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The second and last conference of the 2024 PBA season, the Philippine Cup, got underway on Wednesday, with the Blackwater Bossing upsetting the Meralco Bolts, 96-93, and the TNT Tropang Giga slipping past the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 108-107. The two games launched the round robin elimination round that will stretch to May 5 and with the playoffs to follow. What can we expect from the Philippine Cup, and what storylines should we keep an eye on? New inside presence for TNT The hobbled Tropang Giga, in desperate need of a big to shore up their depleted front line, made a major trade just before the Philippine Cup to address this glaring hole. In a three-team trade, TNT gave up injured center Justin Chua, seldom-used guard Jaydee Tungcab and a Season 51 second-round pick for NLEX Road Warriors big man Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser. The Road Warriors received big men Ato Ular and Yousef Taha from the Blackwater Bossing, who in turn got Chua, Tungcab and the second-round pick. Chua is still on the injured list, while Tungcab also sat out the Bossing's opening-day win over Meralco. BGR appeared in just five contests for the Road Warriors in the Commissioner's Cup, averaging 8.4PPG as he was recovering from a knee injury. He will add muscle to a thin TNT frontline that is still missing Poy Erram and has only Jewel Ponferrada and Henry Galinato, Jr. as its pure centers. He immediately proved his worth in the Tropang Giga's win over Rain or Shine, scoring 15 points and hauling down 14 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Batang Pier welcome back Will Navarro, welcome Zav Lucero The NorthPort Batang Pier started the Commissioner's Cup strong, going 5-2 at one point, before sputtering down the stretch and settling for the sixth seed in the playoffs. They were then promptly dispatched by Barangay Ginebra. They have a lot to look forward to in the Philippine Cup with the return of do-it-all forward Will Navarro from an ACL tear he suffered in December 2022 and the debut of Season 48 draft fifth overall pick Zavier Lucero, of the UP Fighting Maroons, who suffered his own ACL tear in the UAAP Season 85 Finals. Navarro was averaging 14.3 points and 7.6 rebounds at the time of his injury, and it will be interesting to see how he meshes with Commissioner's Cup leading local scorer Arvin Tolentino. Lucero arrived earlier this week and is officially on the Batang Pier's injured/reserve list, but should be activated sometime during the conference. When this happens, NorthPort will boast a tall wing rotation of Navarro, Tolentino and Lucero, all of whom are 6-foot-3 or taller. Can JMF win an 8th MVP? When the league released its updated statistical leaders after the San Miguel Beermen's Commissioner's Cup win, a familiar name was back in front in the statistical race for Season 48 MVP. June Mar Fajardo, who didn't play enough games in the Commissioner's Cup to qualify for Best Player of the Conference, nonetheless now leads in the race that matters the most as he has posted a comfortable statistical lead over his closest pursuers, Barangay Ginebra's Christian Standhardinger and teammate CJ Perez. If the Beermen once again go deep in the playoffs and JMF posts his usual numbers - he currently leads the league in rebounds and blocks per game - a record eighth MVP award will be within reach by season's end for The Kraken. Standhardinger and Perez still have a chance to catch up, though, so the game logs of all three will be worth keeping an eye on as the tournament progresses. Can the Beermen (sort of) score a grand slam? Let's be clear: As this is just a two-conference season, the Beermen likely will not be officially credited with a Season 48 grand slam should they also win the Philippine Cup. By definition, a PBA grand slam has to be comprised of a championship in three conferences over the same season. Nevertheless, a Philippine Cup win would make them the first team since Barangay Ginebra won two consecutive conference titles almost four years ago. It would also give them a historic 30th league title, double that of the franchise in second place (Ginebra), and cement their place as the most dominant Philippine sports team in history. However, there's a reason why back-to-back titles are a rarity in the league. Teams easily fall victim to the championship hangover syndrome, and more often than not lose steam in the following conference. It will be the ultimate challenge for coach Jorge Gallent to keep his players' motivation up, but should he pull it off, he would join Dante Silverio, Jong Uichico and Siot Tangquincen as the only coaches in league history to win two championships in their first three conferences.
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