PBA Governors’ Cup QF round begins today
COMPETITION in the season-ending Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup goes on a higher plane beginning today with the start of the quarterfinal phase.
From a full complement of 12 teams, the field is now down to eight, which proved they deserve to go deep in the tournament after a very competitive elimination play.
Left standing are the top seeds Meralco Bolts ( 9- 2), TNT KaTropa ( 8- 3), defending champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings ( 8- 3), Star Hotshots ( 7- 4), NLEX Road Warriors ( 7- 4), San Miguel Beermen ( 7- 4), Rain or Shine Elasto Painters ( 7- 4) and Blackwater Elite ( 5- 6).
For finishing in the top four with a better record and/or higher quotient, the Bolts, KaTropa, Kings and Hotshots earned a twice-to-beat advantage over their lower-seeded opponents in the quarterfinals.
Already eliminated are the Global Port Batang Pier, Alaska Aces, Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters and Kia Picanto.
First to kick off the quarterfinal festivities are the Bolts against the eight-seeded Elite at 4:15 p.m. and no. 4 Hotshots versus no. 5 seed Road Warriors at 7 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Meralco claimed the top spot after fashioning out a gutsy victory over Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel, 104-101, on the final day of the eliminations last Sunday.
The Bolts had to claw their way back from 18 points down at one point to hack out the win that gave them the top seed in the playoffs while booting out the Beermen from the top four and needing to play with a twice-to-win handicap in the quarterfinals.
Import Allen Durham took charge for the Bolts in the big win, tallying 35 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks.
Jared Dillinger also stepped up with 16 points, including clutch baskets as they made their way back, while Chris Newsome and Baser Amer had 14 and 13 points, respectively.
While he failed to crack the double- digit scoring mark with eight points, Cliff Hodge had 15 boards to lead the team.
Wounding up with the top seed, the Bolts welcomed the development albeit mindful that the journey for them does not stop there and that more work needs to be done.
“It’s a big win for the Meralco program. But the playoffs will be more difficult. We’ll focus now on preparing against Blackwater that has improved and has really been playing well as of late. We have to be ready,” said Meralco coach Norman Black after their win over San Miguel.
“We are happy with this win. But being here in the PBA in the last two years I understand that nothing will be given that easy and that you have to go for it if your to succeed,” Mr. Durham, for his part, said.
BLACKWATER
Waiting for the Bolts are the Elite, who are back in the quarterfinals after missing the cut in the four previous PBA conferences.
They are the lone team in the quarters with a losing record but they are not too wary of it seeing how the playoffs as a new ball game and that they are confident heading into it with the recent roster buildup they made.
Import Henry Walker leads the team with averages of 27.5 points, 16.8 rebounds, five assists, 2.1 steals and 1.4 blocks.
Allein Maliksi has been big for the team since acquiring him, posting 25.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two games.
Guard Michael DiGregorio is averaging 14.8 points while JP Erram has been norming a near double-double of 10.8 points and 9.3 rebounds to go along with 2.3 blocks.
Meanwhile, in the second game, Star looks to make short work of muchimproved NLEX in their quarters pairing and not extend it to a winner-take-all second game.
The Hotshots are riding a two-game winning streak heading into the contest while the Road Warriors have lost two straight.
The two other quarterfinals matchups between TNT and Rain or Shine and Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel begin tomorrow.