The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots faltered in their first game of the conference, but it is way too early to be concerned about the perennial title contender. Will Magnolia secure win no. 1 this Friday? The Converge FiberXers, on the other hand, might still be on fire when they meet Magnolia following an offensive eruption earlier in the week.

Catch this game live on Friday,  August 23 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.

Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots (0-1)

Projected Starting Five:

• Jerrick Ahanmisi
• Paul Lee 
• Glenn Robinson
• Ian Sangalang
• James Laput

It was not a good start in the conference for Magnolia. The Hotshots, despite a stellar play from import Glen Robinson III, lost to the Meralco Bolts last Sunday, 99-94. Robinson fared well in his first taste of PBA action, as he scored 29 points on 12/24 shooting from the field. He also had 11 boards.  Perhaps one thing he realized after that game was that he couldn’t do it all by himself. He dished out just an assist, so he’s going to need to involve his teammates more going forward. 

Paul Lee fired 14 points against Meralco while Ian Sangalang came off the bench and added 17 points. Calvin Abueva played just 10 minutes and went 0/5 from the field in the loss to the Bolts. He could be due for a much better performance this Friday against Converge, but that will also depend on how many minutes he’ll get. Even if Abueva can’t get enough touches, he can be a valuable asset defensively against Converge, which just went off with its scoring on Wednesday.

Converge FiberXers (1-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• Alex Cabagnot
• Alec Stockton
• Scotty Hopson
• Kevin Racal
• Justin Arana

Converge was on fire in its conference debut. The FiberXers crushed the Terrafirma Dyip with spectacular offense in the second half to score a 127-95 victory. Converge was up by just four points at the half. By the end of the third quarter, the FiberXers were up by 33 points, thanks to a 47-point explosion that period. 

Converge import Scotty Hopson looked like the real deal as he dropped 46 points on 18/24 shooting from the field. He did not take a single shot from behind the second arc and took just three attempts from the 3-point area. But just like Robinson with Magnolia, Hopson’s supporting cast has to show more life. Hopson isn’t going to score like a throwback import every game and Magnolia projects to bring a stouter defense than Terrafirma’s. Alec Stockton will also look to sustain his form after providing the FiberXers with 21 points last Wednesday.

Picks

Spread: Magnolia  (-8.5)

Over/Under: Under (205.0)