Import cast may change

The PBA opens hostilities in the season-ending Governors Cup with a doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum today and while the pro league’s 12 teams are listing imports in their rosters, nobody’s a sure bet to survive the entire conference.

Kia Picanto, formerly Manhindra Floodbuster, has already made two import changes. It initially brought in Brandon Beasley who turned out to be too small and too guard-oriented for Kia’s purposes. So Beasley was given the pink slip and Chane Behanan arrived as his replacement. Alas, Behanan was measured 1/16 over the height limit of 6-5 and was shipped back to sender. Kia eventually signed up Markeith Cummings of Kennesaw State, a Division I school near Atlanta. Cummings, 28, was sized up by the PBA at 6-4 3/8. In the 2013 Governors Cup, Cummings averaged 29.4 points in eight games for GlobalPort. Cummings has played in three NBA D-League seasons and saw action as an import in Poland, Egypt and Lebanon.

The other imports are 6-2 3/4 Michael Craig of TNT KaTropa, 6-4 1/16 Trevis Simpson of Blackwater, 6-5 Cinmeon Bowers of Star, 6-4 1/2 James Weatherspoon of Rain Or Shine, 6-4 3/4 Aaron Fuller of NLEX, 6-4 5/8 Justin Brownlee of Barangay Ginebra, 6-4 3/8 Wendell McKines of San Miguel Beer, 6-4 1/2 Allen Durham of Meralco, 6-4 1/16 LaDontae Henton of Alaska, 6-4 15/16 Eugene Phelps of Phoenix and 6-4 3/4 Jabril Trawick of GlobalPort.  

The newcomers are Craig, Simpson, Bowers, Weatherspoon, Fuller and Trawick. In last year’s Governors Cup Finals, Brownlee led Ginebra to the throne over Meralco whose import was Durham. Ginebra was down, 1-2, then swept the last three games to clinch it in six. Brownlee is back to defend the crown while Durham returns with vengeance in mind.

Craig, the shortest import in town, played two years at Southern Mississippi then plied his trade in Mexico and South Korea. Craig, 25, averaged 13.2 points, 6 rebounds and 4.9 assists with the Seoul Samsung Thunder in the Korean league this past season with single-game highs of 26 points, 13 boards twice and 11 dimes. He’ll take over at point guard when Jayson Castro heads off to Lebanon for the FIBA Asia Cup.

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Simpson, 25, is being hailed as a Vince Carter type. In three years with the North Carolina at Greensboro varsity, he raised his scoring clip from 11.8 to 18.3 to 18.7.

A slasher, Simpson is expected to make an offensive impact with Blackwater. The addition of former PBA star Vince Hizon to the Elite’s coaching staff is a positive sign. This past campaign, Simpson averaged 10.3 points and shot 88.9 percent from the line with Hyeres Toulon in the French league.

Bowers, 24, played two years at Auburn University whose most prominent star was Charles Barkley. As a senior in 2015-16, Bowers averaged 10.5 points and 9.6 rebounds in 30 games, hitting 40.3 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from the stripe. He’s coming off a stint with Galil Elion-Kiryat in the Israel league where he averaged 18.1 points and 8.9 boards.

Weatherspoon, 24, split his NCAA eligibility between Ohio State and Toledo. He’s fresh from averaging 25.5 points and 12 rebounds with Baerum Basket Bekkestua in the Norwegian league. Fuller, 27, played for Iowa and Southern California in the NCAA then moved to Portugal, New Zealand and Mexico. In 2015, he was the New Zealand league’s top scorer, averaging 28.4 points with the Good Home Taranaka Mountain Airs. Trawick, 25, was former TNT import Joshua Smith’s teammate at Georgetown and in 2016, played on the Sioux Falls Skyforce squad that captured the NBA D-League title. 

Brownlee, 28, will be the import yardstick for sure. He averaged 28.6 points and 11.3 rebounds to power Ginebra to the Governors Cup crown last season. Brownlee suited up for Ginebra in the recent Commissioner’s Cup and despite a height handicap, averaged 28.3 points and 11.4 rebounds. Durham, 29, is a well-traveled player with loads of experience. In 2014, he made his PBA debut with Barako Bull and returned to play for Meralco last year. Durham was the mainstay of the Grace Bible varsity that won three National Christian College Athletic Association titles in the US. He has played in Romania, France, Israel, Finland and Uruguay.

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Henton, 25, played four years with Providence then suited up in Spain and the NBA D-League. In the Governors Cup last season, he averaged 31.5 points and 12 rebounds for Alaska. Aces coach Alex Compton liked what he saw from Henton and brought him back for another tour of duty. Phelps, 27, was a four-year Long Beach State star who has played in Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Taiwan. In the Governors Cup last year, he averaged 36.4 points and 19.5 rebounds with Phoenix. When the Fuel Masters needed Phelps to step in as an interim import in the recent Commissioner’s Cup, he erupted for 53 points in a 118-116 double overtime win over Blackwater. Phelps then gave way to a taller Jameel McKay. Coach Ariel Vanguardia is confident Phelps will pick up where he left off.

Finally, there is McKines who averaged 29.7 points for Alaska in the 2013 Governors Cup and 30.4 points for Rain Or Shine in the 2015 Governors Cup.  He had a solid career at New Mexico State and comes with experience playing in France, South Korea, Israel, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, China and Venezuela. The wide-bodied McKines tore the Chinese minor National Basketball League apart in 2016, averaging 39.8 points with Hualan in nine games. On his broad shoulders rests the hopes of San Miguel for a Grand Slam after the Beermen took the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cups.

There will be a few new faces in lineups this conference. Ryan Arana and Arnold Van Opstal will make their debut with GlobalPort under coach Franz Pumaren. Von Pessumal has moved to San Miguel while Larry Fonacier will mark his first appearance with NLEX and Fil-Am free agent Jerramy King, a 2015 fourth round draft pick of NLEX from AMA Computer, will play for Rain Or Shine.

The Governors Cup format will start with a single elimination round after which the top eight teams advance to the quarterfinals with the last four out of contention. The top four teams will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinal pairings. Survivors proceed to play in the best-of-five semifinals and the finals will be a best-of-seven affair.