The Converge FiberXers and the Terrafirma Dyip will kick off this Wednesday’s doubleheader at the Smat Araneta Coliseum. Will the FiberXers win in their very first game in the post-Aldin Ayo era? Or, will the Dyip run over Converge for their first win of the conference?

Catch this game live on Wednesday,  August 21 at 5:00 pm, Manila time.

Converge FiberXers (0-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• Alex Cabagnot
• Alec Stockton
• Scotty Hopson
• Bryan Santos
• Justin Arana

Converge is coming off a brutal Philippine Cup conference in which the FiberXers finished with just a 2-9 record. They have also just parted ways with Aldin Ayo last month. There are a lot of questions about Converge’s capacity to keep up with the rest of the league, considering the departure of Ayo so close to the 2024 Governors’ Cup. Some of that could be answered this Wednesday when the FiberXers make their conference debut against Terrafirma. 

Flying into the country to reinforce Converge this conference is import Scotty Hopson, who had cups of coffee with three different NBA teams, namely the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and Oklahoma City Thunder. The 6-7 Hopson has experience playing in Spain, China, Croatia, Israel, and Australia, so he knows what it’s like to try to fit in different basketball cultures.  As for the locals, the tandem of Alec Stockton and Justin Arana will be relied upon by Converge as always. Stockton averaged 21.2 points in the last conference while Arana put up 19.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest.

Terrafirma Dyip (0-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• Juami Tiongson
• Stanley Pringle
•  Andreas Cahilig
• Antonio Hester
• Christian Standhardinger

What’s a Terrafirma journey without controversial trades? The Dyip turned heads when they sent Isaac Go and Stephen Holt to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel last July in exchange for Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle. Losing Go and Holt left a big void on Terrafirma but that same hole should be covered by C-Stand and Pringle, two aging stars, who can still contribute a lot. Future be damned. 

The double-double machine Standhardinger averaged 19.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for Ginebra last season. The 27-year-old Pringle, on the other hand, averaged 8.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in the last campaign. Those two vets can be expected to get plenty of touches with Terrafirma even with import Antonio Hester around. Speaking of Hester, he’s been here before, having played for the Dyip and the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots. A frontcourt duo of Hester and Standhardinger could be too much for Converge.

Picks

Spread: Terrafirma  (-6)
Over/Under: Over (208)