the Elite.
