Battle for No. 1

The top seed in the PBA Governors Cup playoffs will be determined in the match between TNT KaTropa and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna, tonight. At the moment, TNT leads the league with a 9-1 record. Ginebra is second at 8-2. A win by Ginebra over TNT will create a tie for No. 1 with the Barangay claiming pole position because of the quotient system. A win by TNT will reinforce its stature as top dog.

In the quarterfinal pairings, it will be No. 1 versus No. 8, No. 2 versus No. 7, No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 with the top four seeds enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage. Aside from which teams will be No. 1 and No. 2, the other undecided slots are No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 8. Confirmed are No. 6 Alaska (6-5) and No. 7 NLEX (5-6).

This Wednesday, there will be two playoff games to settle the teams seeded No. 4, No. 5 and No. 8. Meralco and Mahindra, both toting 6-5 records, will dispute the No. 4 slot and a twice-to-beat advantage while Rain Or Shine takes on Phoenix in a do-or-die clash. The Elasto Painters and the Petroleum Fuel Masters finished the eliminations in a three-way tie with NLEX at 5-6. Applying the quotient system, NLEX (plus 8) took the No. 7 slot, leaving Rain Or Shine (plus 5) and Phoenix (minus 13) to square off for the last playoff ticket. The loser in the Painters-Masters playoff will join GlobalPort, Star and Blackwater by the wayside.

Rain Or Shine defeated Phoenix, 106-89, in the eliminations but can’t be too sure of a repeat. The Painters beat the Fuel Masters with import Dior Lowhorn who is long gone. Coach Yeng Guiao has moved on with Jason Forte and now, Joshua Dollard. Consistency has been an elusive goal for Rain Or Shine which is 2-4 in its last six outings. Dollard didn’t start in his Painters debut which was marred by an 82-75 loss to San Miguel. But last Friday, Dollard looked impressive in compiling 27 points and 14 rebounds in a starting role as Rain Or Shine crushed Star, 108-97.

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Phoenix lost to Rain Or Shine with original import Marcus Simmons but coach Ariel Vanguardia now has the prolific Eugene Phelps in harness. Phelps has scored over 40 points in three of his eight games so far and Phoenix is 5-3 with “El Destructor” from Long Beach State in the lineup. The crack in the mirror is Phoenix has lost its last two games to Alaska by 16 and to Ginebra by 15.

Mahindra got off to a sizzling 4-0 start but has lost its last three assignments to Rain Or Shine by 15, to Ginebra by seven and to Meralco by three. The Enforcers will be in their first playoff appearance and coach Chris Gavina has the chance to seal a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals. Curiously, Mahindra and Meralco are fixed to face off in the quarterfinals. What’s not certain at this point is which team will take the twice-to-beat advantage. The team that wins on Wednesday will need to beat the other just once more to advance to the semifinals so this is virtually a best-of-three affair.

Meralco’s 86-83 win over Mahindra last Sunday was a huge morale booster for the Bolts. All coach Norman Black has to do is to repeat then beat the Enforcers once more to make it to the Final Four. Import Allen Durham has been a consistent producer for Meralco and once scored 55 points over GlobalPort in a double overtime thriller. Jimmy Alapag, Chris Newsome, Cliff Hodge, Reynel Hugnatan and Jared Dillinger provide stability from the local end.

Mahindra import James White isn’t as individually dominating as Durham since he’s more of a team player. K. G. Canaleta’s absence has been a drawback. Mahindra hasn’t won since he took ill. Gavina brought in A. J. Mandani, Leo De Vera and Bong Galanza to the roster hoping the late shuffle will add fire to the Enforcers’ push for the No. 4 slot. Aldrech Ramos and L. A. Revilla will play a key role in moving Mahindra forward.

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If Rain Or Shine beats Phoenix, it will meet TNT in the quarterfinals in the event the KaTropa beats Ginebra tonight. If Ginebra loses and San Miguel beats Blackwater in the first game today, they will be tied for No. 2 with identical 8-3 records. In this situation, Ginebra slides to No. 3 because of the quotient system and will face Alaska in the quarterfinals. If Ginebra beats TNT, San Miguel will take the No. 3 spot and battle No. 6 Alaska in a classic matchup while No. 2 TNT will clash with No. 7 NLEX. The Aces and Ginebra are the hottest teams in the league, each with four wins in a row.

Alaska started slowly with a 1-4 record but has now won five of its last six. In the eliminations, the Aces lost to San Miguel, 106-103, with the Beermen playing an all-Filipino cast. JuneMar Fajardo, however, played like an import and delivered 37 points. It’s been a different Alaska on the court since that loss. Coach Alex Compton’s charges are now adjusted to the PBA’s virtual no-contact policy without compromising their defensive intensity. In Alaska’s last four wins, three came with opponents failing to score 90 or more. Calvin Abueva has been a major contributor to the effort. Since The Beast assumed starting duties, Alaska has won five of six and that’s no accident.

The quarterfinals begin at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday with No. 2 playing NLEX and No. 3 battling Alaska. On Saturday, it will be No. 1 against No. 8 and No. 4 against No. 5 at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. If necessary, the do-or-die quarterfinal games will be held on Sunday and Monday. If no do-or-die games are necessary, Game 1 of the first semifinal series will begin on Monday, Sept. 26. The two best-of-five semifinal series will be played alternately one game every day.

The defending Governors Cup champion is San Miguel. Last season, the Beermen blanked Alaska in the best-of-seven finals. Now, San Miguel and Alaska could tangle in the quarterfinals with the Beermen enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage. An intriguing twist is San Miguel will suit up Elijah Millsap for the first time this conference against either Alaska or NLEX. Millsap played for Petron in a losing cause in the 2013 Governors Cup finals and flew in last Thursday to replace Mike Singletary who had previously taken over from the injured Arizona Reid. San Miguel coach Leo Austria recently availed of the option to bring in an Asian import and recruited Mahmoud Abdeen of Jordan to boost its playoff hopes.