Games Wednesday (Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. – B-Meg Derby Ace vs Barako Coffee
7:30 p.m. – Talk ’N Text vs Coca-Cola

Despite their back-to-back defeats, B-Meg Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio remains optimistic about their bid for back-to-back championships, saying the mistakes they made in those games are “correctable.”

Their 83-81 loss to Alaska in the Phoenix Fuel-presented PBA Road Game at the Xavier University Gym two days ago in Cagayan de Oro City was a disappointing one but Gregorio said they learned something valuable from that defeat.

“I think we’ve been competing hard till the end but just couldn’t close out games. Admittedly, it is frustrating because the last two games could have gone our way. But I am encouraged by the fact that we are so close to winning despite missing the services of Kerby (Raymundo),” he added.

Gregorio, however, stressed that there’s no need for them to push the panic button just yet, saying:

“These are correctable mistakes that are welcome at this point provided that we learn from it real quick.”

They also suffered a 79-76 defeat to Coke last Wednesday.

Former two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) Willie Miller scored the game-winning basket for the Aces with only six-tenths of a second left as he drove past B-Meg’s defenders.

The Llamados now sport a 2-2 win-loss card, tying the Aces for sixth in the standings.

For the Aces, it was a sweet revenge, having swept by the Llamados (formerly the Purefoods Giants) in their best-of-seven title series in the Philippine Cup. Alaska coach Tim Cone said they have to be consistent to keep their winning run. They also beat Air21, 105-95.

“It’s a great battle for both teams. After losing all those close games in the last all-Filipino finals, it was satisfying to pull one out this time against them,” he said. “There were clutch performances by our guys. With two in a row, now I hope we can sustain some momentum in the conference.”

Although Raymundo was in uniform, the 6-foot-6 center did not play for B-Meg because he’s still recuperating from a right knee injury. Marc Pingris also missed the fourth quarter of their game against the Aces due to an injury.

“But we are determined to get better in the coming games,” added Gregorio, whose team will face Barako Bull Coffee (1-4) on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum.

One glaring reason why B-Meg dropped their second straight game was the so-so performance of MVP candidate James Yap. The former MVP was held to just 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field.

“The best way to deal with James’ shooting woes is just to give him space and let him figure it out by himself,” said Gregorio of his superstar guard. “The more I talk about it, and the more he thinks about it, the more that he will be struggling.”

“He’s a rhythm shooter, he works on his shots in practice and that is the best way to improve,” Gregorio added.