TEST OF CHARACTER: Streaking Converge battles RoS; Tenorio sent to free agency

Games today:

(Philsports Arena)

5 p.m. — Converge vs Rain or Shine

7:30 p.m. — NorthPort vs Barangay Ginebra

Converge faces an ultimate test of character as it battles a Rain or Shine side that is fueled by vengeance in a must-watch showdown between the hottest squads in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup today at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Just two months ago, the FiberXers were shown the exit door by the Elasto Painters in the Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.

Now facing off in an all-Filipino clash, Converge is motivated to even the score as it tries to extend its winning streak to three in the 5 p.m. curtain-raiser.

Meanwhile, NorthPort and Barangay Ginebra collide in the main game at 7:30 p.m.

All eyes will be on the Kings after coach Tim Cone formally relegated 40-year-old veteran LA Tenorio to the unrestricted free agent list to give way for his coaching stint in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) U16 Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Aside from that, the move will allow the Kings to make room for Jason David, the playmaker who had shown flashes of brilliance in the past conferences.

“Yes, he’s going to be busy over the next month due to SEABA plus we’ve been trying to find an opportunity to activate Jason David so it works out for both players,” Cone said in a message to DAILY TRIBUNE, adding that Tenorio will be reactivated anew after the regional tourney that runs from 24 to 30 May.

“We expect to reactivate LA after SEABA.”

Leaning on its twin towers of rookie Justine Baltazar and Justin Arana, Converge demolished grand slam-seeking but hard-luck TNT, 100-94, last Sunday for a 3-2 win-loss record.

Acting head coach Franco Atienza believes the Tropang Giga primed the FiberXers for their revenge bid against Rain or Shine.

“Against Rain or Shine, that’s the team that knocked us out in the quarters. (Just like TNT) they’re fast, young, they love to run and shoot three pointers. They play similar (to TNT),” he said.

“It’s big for us to string victories. We’re midway into (our elimination round campaign). It would give us that head start heading into the latter stretch of our campaign. Hopefully, we’ll pass another difficult task on Wednesday,” Atienza added.

Baltazar, who had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds last game, is motivated to get back at the Elasto Painters after they denied the FiberXers of a breakthrough semifinals appearance despite winning the opener of the best-of-three series of the mid-season tournament.

“It’s painful when they knocked us out in the quarterfinals. We want payback,” he said.

“We’ll just stick to whatever preparation and game plan our coaches will tell us.”

Converge has the height advantage against a Rain or Shine side missing the services of injured bigs Beau Belga (vertigo), Keith Datu (calf) and Luis Villegas (knee).

Forward Caelan Tiongson remains doubtful after sitting out the last game due to back spasms.

“I was telling the team, maybe we could survive Meralco without our bigs, but we could probably not survive Converge without our bigs,” Elasto Painters mentor Yeng Guiao said following a 128-116 shellacking of skidding defending champion Meralco last Sunday.