Game Today: (Al-Shabab Sports Club, Dubai, UAE)

8 p.m. – Barako Bull vs. Rain or Shine

Game Tomorrow: (Al-Shabab Sports Club, Dubai, UAE)

7 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs. Ginebra

Games on Sunday: (Araneta Coliseum)

4:15 p.m. –Meralco vs. Powerade
6:30 p.m. – Alaska vs. Talk ‘N Text



RAIN or Shine travelled 6,916 kilometers to confront a tough fate:

Will it remain winless or will it finally notch a win it failed to accomplish here after two games?

The Elasto Painters plunge into action tonight kicking off an exhausting schedule of back-to-back games, aiming to secure their first victory and hope that they will still have enough strength the following day in a crucial to-do list that may decide their destiny in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

The franchise that came close to making the Finals in the Philippine Cup flew to Dubai to challenge Barako Bull tonight and then Ginebra tomorrow, needing nothing but a sweep to keep its hopes alive of making the playoffs of the short import-laced tournament.

Rain or Shine tackles Barako Bull at the A-Shabab Sports Club at 8 p.m., 12 midnight Manila time, and then battles Ginebra tomorrow at 7 p.m. (11 p.m. Manila time).

“It’s going to be a tough back-to-back schedule for us,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao before the contingent left Manila Tuesday night. “It’s a must that we come out and play our best. We’re the only team winless, and we are faced with a challenging situation.”

So important is Rain or Shine’s agenda in the Gulf state that losing both matches could shatter its ambitions of advancing to the playoffs since only six ball clubs will make the quarter-final round after the single-round, nine-game eliminations. The four teams with the worst records are to be eliminated.

Actually, the Painters do have more pressing problems to address.

They will be clashing with a Barako Bull team aching to bounce back. The Energy lost, surprisingly, to the Marcus Douthit-backstopped Air21 last Sunday, 97-88. It was the Express first win after going winless in the Philippine Cup (14 games).

Barako Bull’s import, too, appears to have gotten a grip of the local play. DerMarr Johnson, the No. 6 first-round pick of the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA in 2000, scattered 37 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in his last game.

Like Rain or Shine, Barako Bull is in danger of dropping out of the playoff race. It only has one win – a 98-78 victory over Alaska in its first game in the conference – with two setbacks already. Two other teams are tied with the Energy at 1-2 (win-loss) – Petron and Meralco.

Rain or Shine will hardly have time to prepare when it meets Ginebra tomorrow in a rematch of the Philippine Cup quarter-finals the Painters won via a two-game sweep.

Ginebra currently holds a 1-1 slate. The Kings are in Dubai for the second year in a row after also being part of a PBA contingent in 2011 where Talk ‘N Text and B-Meg saw action, too.

The Kings are expected to beat the Painters this time, having boosted their line-up with the addition of Kerby Raymundo and Dylan Ababou.

Ginebra is coming off a painful 76-74 defeat at the hands of Alaska last Saturday in a game in Lucena where LA Tenorio scored seven points -- a rare four-point play and the game-winning three-point shot -- inside the final 18.4 seconds.

Rain or Shine, on the other hand, dropped a 122-120 decision to Powerade last Friday. The Painters led by as high as 17 points, but couldn’t hold on to the commanding advantage. Their immaturity was very obvious down the stretch, allowing Gary David to deliver the winning three-point shot. David finished with 32 points in that contest.