The Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters is scheduled for a head-to-head game against Kia Picanto at 4:15 P.M. on July 19, 2017 live from Smart Araneta Coliseum.

PBA basketball is back and for its opening salvo the league will feature the Fuel Masters up against the Kia Picanto which is formerly known as Mahindra Floodbuster.

Coach Ariel Vanguardia will parade his balik-import Eugene Phelps who was very impressive in his 2017 Commissioner’s Cup debut.

Phelps helped the Fuel Masters to get a win versus the Blackwater Elite back in March but the highlights was his 53 points, 21 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Unlike the previous conference, Phelps only played one game for Phoenix as he already signed a contract for a Puerto Rico team. This time around he’ll stay for the entire Governor’s Cup.

Sometimes changing a team’s name brings more success to the franchise and this is what exactly what Mahindra did as they are now known as the Kia Picanto.

PBA Live Streaming: Kia vs Phoenix (July 19, 2017)

Sports5

With the new faces in their roster and the gradual improvement of their young guns, it’s only a matter of time that we’ll see the Manny Pacquiao backed squad playing at the PBA’s biggest stage.

Coach Chris Gavina understand that his team is loaded with basketball talents and will take a moving motivation to inspire them and pile a surmountable wins. Gavina found that needed inspiration from a popular energy drink.

“I’ve brought the new Gatorade commercial to my team that reinforces ‘What’s the secret to success?’ And the commercial ends with ‘Let defeat fuel your fire,’” said Gavina.

In the first two conferences his team logged a total of six wins and absorbed 16 losses.

“We definitely have had our share of losses these past two conferences but with the way we finished the last conference… allowed us to see what we could accomplish and we’re now allowing our previous defeats fuel us to play at a higher and more consistent playing level,” added Gavina.