By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) returns this weekend with the Commissioner’s Cup kicking off with a double-header at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Opening festivities for the midseason, import-laden tournament, with the height limit set at 6’10”, are Columbian Dyip (formerly Kia Picanto) against Blackwater Elite in the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser and the TNT KaTropa versus GlobalPort Batang Pier in the 7 p.m. main game.
Columbian hopes that with the name-change comes a “fresh start” that would see it finally shed its whipping boy status in the local pro league.
Ricky Dandan, who took over the team midway in the last conference, is back to steer the squad that includes as members Rashawn McCarthy, Reden Celda, Jackson Corpuz, Russell Escoto and Carlo Lastimosa.
Serving as import for Dyip is the PBA-debuting CJ Aiken, described as a solid defender and a workhorse.
Blackwater, meanwhile, is out to bounce back after faltering in the previous conference following a solid start to its campaign.
It is parading an intact lineup led by the highly improved JP Erram and Gilas Pilipinas members Allein Maliksi and Mac Belo, with Leo Isaac still manning the ship.
To help them in their bid in the midseason tournament, the Elite have tapped as reinforcement Jarrid Famous, who is no longer a stranger to PBA wars having suited up for Meralco and GlobalPort in previous tours of duty.
MUCH ATTENTION
Exchanging key players in between conference break, much attention is expected to be channeled in the TNT-GlobalPort game.
Scoring machine Terrence Romeo, who used to lead the Batang Pier, is now with the KaTropa after being shipped out along with big man Yousef Taha for Mo Tautuaa and future draft picks.
Mr. Romeo, who spent much of last conference recuperating from knee injury, is set to form a solid guard combo with veteran Jayson Castro, making the TNT backcourt one of the more explosive ones in the PBA.
The KaTropa will have as import Jeremy Tyler, who spent time in the National Basketball Association after being selected in the second round of the 2012 rookie draft.
While they have loaded up for the about-to-start tournament, with former Rain or Shine player Don Trollano joining the squad as well, TNT coach Nash Racela said that they still need to address some things to get the fruits of the changes they made.
“We have made a lot of changes and this is just the first step. We need to follow up on it to succeed,” he said.
GlobalPort, for its part, has added ceiling with the arrival of Mr. Tautuaa. He is expected to shore up the front line of the Batang Pier which includes Kelly Nabong, Sean Anthony, Bradwyn Guinto and returning import Malcolm White.
Stanley Pringle is seen as stepping up as the leader with the departure of Mr. Romeo.
The Commissioner’s Cup, which has the San Miguel Beermen as the defending champions, will have single-round robin eliminations with the top eight teams advancing to the next round.
The top two will have a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals with the four middle teams battling in a best-of-three series.
The semifinals are a best-of-five affair and the finals a race-to-four series.
Other imports seeing action in the Commissioner’s Cup are Shane Edwards for Barangay Ginebra, James White (Phoenix), Vernon Macklin (Magnolia), Arinze Onuaku (Meralco), Troy Gillenwater (San Miguel), Reggie Johnson (Rain or Shine), Arnett Moultrie (NLEX), and Antonio Campbell (Alaska).

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