Brgy. Ginebra def Blackwater, 81-80 [PBA on Tour | June 21, 2023]

Unlike Blackwater, there is no assurance that the majority of Barangay Ginebra’s PBA On Tour players will be retained for the league’s regular season.

The Bossing are expected to retain the majority of their players and are primarily using the preseason tournament to acclimate themselves with the system newly-hired coach Jeffrey Cariaso has implemented.

The Gin Kings do not have a first-round draft pick on September 17 and are anticipated to stick with their tried-and-true core for the regular season.

Ginebra assistant coach Richard Del Rosario indicated as much, stating that the ‘On Tour’ stint is primarily designed to give the team’s less-heralded players the opportunity to increase their value to potential suitors.

The head coach of the team in the current PBA On Tour tournament presented by Arena Plus and sponsored by Bingo Plus stated, “That is our objective: to improve in every game and, hopefully, give them a better situation moving forward.”

“I told you that this is an opportunity for you to shine, not because you won or lost games, but because of how you played the game and fought.”

Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City will provide additional insight into how near Blackwater and Ginebra are to achieving their respective objectives.

The Bossing have a 3-2 record and are desperate for a morale-boosting game following their 102-97 victory over the Converge FiberXers last week.

Ginebra, on the other hand, hopes to rebound from last Saturday’s 95-101 loss to NorthPort, which lowered the latter to 1-3 on the season.

Del Rosario has given Kim Aurin, Donald Gumaru, and Ralph Salcedo the opportunity to showcase their talents. The majority of the time, however, these 3×3 players must defer to veterans such as Raymond Aguilar, Aljon Mariano, Jeremiah Gray, Nards Pinto, Von Pessumont, and even incoming sophomore Jayson David.