BAPTISM OF FIRE: Fuel Masters aim to give HK club rude welcome

Games today:

(Philsports Arena)

5 p.m. — Converge vs Terrafirma

7:30 p.m. — Hong Kong vs Phoenix

Guest team Hong Kong Eastern gets a taste of warm Filipino hospitality as visitors in the country.

However, Phoenix is out to give the debuting foreign squad a rude welcome as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup commences Wednesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

The Fuel Masters test the mettle of the East Asia Super League ballclub at 7:30 p.m. following the 5 p.m. clash between Converge and new-look Terrafirma.

Phoenix is a team on a mission to regain its pride after a forgettable outing in the season-opening Governors’ Cup, winning just one game in 10 starts.

Hoping to turn their fortunes around, the Fuel Masters tapped 6-foot-10 Donovan Smith.

The 30-year-old Smith brings in a wealth of international experience including a Balkan League championship while playing for Kosovo this year. He also had stops in Spain, Romania, Georgia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Austria and Kosovo.

Head coach Jamike Jarin is also banking on his local support crew led by RR Garcia, Jason Perkins, Ricci Rivero, Kai Ballungay, a healthier Tyler Tio, Larry Muyang and Ken Tuffin.

But Hong Kong is not to be taken lightly as it parades a few familiar faces.

Imports Cameron Clark and Hayden Blankley along with Kobey Lam and Glen Yang, who played for the Bay Area Dragons that came up with a bridesmaid finish to Barangay Ginebra in the 2022 edition of the tournament, are back to settle an unfinished business.

Meanwhile, a confident FiberXers looks to build on their strong playoffs performance last conference to achieve greater heights.

After a quarterfinal finish in the previous tournament, Converge wants to start on the right track.

“We’re excited to start another conference since we fell short in the last one and it left a bad taste so we want bounce back,” FiberXers coach Franco Atienza said.

Converge signed 6-foot-8 Cheick Diallo, a 28-year-old former National Basketball Association campaigner, to add more muscle inside along with big man Justin Arana and Justine Baltazar, who is expected to join the team next month.

“We hope to do better since we saw great development in our run last conference,” Atienza said of his squad that dragged San Miguel Beer to a do-or-die Game 5.

Also back to help the FiberXers are scorers Alec Stockton, Schonny Winston, Kevin Racal, BJ Andrade and veteran Alex Cabagnot.

The Dyip also underwent a massive overhaul following a 1-9 record in the last conference starting with a coaching change that saw Raymond Tiongco taking over the reins from Johnedel Cardel.

Terrafirma added experience to its lineup by acquiring veterans Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel from San Miguel in exchange for Juami Tiongson and Andreas Cahilig.

Also out to make an impact for the Dyip are rookies Mark Nonoy and CJ Catapusan, former NorthPort guard Brent Paraiso and Aljun Melecio and Keith Zaldivar, who were acquired from Converge for the rights to Jordan Heading.

Terrafirma took in 6-foot-11 British-Jamaican Ryan Richards to fill the hole underneath with Christian Standhardinger still out after suffering a knee injury during the Governors’ Cup.