Foul weather grounds Fuel Masters, Kings’ rebound bids

Sunday would have been a chance for Barangay Ginebra and Phoenix to bounce back from stinging losses against separate opponents.

Instead, both teams have now been forced to wait for a few days to get back on the hardcourt after the league, because of foul weather, called off the Governors’ Cup twinbill originally scheduled at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

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Heavy downpour affecting Metro Manila and surrounding cities, as well as roof leaks that marred the last two playdates, prompted the PBA to postpone Phoenix’s marquee showdown with fellow Group B leader Rain or Shine in the opener and Ginebra’s matchup against Blackwater.

“In the light of the severe weather conditions, and (with) the safety of our fans, players, officials and staff as our top priority, the PBA has decided to postpone its Sunday games,” the league said in an advisory released Sunday morning.

Also announced was the change of venue for Tuesday from leaking Ninoy Aquino to Ynares Center in Antipolo, where Converge and Terrafirma square off in the first game followed by Group A leader NLEx against TNT in the nightcap.

The old venue along the Vito Cruz are encountered leaks during Friday’s game between Magnolia and Meralco, forcing a delay.

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It was the same issue that hampered the league the following day when San Miguel Beer and Macau had to wait for the leak at the Ynares Center Montalban in Rodriguez, Rizal to be fixed.

The Beermen-Giant Pandas would encounter a slight delay near the end of the first quarter when the leak came back because of heavy rains.

With the game postponed, the Gin Kings and the Fuel Masters will have a few more days of rest and preparation before facing different foes.

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Ginebra takes on Meralco at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, the final doubleheader before the long break due to Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The crowd favorites, who won the Commissioner’s Cup title in June, would have started the second round against the Bossing after going 2-3 and smarting from an 88-73 defeat at the expense of Magnolia the previous Sunday.

“Maybe we’re still on Cloud 9 after winning the championship because we couldn’t execute the way we were executed last conference,” Ginebra’s Troy Rosario said. “That’s why our coaches told us to buy-in to our system.”

Phoenix lost its hold of the lead in Group B last Wednesday with a 106-100 setback to Blackwater at the Big Dome, and is now tied with Rain or Shine at 4-2.

“We forgot how to play basketball, I don’t know what we were doing,” coach Charles Tiu said. “We choked, we collapsed and we sucked.” INQ