Jumbo Plastic chooses to play vs Cebu collegiate teams in preparation for D-League stint

PBA D-League team Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants were in town over the weekend for a training camp to prepare themselves for the Aspirant’s Cup, which starts tomorrow.

Head coach Steven Tiu said staging the camp in Cebu was a no-brainer since he wanted to pit his team against the country’s best collegiate squads.

Although the team was greeted by several aftershocks, including one that rocked the University of the Visayas (UV) gym while teams were doing their warm-ups last Sunday, Tiu said it was all worth it.

“We wanted to train against the best and Cebu has some of the best collegiate teams in the country,” Tiu said. “It’s a plus to play against collegiate squads kasi alam mo na all-out talaga yung effort. Kasi kung kapwa tagaD-League lang o di kaya professional team ang kalaban mo, baka pa-petiks-petiks lang ang laro.”

Jumpo Plastic played a tune-up game against the reigning Cesafi champions UV Green Lancers at the UV gym last Sunday with the game ending in a 56-all tie.

The Giants wrapped up their training camp here with an 83-89 loss to Cesafi runners-up Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras.

The Linoleum Giants are the second D-League team in two weeks to troop over to Cebu to play against Cesafi squads.

The reigning Foundation Cup champions Blackwater Sports played against the University of San Carlos and SWU last week.

The Giants have recently reloaded with the presence of former Gilas defensive ace Jason Ballesteros, point guard Elliot Tan, 6-foot-9 Gian Chiu, Jopher Custodio, Harry Petilos, Marion Magat, Kojack Melegrito and Cebuano stalwarts Lyle Antipuesto and Jan Colina, formerly of San Sebastian and Adamson, respectively.

The D-League opens tomorrow with a double-header featuring the Café France and the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns at 2 p.m. followed by a game between two debuting teams, the Derulo Accelero and the Zambales M-Builders at 4 p.m.