The Blackwater Bossing and the NorthPort Batang Pier aren’t exactly this generation’s versions of Toyota and Crispa, but sometimes, two bad teams can make for a fantastic game. 

Catch this game live on Saturday,  February 25 at 4:30 pm, Manila time.

Blackwater Bossing (1-8)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Baser Amer
• SG: Rashawn McCarthy
• SF: Gab Banal
• PF: Renato Ular
• C: Shawn Glover

Blackwater’s problems haven’t been solved by a mere import switchback, as the Bossing continue to wallow in the bottom of the standings two games after reactivating Shawn Glover. The Bossing’s losing skid has reached seven games following their 98-90 loss on Thursday to the Converge FiberXers, as Blackwater’s offense has seemingly gotten less productive than when it was during the time the team had Troy Williams on the roster. 

But they could show more signs of life on that end of the floor versus NorthPort, which has one of the worst defensive ratings in the league this conference. It’s also a good sign for Blackwater that Troy Rosario just had his best game so far in Bossing uniform, scoring 20 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the loss to Converge. He could be the X-factor in this upcoming matchup against NorthPort, especially if he shows up close the form that made him one of the best forwards in the league.

NorthPort Batang Pier (1-6)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Robert Bolick
• SG: Paolo Taha
• SF: Arvin Tolentino
• PF: Kevin Murphy
• C: Prince Caperal

NorthPort finally earned its first win of the conference last Wednesday by defeating the Terrafirma Dyip. The Dyip are one of the worst franchises in PBA history, at least in recent memory, so there’s really not much to be so proud of for NorthPort in beating Terrafirma, relatively speaking, of course. 

Nevertheless, NorthPort should feel much better now that it’s finally in the win column and will come into its next assignment with momentum for the first time in a long while. Even though they have lost a bunch of games so far in this conference, the Batang Pier are always a threat because of their ability to rack up points. They are averaging 107.1 points per game, with Robert Bolick and import Kevin Murphy carrying most of the load on offense. Bolick is putting up 24.0 PPG, while Murphy has generated 35.0 PPG in three outings. NorthPort, as mentioned earlier, doesn’t have an elite defense, but it has the offense to make up for it verus Blackwater – the only team with a worse defensive rating in the Governors’ Cup than the Batang Pier.

PREDICTION:

Spread: Blackwater (+4.5) covers the spread.

Over/Under: The Total (213.) hits the Over.