The Blackwater Elite have just tapped in PBA legend Bogs Adornado as a shooting coach.
Curiously, on Adornado's first appearance on the Blackwater bench, the Elite showed their scoring prowess and broke into the win-column in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup on a 111-99 toppling of the previously unbeaten Rain or Shine side Wednesday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Mike Digregorio exploded for seven three-pointers and a total of 27 points while Allein Maliksi erupted for 23 markers, including two treys, to underscore the tremendous firepower Blackwater unleashed to nail a first win in three starts in the tourney.
Adornado, a three-time PBA MVP awardee, is another addition to the Blackwater coaching staff aside from big man coach Rommel Adducul.
Averaging only 95.5 points a game on a 28.6-percent clip, the Elite showed marked improvement on offense on Adornado's first night on the Blackwater bench.
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"It's about chemistry. We had a good bonding session going to this game. We've got to know each other better, and there's a lot of motivation to come out in this game," said Digregorio.
Maliksi was thankful to his teammates for letting him to lead.
"They're showing their trust in me. Pinababayaan nila akong mag-lead. At malaking bagay din ang trabaho at sakripisyo ng coaching staff. Before and after practice, they gave us extra session para talaga ma-improve kami," said Maliksi.
A lot of positives came out in their game against the E-Painters whom they torched with a solid 44-percent shooting, including 13 conversions from beyond the arc.
Before this game, the E-Painters were the best defensive team in the tourney, giving away only 83 points per game.
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The E-Painters did well in the first half before a defensive slide in the second half.
Trailing 46-53 in the first half, the Elite zoomed ahead, 83-79, in pounding the E-Painters, 37-26, in the third period.
Then the Elite refused to slow down, leading by as many as 18 at 106-88 to notch their first win after back-to-back losses to NorthPort and Meralco.
Rain or Shine, meanwhile, suffered a first loss after winning its first two games against NLEX and Barangay Ginebra.
Ironically, the E-Painters went down beaten in Raymond Almazan's first game in the season.
Chris Javier led the charge for the Elite in the first half and finished with a rare double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
James Yap, Maverick Ahanmisi and Rey Nambatac led the losing team with 20, 18 and 15 markers, respectively. (SB)
