PBFANTASY: Air21's Do or Die

Is it wrong for me to not wish the Air21 Express well?

Here’s the thing – Air21 can make the knockout stages depending on their win against the Alaska Aces tonight. Because of this innovative new rule (I kind of hate this as much as I hate the 6’4 imports) if Air21 finishes the elims with a 4-5 record, they will be out of the race despite sporting the same record as Rain or Shine and B-MEG. Because of their superior advantage, the Elasto Painters are the automatic fifth placers. This means that the Derby Ace Llamados need to hope and pray that Alaska would end the eliminations with a bang!

Here’s the thing – I like Air21 – especially when they revived the career of Danny Seigle. However, I don’t know if there will be a playdate this Friday. If the playoffs happen, and Air21 has already been eliminated, it means those other teams that played non-Air21 players will have a chance to acquire points.

It is almost impossible to not use Air21players because they are the only team this week that has two sure games. They already defeated Powerade and now they must finish off Alaska.

For the Aces, they need to win this game if they want to go to the next level riding on a win. While I think they’ll have a better chance winning against the Elasto Painters than the Llamados, the Aces need to train LD Williams when it comes to crucial games. Also they might slide down depending on how Air21 will trash them since a win will give the Express a 5-4 record.

And perhaps, this is a chance to decrease the rate of usable imports. With Alpha Bangura gone, the remaining imports are Williams, B-Meg’s Courtney Beasley, Ginebra’s Nate Brumfield, Talk N Text’s Paul Harris, and Rain or Shine’s Hassan Adams. Since Marcus Douthit doesn’t have Filipino blood even if he is a naturalized citizen, he is still considered as an import.

I may be in some ways selfish for saying this especially since I have Willie Miller in my lineup just in case the playoffs will start on Friday. If it doesn’t start this Friday, I say fine. But if it does, then this would give me an advantage especially if Willie produces a great performance.

Game over!