PBA: Elasto Painters in Dubai, looking for win number one

Winless in Manila, Rain or Shine hopes to turn its PBA Commissioner’s Cup fortunes around in the emirate of Dubai.             The Elasto Painters play back-to-back games in the well-known global city in the dessert, taking on the Barako Bull Energy and the Barangay Ginebra Kings one after the other as Asia’s first-ever pro league takes its act outside of the country for the first time this conference.             First off the bat for the team of Yeng Guiao is Willie Miller and the Energy on Thursday at 8 p.m. (12 midnight Manila time), followed by a match against the highly-popular Kings on Friday at 7 p.m. (11 p.m. Manila time).             Both games will be held at the Al-Shabab Club.             Rain or Shine lost its first two outings and currently occupies the cellar as the only team which has yet to break into the win column.             Both the Kings and Energy are in the middle of the standings with records of 1-1 and 1-2, respectively.             The Elasto Painters were with the 95-man PBA contingent led by commissioner Chito Salud, who left for Dubai late Tuesday night via Etihad Airways.             Also with the delegation are team members and players of both Barako Bull and Ginebra.             Last year, the league also played two games in Dubai featuring the Talk N’ Text Tropang Texters, the B-MEG Llamados and Barangay Ginebra.             Salud said the PBA is committed to bringing the PBA anywhere in the region where there are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).             “We consider all OFWs modern day heroes of our country. Hopefully, by bringing the games closer to them we are able to bring joy and inspiration to them,” Salud said. - AMD, GMA News