Daven Tamayo

PBA coaches believe revamped Converge, Blackwater can shake up Season 50

Article (news)

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1759229129406IMG_8471.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Converge’s Juan Gomez de Liaño and Blackwater’s Dalph Panopio. Photos from PBA Images."/>Converge’s Juan Gomez de Liaño and Blackwater’s Dalph Panopio. Photos from PBA Images.MANILA — Retooled squads are expected to wreak havoc as the PBA enters its Season 50 later this week.</div>And according to some of the league’s best coaches, among those who could shake up the competition in the league’s golden year are the much-improved Converge FiberXers and Blackwater Bossing.&quot;You know, aside from the top teams now, the regular teams who normally make it, it will be tougher [for them],” said Meralco Bolts head coach Luigi Trillo during the PBA Media Day. “You look at the lower teams, now even the middle teams, I think you could say, they&#x27;ve got the talent. Will they do well? It&#x27;s up to them.”Rain or Shine ElastoPainters head coach Yeng Guiao shared Trillo’s sentiments, adding that the Phoenix Fuel Masters, Meralco, and newcomer Pureblends Titan Maxx are also primed to make some noise.&quot;Yung mga nasa middle tier na teams, lalong lumakas,” Guiao said. “So mas mahirap talaga, mas mahirap talaga na makabalik ka ng semifinals,&quot;Converge picked up Juan Gomez de Liaño second overall in the recent draft, boosting a team with Justine Baltazar, Justin Arana, Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston.&quot;Converge has been there a long time. Buo na sila. But because they haven&#x27;t been doing well, nadagdagan sila ngayon. They got Baltazar, De Liaño and Arana, Schonny so malalim [sila],&quot; Trillo said.Even Barangay  head coach Tim Cone also had high praise for the young Converge squad.&quot;They just keep getting better all the time. They have great balance, you know, size. And they have great guard play. They&#x27;re really a complete team over there. And they just need, you know, some time to continue to gel and mature and go through some failure and jump them to the next level,&quot; he said.&quot;But they are, if we look at it, you know, I think, you know, they can stay intact for the next two or three years. They could become the dominant team in the league,&quot; Cone added.San Miguel head coach Leo Austria shared the sentiment on emerging contenders, also having Converge on his list.&quot;Makikita natin itong Converge is talagang, in the past few weeks, nakikita natin yung development sa kanilang team,&quot; he said.However, FiberXers head coach and Pampanga vice governor Delta Pineda tempered expectations despite their impressive outings in tune-up games.&quot;Hindi po siguro, hindi kami dapat bantayan mas maraming magaling na team. Nandun po kami sa bottom. One good thing andun kami sa baba, nacha-challenge yung mga bata. May ina-aim kami hopefully ma-scorean namin, matalo namin,&quot; he said.Pineda said his challenge is for the team to improve on its performance last season.Blackwater, for its part, added former Gilas Pilipinas Youth guard Dalph Panopio to join the trio of proven scorers in Christian David and Sedrick Barefield.&quot;Blackwater, they have Panopio, Barefield and David, both second picks and when you build like that may mga pyesa na sila,&quot; Trillo said.&quot;Even Blackwater makikita natin maganda yung nilalaro nila kasi yung right pieces na kailangan nila I think slowly, nakukuha na nila,&quot; Austria added.The Bossing impressed against Ginebra in a tune-up game last week, adding confidence to the team ahead of the All-Filipino.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2025/9/30/pba-cariaso-looking-forward-to-barefield-david-panopio-trio-in-season-50-1621">READ: Cariaso looking forward to Barefield-David-Panopio trio in Season 50</a></div>&quot;They looked really good, looked really, really organized and together. They&#x27;ve obviously been going at it for a while. Their, you know, their game looks really honed at this time,&quot; Cone said.However,  Blackwater head coach Jeff Cariaso stayed humble despite their 94-93 win, hoping this translates to the new season.&quot;Giving credit to the players, we&#x27;re on the right path. I think it&#x27;s really now us gelling more and then just playing above ourselves. I think yun yung susunod na goal namin,&quot; he said. &quot;And, you know, the goal is to make the playoffs. Every team. So that&#x27;s no secret. So that&#x27;s what we&#x27;re gunning for.”Cariaso was grateful his fellow coaches saw Blackwater as one of the teams to look out for in the new season.&quot;That’s nice to hear. I think naman you know, coaches understand how hard it is to form a playoff-contending team. So you have to start there to have dreams of winning a championship,&quot; the former Alaska Milk ace said.&quot;Siyempre ultimate end goal is lahat tayo gusto mag-champion. But the idea is, since we haven’t made the playoffs yet, lalo na last season, that has to be the ultimate first goal. To get there first is really what we’re trying to do, and then we will go from there,&quot; the Blackwater coach added.In PBA Season 49, Converge’s highest finish was in the quarterfinals, while Blackwater failed to qualify for the playoffs.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/basketball/2025/9/28/pba-terrafirma-dyip-aims-to-be-competitive-in-season-50-2030">READ: Terrafirma Dyip aims to be &#x27;competitive&#x27; in Season 50</a></div>

Retooled squads are expected to wreak havoc as the PBA enters its Season 50 later this week.

Retooled squads are expected to wreak havoc as the PBA enters its Season 50 later this week.