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Unbeaten Flying V takes on surprisingly struggling Racal in battle of title favorites

PBA (file photo)
By Dugout Philippines

MANILA—Being the lone unbeaten team so far in the 2017 PBA D-League Foundation Cup, Flying V coach Eric Altamirano has now acknowledged that his squad has suddenly became the biggest fish in the pond.

“I’m sure, all teams are now targeting our back,” he said, as the Thunder won all of its four games so far this conference.

In Altamirano’s mind, though, the job is just getting more tougher, and that continues on Monday when Flying V face off against last conference’s runner-up Racal Motors on Monday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

The veteran mentor noted that the Thunder’s huge 83-78 victory over Marinerong Pilipino last week is a great workout for his team in preparation for their game against the heavyweights like Racal.

“Our next games are going to be very tough, so it was important that we were able to meet the challenge. Our characters are showing na even though we have a big deficit, hindi nasisiraan ng loob ang players and we’re sticking together,” said Altamirano, as Flying V banks on the leadership of Jeron Teng, Gab Banal, and Eric Salamat.

Meanwhile, Racal is just hoping to get back on the winning track after losing its last two games, its last being a 93-84 shocker of a defeat to Wangs Basketball.

[Related Story: Wang's beats Racal in major D-League surprise]

Coach Jerry Codiñera admitted that the recent lineup changes have taken a toll on the team’s stability, and he’s hopeful that the week-long break would allow the players to get back on an even keel.

“I know na struggling kami, kaya what we’re trying to do is to keep the balance with the changes that we have. Hopefully, maganda na ang chemistry namin when we face Flying V,” the PBA great said.

Racal will once again rally behind Mac Tallo, Rian Ayonayon, and Roider Cabrera in the tussle.

Game time is at 5 p.m., following the 3 p.m. tip-off of Wangs Basketball (3-3) and Zark’s Burgers (1-5).

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