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"Things go uphill from here" says Blades manager

After embarking on an immaculate elimination round, the Bacoor Blades were on cloud nine. Until they fell back to reality after losing two straight games in the Finals of last season's League IV.6. And a midst the fact that they were awarded a promotion to Divison III, The reality sank in that they were going to have to work their way up again as they received their first elimination round loss in a League Game since their second round defeat at the hands of The Dynasand Midges, 81-72, two seasons ago.

"All we want to do is to be competitive." says team manager TheDogMan. "It's not as if we were expecting to duplicate what we did last season. It was with a different league. No disrespect to the teams and manager from our previous League IV.6, but the competition tends to increase as the talent level increases every division. And that is just logical." the mentor added.

"That being said, things go uphill from here. And all we have to do is be ready to make the climb."

Blades ships Canora to German team

Transfer Market
3:59

Team manager TheDogMan confirmed the acceptance of the bid of German squad JokerAllstars to acquire the services of power forward Gustavo Canora for $150,000.

Canora did not play the season opener for the Bacoor Blades as they hosted Fhrytans last August 25. Just a day before the contest, Canora, along with forward Crisostomo Escolar, were put on transfers by the team to give room for the arrival of new acquisitions Marcos Paulo Petry and Pedro Horcasitas, as well as the addition of draftee Laurence Lacambra, who shall serve as the team's new project.

"Canora did well as our project bigman. But we were particularly excited about the potential that Lacambra had that we never saw with Gustavo. We made it clear to him our intention to give the rookie more playing and training time so as to accommodate his early development." said the Blades mentor.

"It just came to a point that we cannot promise playing time for the both of them. They play the same position, they are both young and need a lot of time to let them grow. Besides, we have already an established starter in Kelly Paul."

Prior to the sale of Canora, the Blades' frontline was becoming a problem rotation-wise as starter Kelly Paul, Utak Peregil, Eugenio Genco were with Lacambra and Canora were to compete for minutes on the floor.

"Gustavo was a key cog for us last season. we hope that his new manager will be able to continue his training especially on his inside-outside game that we wanted him to emulate from Kelly Paul.

Blades trumped by Tribe of Arms

Bacoor Blades @ Tribe of Arms
League Game
20:02

The Bacoor Blades their second game of the season, their first road game, to Tribe of Arms in a rout, 52-76. Kelly Paul led the Blades with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort. Iliya Dimov scored 10 points to join Kelly Paul as the only two players for the Blades that scored double figures.

The twin tower combination of Alberto Cano and Francisco Manuel Vizcarreto led the way for the Tribe of Arms, both with 17 points as every member of the home team were able to contribute at least 2 points.

Blades begin Cup campaign against Darkyoya

Bacoor Blades vs. Darkyoya
National Tournament Game
12:26

The Bacoor Blades will begin their quest for an attempt to win the National Championship today by facing a neutral team in Darkyoya. Blades manager TheDogMan are confident that they will be able to get over this first hurdle as they look to improve on their performance last season, where they only made it to the Final 512 teams in the Cup.

"We have a better lineup this season regardless of where we stand in the League" says TheDogMan. "All that we want to do is to make a run as deep as possible in the National Tournament. And we will begin today. We hope to be able to do better this time around."

The Blades were able to pull off a shocker of a win in the National Tournament last season, when they were able to defeat Tax Collectors, the country's 74th ranked team in order to advance to the Final 512, where they were ultimately eliminated by Yakult Lite Pampanga.

"You literally can't afford to blink in this tournament." said team captain Kelly Paul. "One loss and you're out. We hope to be able to stand the tests ahead as long as possible. It's a long road ahead for everyone."

Bacoor Blades: The Week That Was

The following are the events that took place during the latter part of last week in the campaign of the Bacoor Blades:

Blades win first tournament assignment

National Tournament Game
Bacoor Blades vs. Darkyoya

The Blades were able to shake off a rugged start to upend Darkyoya last August 30, 120-76. Despite fielding in only five players, they totally outmatched an overwhelmed side from Division V. Iliya Dimov led the Blades that game with 44 points, while the other four players fielded in, Eugenio Genco, Laurence Lacambra, Tim Puckett and Eladio Martin churned out double-double efforts for the Blades' cause

The Blades will face Ilonggo kings in their next assignment in the National Tournament.

Blades ship Peregil to Spanish team

Season Transfer Market

Utak Peregil, one of the Blades' key contributors last season as a rookie in their dominant run, has been agreed upon to transfer to the New York Nikes, a Spanish ballclub for $12000. Team manager TheDogMan cited cost-cutting and training time reasons for the bigman's transfer.

"We had to clear space in order for our rookie Laurence Lacambra, to be able to develop. Utak was a tremendous prospect nonetheless, and we hope that his new manager would be able to continue what we started with him. Just like what we wanted to do with Gustavo Canora."

Blades lose thriller at home

League Elimination Round Game
Tiger Prawns @ Bacoor Blades

Despite a glaring roster advantage, the Bacoor Blades lost to a more superior Tiger Prawns team. The opposing team fielded only five players, but despite the odds in the Blades' favor roster-wise, the lost in a thriller of a game, 92-89 at The Bacoor Forum.

The frontline of the Blades was virtually impeded as both Kelly Paul and rookie Laurence Lacambra were unable to contribute decently, combining for only 14 points and 12 rebounds before both men fouled out of the game.

Mark Hugos led the Blades with 28 points, while Pedro Horcasitas and Marcos Paulo Petry contributing 17 and 13 markers respectively.

The Blades remain winless in three games so far this season, as they face the Ninja School Dropouts in their next game.

Back at the Bottom

Season 21 Analysis: Bacoor Blades
The Holster Headquarters
17:48

At a glance, at the conclusion of last season, after a bittersweet plot that saw them perched on top of the League IV.6 food chain, eventually downed by The Blackout for the League title, a promotion to Division III would serve more than a worthy consolation prize for their efforts. One would think that they would be able to at least compete with the best of the higher division given what they did last season, when they bested the competition at least in the elimination round. It is after all, a tougher league.

But the Bacoor Blades are currently at the seventh spot in the Big 8 Conference of Division III.1. And by the looks of things, it's shaping to be just like the old days of the franchise, when they be walloped at any conceivable time.

"We had to prepare for this instance. It's an inevitable event for any franchise to go through these tough times." says team manager TheDogMan. "The team below us is forfeiting games by not fielding players. So basically, we are the cellar dwellers in out conference."

"It does not look good at first glance, but the team understood from day one that it was not going to be the same either if we stayed in Division IV or got promoted here." says team co-captain Kelly Paul.

"Maybe in the beginning, the eagerness to compete immediately came to our mind as a team. But the competition is just far more greater. So when we made up our minds, we focused on getting trained for seasons to come." TheDogMan further added.

This season, the Blades had to endure an eight-game losing skid before notching their first League win for the season. For the most part, the Blades National Tournament campaign was making up for the losses, as they, in turn, could vent out their frustrations on an inferior team in the earlier rounds. But when they lost in their 5th assignment in the knockout tournament, they had to work doubly hard to salvage a few more wins.

The Blades are currently holding a 4-14 win-loss record. They have four more assignments to their schedule, including their game today vs. Ninja School Dropouts at The Bacoor Forum.