MANILA – Twelve American imports – seven newcomers and five returnees – will boost their respective teams in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, which opens today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Defending champion San Miguel Beermen will have Troy Gillenwater while losing finalist TNT KaTropa will bring in former NBA player Jeremy Tyler.
Adrian Forbes will reinforce NLEX Road Warriors while Alaska Aces will bank on Antonio Campbell, as Rain or Shine Elasto Painters would with Reggie Johnson and Columbian Dyip with CJ Aiken.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings made an import change before the start of the conference by tapping 6-foot-10 Charles Garcia in lieu of Shane Edwards. The change was made due to the continuous absence of center Greg Slaughter.
Returning imports this conference are Arinze Onuaku for Meralco Bolts, Malcolm White for GlobalPort Batang Pier, Vernon Macklin for Magnolia Hotshots, James White for Phoenix Fuel Masters, and Jarrid Famous for Blackwater Elite.
Among locals, seven players are set to play for new teams.
Terrence Romeo, Yousef Taha and Celedonio Trollano are now with KaTropa, Moala Tautuaa with Batang Pier, Norbert Torres with Painters, and Jeramy King and Andreas Cahilig with Columbian Dyip.
Elite and Columbian Dyip are set to face each other in the first game at 4:30 p.m. This will be followed by the matchup between Batang Pier and KaTropa at 6:45 p.m.
The tournament format will be single round-robin. Each team plays 11 games.
The top eight teams will move to the quarterfinals, with No. 1 and No. 2 having a twice-to-beat advantage over No. 8 and No. 7.
The No. 3 team fights No. 6 and No. 4 battles No. 5 in best-of-three quarterfinals./PN
