Shaky at the bottom

Four teams will be booted out of contention at the end of the single round eliminations in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and there are three winless squads occupying the cellar where misery loves company. Four teams are with only a win apiece so it’ll be quite a battle to avoid finishing out of the top eight.

The shortened format was decided to allow more training time for the national team bound for the FIBA Asia Championships in China on Sept. 23-Oct. 3. After the single round eliminations, the top two placers advance with a twice-to-beat advantage to face the No. 7 and No. 8 teams. Also in the quarterfinals, No. 3 takes on No. 6 and No. 4 meets No. 5 in separate best-of-three duels. The survivors move on to play in the best-of-five semifinals where the winners will dispute the championship in the best-of-seven finals.

The war to survive has been fierce and will continue to be furious. Teams are padding their points in case of a tie which will be broken only via the quotient system, meaning no playoffs whatsoever. Purefoods, for instance, was unforgiving in blasting Alaska, 108-88, and so was Barako Bull in crushing Blackwater, 92-70.

The remaining winless teams are Blackwater (0-3), San Miguel Beer (0-2) and NLEX (0-2). The Elite has now lost 14 in a row to tie Shopinas’ all-time record for consecutive setbacks with its next game against San Miguel tomorrow. Blackwater got off on the wrong foot with import Chris Charles unable to play due to a hamstring strain and was trounced by Barako. Marcus Douthit, in town to start training with Gilas, was recruited to take over from Charles but couldn’t push Blackwater past Talk ‘N’ Text and Purefoods despite a gallant stand.

Sooner or later, Blackwater will snap out of its slump. Coach Leo Isaac has some positives to lean on – Jerick Canada’s arrival, Brian Heruela’s emergence, Douthit’s slowly regaining his form and Bryan Faundo’s consistency. If Alex Nuyles, Val Acuna and Bambam Gamalinda find their groove, Blackwater could be a middle-of-the-pack contender instead of a cellar dweller.

San Miguel is due for a win after dropping two straight. It could be a case of championship hangover. But whatever is the problem, coach Leo Austria wants a quick fix before it’s too late. Import Ronald Roberts, 23, has shown flashes of brilliance and will be tougher as the conference progresses.  He displayed a lot of guts in San Miguel’s 95-82 loss to Barangay Ginebra last Sunday, repeatedly blocking Michael Dunigan and gunning down clutch triples. This is a maturing process for Roberts who graduated from St. Joseph’s University only last year but he’ll have to pick up fast because of the shortened format.

As for NLEX, the Road Warriors could’ve been 2-0 instead of 0-2, losing cliffhangers to Rain Or Shine by five and Alaska by one. After a slow start, Al Thornton is living up to expectations. He had 39 points and 13 rebounds against Alaska. Coach Boyet Fernandez’ mission is to get NLEX to play together as a unit even as the tendency is to rely on Thornton and Asi Taulava because of their individual strengths. NLEX won’t be in the bottom of the standings for long. Once Fernandez finds the magic formula, the Road Warriors should be on their way to the playoffs.

On top of the standings are three unbeaten teams. Purefoods, Meralco and Barako Bull share identical 3-0 records. Meralco’s next game is against Rain Or Shine today while Purefoods takes on NLEX tomorrow and Barako faces Talk ‘N’ Text on Friday.

So far, 15 imports have been measured by the PBA for the Commissioner’s Cup. The top eight finishers of the previous conference are allowed an import of up to 6-9 while there is no limit for the last four. Only one, Globalport’s would-be import Rod Benson, failed the test. Benson was initially measured at 6-9 then on the instance of a representative of an opposing team, was re-measured. Benson hit 6-9 1/8 on his second try. Under PBA rules, the second measurement is final with no appeal.

In Purefoods import Daniel Orton’s case, he was initially measured 6-8 13/16. A representative from an opposing team asked for a second measurement and Orton ended up 6-9 flat. The measurement is conducted by PBA technical assistant Mauro (Jr.) Bengua and supervised by PBA operations director Rickie Santos. Players are laid out on a flat table with their feet planted on a stiff plank perpendicular to the table. The table has measurement markings down to 1/16 of an inch. A straight plate is placed on top of the head to determine the exact height.

“Team managers are advised when the measurement of an import is scheduled,” said Bengua. “In the case of imports with no height limit, teams don’t usually send representatives because the measurement is only for record purposes. But for imports with height limits, there are representatives from other teams. We allow only up to two measurements and the second measurement is final. A representative from an opposing team has the right to request for a second measurement.”

Here are the official heights of the 15 imports – 6-9 1/8 Rod Benson, 6-6 15/16 Josh Davis, 7-2 3/4 Peter John Ramos, 7-0 1/2 Solomon Alabi, 6-6 15/16 Richard Howell, 6-8 1/16 Rick Jackson, 6-8 1/4 Michael Dunigan, 6-11 9/16 Chris Charles, 6-8 C. J. Leslie, 6-4 15/16 Marqus Blakely, 6-5 3/4 D. J. Covington, 6-7 1/16 Al Thornton, 6-10 5/16 Marcus Douthit, 6-9 Daniel Orton and 6-7 5/16 Ronald Roberts.