Injuries have forced Blackwater to make some drastic changes in its rotation.
A glimpse of how the remaining healthy Bossing adjust to their new roles despite limited time would be known Wednesday when they clash with an Alaska side anxious to snap out of its own latest slide in the PBA Governors' Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After a 2-0 start in the season-ending tournament the Aces have lost back-to-back games and are now ready to do anything just to get back on track.
Lessening its turnovers, especially in the endgame, is what Alaska primarily worked on after it lost to TNT 77-81 last Friday, a defeat that came on the heels of a similarly heartbreaking 77-80 defeat to Barangay Ginebra.
Blackwater's woes are even more severe as it has lost its first four games in the tournament to stretch its league-worst winless streak to 23, a slump that started in October of last year when Nash Racela was still at the helm.
Current Bossing coach Ariel Vanguardia is just hoping the major tinkering his team, which started the conference with eight new players, had to go through would be enough.
"Nag-i-struggle na kami sa chemistry even before, ngayon dynamics naiba rin. Naiba na naging roles ng iba, from backup naging starters. So nahihirapan kami talaga," said Vanguardia.
"Sana mas sanay na sila sa minutes nila, hindi na sila nagugulat," added Vanguardia. "Based on our practices naman tingin ko mas ready na sila kaysa before."
Vanguardia was referring to the likes of Val Chauca, Juneric Baloria, Barkley Ebona and Richard Escoto, who were thrust into the roles of first-stringers after Jayvee Casio, Baser Amer and Joshua Torralba joined Andre Paras, Frank Golla, Mike Ayonayon, Kelly Nabong and David Semerad on the injured list.
Even Jaylen Bond now has to also take on an unfamiliar role. "Nu'ng una, we have good guards who can score so we needed an import who can play center, rebound, play defense and fit siya doon," related Vanguardia.
"Now we're asking him (Bond) to score. Hindi iyun ang strength niya," added Vanguardia. "Pero with our situation we cannot do anything but ask Jaylen to score more. He should take the scoring load more and I think he understands that."
