Crowded at the top

Only 12 games are left in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup single-round elimination schedule and there’s still no certainty as to which two teams will emerge on top of the ladder to claim a twice-to-beat advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

In contention are Star (7-2), Meralco (7-2), Barangay Ginebra (6-2), San Miguel Beer (6-2) and TNT KaTropa (7-3). Rain Or Shine (5-4) and Alaska (4-4) have an outside chance of climbing up the ladder but their hopes hinge on only one team reaching eight wins. That’s because the Elasto Painters and Aces can win only up to seven games.  Under the tournament rules, ties for the top two slots will be broken via the quotient system.

The first eight finishers advance to the quarterfinals where No. 1 plays No. 8 and No. 2 takes on No. 7 with the higher seeds enjoying a twice-to-beat edge. In the other quarterfinal pairings, it will be No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5 in separate best-of-five series. The last four placers are struck out. The only team that’s out of the running is NLEX with a 0-9 record. Deadlocks for the eighth spot will be settled via the quotient system and/or a one-game playoff. If there are two teams in a logjam, they will part ways in a do-or-die showdown.

The four quarterfinal winners move on to play in the best-of-five semifinals where the survivor of No. 1 against No. 8 plays the survivor of No. 2 against No. 7 and the survivor of No. 2 against No. 7 battles the survivor of No. 3 against No. 6. The winners then dispute the title in the best-of-seven finals.

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As soon as eight teams win at least five games, Mahindra and Blackwater take an exit. Both Mahindra (3-7) and Blackwater (2-7) can win only up to four games. Six wins will guarantee a ticket to the playoffs since GlobalPort (3-6) can win only up to five contests.

Here’s the remaining schedule of all 12 PBA teams: Star (Meralco on May 24, Alaska on May 31), Meralco (Star on May 24, Ginebra on May 28), Ginebra (Blackwater on May 26, Meralco on May 28, Mahindra on June 2), San Miguel Beer (Alaska on May 27, Blackwater on May 31, GlobalPort on June 2), TNT (Rain Or Shine on May 28), Rain Or Shine (GlobalPort on May 26, TNT on May 28), Alaska (NLEX on May 24, San Miguel on May 27, Star on May 31), Phoenix (NLEX on May 27), GlobalPort (Rain Or Shine on May 26, San Miguel on June 2), Mahindra (Ginebra on June 2), Blackwater (Ginebra on May 26, San Miguel on May 31), NLEX (Alaska on May 24, Phoenix on May 27).

 To rearm for the playoff push, Rain Or Shine replaced Shawn Taggart with Duke Crews who played for the Painters in 2011-12. Crews, 29, is fresh from playing for the CLS Knights of Surabaya in the Indonesian league. Also making late switches were GlobalPort (tapping Justin Harper for Malcolm White), Star (returning Ricardo Ratliffe for Tony Mitchell) and TNT (bringing in Joshua Smith for Donte Green).

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Some teams also tweaked their local rosters. San Miguel Beer took in Matt Ganuelas-Rosser. TNT signed up Anthony Semerad and R. R. Garcia. GlobalPort welcomed Bradwyn Guinto, Sean Anthony and Jonathan Grey. Mahindra brought in Glenn Khobuntin and Eric Camson. Meralco landed Garvo Lanete. Although out of contention, NLEX got ready for the future by picking up Alex Mallari, J. R. Quiñahan, Larry Fonacier and Kenneth Ighalo.

Star has a load on its shoulders with Meralco and Alaska the Hotshots’ last two assignments. If the Bolts hurdle Star, their last opponent is Ginebra. Star has won its last three games and started the conference at 4-0. The Hotshots were miserable last season and missed the playoffs in all three conferences. They rebounded in the Philippine Cup and took Ginebra to seven games before capitulating in the semifinals. Now, coach Chito Victolero plans to take the Hotshots one step further into the finals.

Reenlisting Ratliffe comes in perfect timing. He was Star’s import in the previous Commissioner’s Cup so it’s not as if the environment is unfamiliar. Ratliffe compiled 37 points and 22 rebounds in his first game back for Star and it was at TNT’s expense, 107-97, last May 10. Marc Pingris hasn’t played the entire conference but might just suit up for the stretch run. Gilas’ Jio Jalalon and Allein Maliksi are back from SEABA to lend a hand in pushing Star forward.