Veteran sports anchor and ESPN5.com columnist Charlie Cuna gives his two cents on the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors' Cup, covering the period of August 27 to September 2.
Game of the week
There were eight games on tap for the week. In the midst of some more blowouts, there were some interesting matchups, among them, the Phoenix-Alaska meeting on Wednesday, where Alaska prevailed, and the two Sunday encounters, with Alaska's winning streak coming to an end against Ginebra, and an OT thriller between intrigue-ridden TNT and close but no cigar Columbian. The TNT-Columbian game gets this past week's game of the week honors.
TNT had been horrendous to start the conference and, after a 112-82 drubbing at the hands of Phoenix on Friday, looked to bounce back against similarly-challenged Columbian, losers of four straight games in which they actually competed for the most part, but faltered in the end. With TNT effecting a coaching change (Eric Gonzales for Nash Racela, although reportedly only temporarily), the KaTropa looked poised to rout the Dyip as it seemed the TNT of old had returned. But, Columbian was not about to give up that easily. The Dyip had its chances in regulation, but settled for an extra period. However, Jayson Castro asserted himself and Columbian made some key mistakes (delay of game?), allowing the KaTropa to get the victory, 118-114.
Top performance of the week by a local
He scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against Syria on Friday night in the Team Philippines' last game in the Asian Games. On Saturday, he arrived a few minutes after tip-off of his team's game against NLEX, but what a late addition he was to the SMB lineup as he was locked in, loaded, and ready to fire, en route to 36 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals in under twenty-eight minutes. Christian Stanhardinger showed that SMB still has a big man for other teams to fear in the absence of June Mar Fajardo. He got to the right spots as his teammates found him for easy baskets, but he also had his share of shot-creating that the NLEX defense just could not figure out. The number one pick in the last PBA Draft is in a situation where he will be expected to shine. He surely aced his first test of the Governors' Cup.
Top performance of the week by an import
It's getting to be a familiar theme with this guy. In his conference debut, he put up 34 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, and added five assists, three blocks, and three steals, lifting his team to victory against Columbian. He also shot 5-of-8 from three-point land (62%). Justin Brownlee seems to keep getting better, which spells trouble for the rest of the league. He followed up that first performance with a 45-point, 11-rebound, nine-assist near triple-double against Alaska, as Ginebra went 2-0 to start the tournament. We can probably forgive his 5.5 turnover average for the week as he more than made up for it in other ways. He is not the defending Best Import of the Governors' Cup, but with the way he is playing, he is the yardstick for everyone else.
Disappointing performance of the week
The way Simon Enciso had been shooting, particularly from three-point range, in his previous games, Alaska fans were expecting a similar performance against Ginebra. The Gin Kings obviously prepared well for him and made it tough for him to even see the hoop and shoot in rhythm (1-7 on threes).
However, Troy Rosario's lack of production for TNT is the one that stands out the most among sub-par performances. It may have a direct connection to how the KaTropa performed overall in its games this conference, but Troy has been out of sync. Battling foul trouble against Phoenix on Friday, Troy had just five points (on 28% FGs) and seven rebounds, then followed that up with seven points (on 33% shooting) and seven rebounds in OT against Columbian on Sunday. With his skill set and versatility, we expect more from this gifted young big man in the coming TNT games.
Must-see for this week
There is only one play date for the week, Wednesday, as the league will take a two-week break to make way for the next FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers window. Both games are interesting, as SMB will face Blackwater and Ginebra goes against Northport, with all lineups possibly complete (except for Fajardo of SMB) since the Asian Games participants are back (Erram for BW, Pringle for NP) and sidelined Sean Anthony may already see action for the Batang Pier.