The Battle at the Bottom of the PBA standings has four teams, all struggling to survive, knowing that even if they were to get through this ordeal, the next one will be much tougher to get through. Let's go through each team's chances, and maybe we can find a way to sort this out.
Burger King Whopper (5-11) - Ginebra, Alaska
Burger King is probably in the best spot among the four teams as they have 5 wins already, 2 games left and they beat the current bottom team, Barako Bull in both their meetings this season. Now, with their wild card bid already set, it's best to look at their possible competition. They're 1-1 against Coke, 2-0 against RoS in close games and 2-0 against Barako Bull in blow outs. It's not hard to guess who they'd like to face in the wild card round.Of course, with the recent trade of Alax Cabagnot and Wesley Gonzales into their roster, they don't have the same team that won all those games. So, chemistry might be an issue and nothing is really safe even if they seem to been the best among the worst.
Coca-Cola Tigers (5-12) - Barako Bull
Coke is in a rather interesting bind. They have 5 wins, but they have one more game against bottom-placer Barako Bull. Worse, Barako Bull can tie their record and in their first round meeting, they lost to the Energy Boosters. Based on just the math, they too are almost sure-in for the wild card phase, but they can ensure their fate by winning their remaining game and putting Barako Bull away. As for their record against RoS, they're 1-1, so that should be an interesting battle.Similar to Burger King, Coke too has to figure out how to deal with the trade. Why they did it this late in the season, I honestly do not understand. Chemistry and knowing your teammates is a very big thing during pressure-packed situations. Luckily for them, the trade came with a pressure player in Gary David, so they might be the winners of the trade.
Rain or Shine Elastopainters (4-13) - Alaska
Honestly, the faces of these two guys say everything about the Elastopainters' season. They don't know what is going on and how to deal with it. Early in the season, they are the first ones to defeat then undefeated Alaska, but they never get anything going. One win and done. The team's starters are loaded with talent in Norwood, Mercado, Reyes and Telan, but they can't seem to gel.Unfortunately for them, they have to go against Alaska, a team with something to lose, on their last game. Alaska will be looking for a semifinal slot and revenge on Rain or Shine, and that doesn't help their cause. Good thing for them is that they blew out Barako Bull in their win against them, which might help if quotients are factored in.
Barako Bull Energy Boosters (3-13) - Sta. Lucia, Coca-Cola
Barako Bull was almost dead and gone last week, but they surprised Talk n Text. So, now, everything is still up in the air even though the numbers are against them. What's fortunate for Barako is that they still have 2 games to hike up their wins. If they can get to 5, they're in as they beat Coke twice. If they only win once, they leave everything in the hands of Rain or Shine.Regardless, Barako is still the most likely team to be eliminated early. They have no clear leader and no clear star. They win when two or three players have almost perfect games - take note 2 or 3. They have to be that lucky against teams to win. Fortunately for them, Sta. Lucia is already in the quarters with no chance of the semis, so they might get to see a lot of the Realtors second unit.
There we go... A lot of interesting games left in the regular season before the hectic playoffs begin... Let's hope the teams deliver interesting basketball so that fans will come in during the playoffs.
