PBA: Commissioner’s Cup spotlight on Air21, GlobalPort, Alaska, Talk ’N Text and Rain or Shine

A new PBA conference tips off on Wednesday, with a double-header at the MOA Arena. The compressed nature of this season gave teams at most a month off, less if you advanced far in the postseason, but still a lot of things have happened in that span.

As a result, there’s a lot of questions on people’s mind, and given how the right import can mean the world for a club, this Commissioner’s Cup projects to be a wide-open race for the title, with no certainties for the 10 clubs.

Here’s what we know about the Air21 Express, GlobalPort Batang Pier, Alaska Aces, Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and also what we don’t know, what we’ll be keeping our eyes on through the nine-game elimination round.


Check out what we know and what we don't know about the San Miguel Beermen, Barako Bull Energy Cola, Meralco Bolts, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and San Mig Coffee Mixers in part two here.
 

Air21 Express

What we know: After an entire conference of the Express going out sans a point guard to orchestrate their offense, the team finally broke down and acquired not one, but two floor generals - veteran Jonas Villanueva and rookie Eliud Poligrates. The duo will go a long way towards lifting a moribund, turnover-happy Air21 attack.

What we don’t know: How exactly will Air21’s offense look like next conference? In the Philippine Cup, they averaged 94.58 possession a game, tops in the league, and you’d figure with actual point guards, they’ll be able to eke out more fast break points. However, when you’ve got Asi Taulava and your import down low, you always want to feed the big men and give them touches in the post. It’ll be interesting to see how Coach Franz Pumaren balances this one out.


GlobalPort Batang Pier

What we know: The Batang Pier brought in a new head coach - the fiery Pido Jarencio, fresh off a two-season stretch with the UST Growling Tigers that saw them reach the UAAP Finals twice and bag a PCCL title in-between. He should quickly find a rhythm in the pros, what with four rookies that he’s coached against from college, plus two key contributors, Alex Cabagnot and Jay Washington, from his time as an assistant to the Petron Blaze Boosters.

What we don’t know: It’ll be interesting to see the development of GlobalPort’s rookies, now that they’ve all gotten a conference under their belt. Terrence Romeo started out waxing hot, but his chucking ways came back to haunt him late in the Philippine Cup. RR Garcia quietly posted solid numbers, but nothing spectacular, while Nico Salva barely saw the court. Justin Chua had a strong stretch of games, but he was very nearly traded during the offseason. It’ll be up to Jarencio to coax the talent out of these guys in the hopes of turning them into contributors at the professional stage.


Alaska Aces

What we know: The Aces are still pretty much the same team from the one that won the Commissioner’s Cup back in 2013. That said, they’ve been trending downwards since claiming the top seed in that conference with an 11-3 card. They were sub-.500 in the Governors’ Cup at 4-5, enough for the seventh seed and a quarterfinals exit to eventual champs San Mig Coffee Mixers. A season later in the Philippine Cup, they were just 5-9, and needed to overcome several must-win games late just to snag the eighth seed, before burning Ginebra’s twice-to-beat advantage.

What we don’t know: Expectations are that the returning Robert Dozier will solve a lot of their defensive problems, something that should be easier for him to do, with only two teams fielding imports taller than 6’9”. However, the bigger player concern might be whether or not Calvin Abueva recovers from his sophomore slump. Shortly after his Rookie of the Year campaign, Abueva amassed just two double-doubles, and scored at least double-figures in 6-of-17 outings last conference. The return of a dynamic Abueva would certainly pump blood into an at-times staid Alaska offense.
 

 
Check out what we know and don't know about Talk 'N Text and Rain or Shine:

 
 

Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters

What we know: The Texters last conference felt they needed upgrades on offense. As a result, they signed Danny Seigle mid-season, and then just before the quarterfinals, traded for KG Canaleta. While both players did exactly what they were brought in to do, put points on the board, a full training camp under the Norman Black and the rest of the TNT coaching staff can only better integrate the pair into the team’s schemes on both ends of the court.

What we don’t know: Truth be told, the Texters could find themselves leaning a lot more on Seigle and Canaleta, as weekly practices for the Gilas national team get under way. The Texters have four players, tied with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters for most in the training pool, and TNT’s depth isn’t as overwhelming as RoS’. It’s going to be a challenge for Black and company to keep their big guns well-rested headed into the postseason, that is, if they don’t implode like their 2013 Governors’ Cup (post-FIBA Asia Championship) campaign, when they missed the quarterfinals all together.


Rain or Shine Elasto Painters

What we know: The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are ridiculously deep. Yes, this isn’t exactly breaking news, but the addition of the third (Raymond Almazan), ninth (Alex Nuyles) and 12th overall (Jeric Teng) picks from the 2013 Draft further upgraded this team talent-wise, something that will definitely come in handy as the coaching staff can opt to give fewer minutes to their Gilas pool quartet, without a huge drop-off in production.

What we don’t know: Towards the end of their Finals series in the Philippine Cup against the San Mig Coffee Mixers, head coach Yeng Guiao bit-by-bit began shrinking his rotations, veering away from the “everyone gets to play” style he leaned on prior. Some might say that this made the Elasto Painters a bit too predictable, and the team certainly struggled to execute down the stretch multiple times. It’ll be interesting to see what Rain or Shine does then in the clutch and come the postseason again, should they get that far for a second-straight conference.

- GMA News