THE PBA Commissioner’s Cup is now on its third straight day and four teams are off to a good start so far after blowing past their respective opponents including guest team Eastern from Hong Kong.
Converge got things going with a 116-87 rout of Terrafirma, while Eastern dealt Phoenix a 102-87 beating at the Philsports Arena in Pasig on opening day.
READ C-Stan can turn unrestricted free agent after 6 conferences. But there's a catch
On Thursday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, it was Northport’s turn to enter the win column by whipping NLEX, 114-87, before Magnolia followed suit with a 118-100 thrashing of Blackwater.
Action resumes Friday also at the NAS with another double-header featuring the debut of reigning Philippine Cup champion Meralco.
Before that, here is a quick takeaways of the first two days of the mid-season conference.
1. HAS THE PBA SEEN THE LAST OF C-STAN? – Through team governor Bobby Rosales, the Dyip revealed the decision of big man Christian Standhardinger to retire and forego the remaining month of his contract with the franchise. No words have been heard yet from the 35-year-old Fil-German, who was acquired by Terrafirma in an off-season trade with Barangay Ginebra. But while his contract may be expiring by year’s end, Standhardinger can’t become an unrestricted free agent yet since he’s short of the required 21 conferences played for a player to become an Unrestricted free agent. More so, the Dyip will still end up owning the rights on the 6-foot-8 former No. 1 overall pick if it submits a qualifying offer to Standhardinger once his old deal expires – and the PBA Office is furnished a copy of the proposed contract. If that happens, C-Stan will end up in the same boat as Greg Slaughter, Bobby Ray Parks, Mikey Williams, among others.
2. BLOWOUT GAMES COMMON DENOMINATOR – the first four games of the second conference saw all four teams win by huge margins. The FiberXers registered the biggest margin at 29 points against a Dyip side that was still without new acquisitions Terrence Romeo and Vic Manuel. Eastern had the lowest winning score at 15 points opposite the Fuel Masters. In all, the average winning tally in the first four games played was at 22.25 points.
3.JURY STILL OUT ON EASTERN – first impression lasts, but it remains to be seen whether the Hong Kong-based ballclub will turn out to be as good as former foreign guest team Bay Area Dragons. The team’s 15-point blowout of Phoenix is a testament that Eastern can compete, but coach Mensur Bajramovic was quick to temper expectations by saying his team is not Bay Area 2.0. While it has three former Bay Area players in its roster in Hayden Blankley, Kobey Lam, and Glen Yang, Eastern is purely a Hong Kong team, according to Bajramovic, unlike the Dragons who were reinforced by some stalwarts from mainland China and two prized imports in Myles Powell and Andrew Nicholson. Eastern’s biggest tests will certainly come from contending teams such as San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra, TNT, Magnolia, and a young Rain or Shine side.
4.DOES RICARDO RATLIFFE STILL HAS IT AT 35? – the Magnolia import was the first to admit he’s ‘not as young,' but the 35-year-old still delivered 30 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists in the Hotshots’ victory over George King and Blackwater. The Korean naturalized player was grateful to coach Chito Victolero for bringing him back seven years after first suiting up for the Purefoods franchise. But will Ratliffe be good enough to bring the Hotshots back to the finals - or deliver a championship? The conference is the same tournament where Magnolia – featuring Tyler Bey - finished runner-up last season behind Benny Boatwright and San Miguel.
5.CAN ROMEO/PRINGLE TANDEM TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME? – six years since parting ways at GlobalPort [now NorthPort], the high-scoring duo of Romeo and Pringle are back together at Terrafirma. Of course, their stay with the Batang Pier was their peak years, one which saw the 32-year-old Romeo emerge as the PBA’s three-time scoring champion. But having been slowed down by injuries, will the two be able to accelerate their game the way they did with the Batang Pier franchise before? At least there are still those hoping the reunion of the two will at least earn back the Dyip some respect for being the whipping boys of the league for sometime now.
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