FOUR more teams looking to start on the right foot plunge to action as the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup resumes.
Still high from its first-ever semifinal stint last conference, GlobalPort is looking to continue its progress even more when it gets back to action against Mahindra in the opening game today at 4:15 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Then, crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra and NLEX make their conference debut when they tango at 7 p.m. in the main event.
All four teams, more or less, are parading identical line-ups to the ones they had in the Philippine Cup.
As for their imports, the two teams that will battle first will have new faces, while the two squads playing in the second game will present returning imports.
GlobalPort, the last team to enlist an import, will have former San Miguel Beer reinforcement in the Asean Basketball League Brian Williams in tow, while Mahindra parades lengthy Augustus Gilchrist.
The tiff between the Gin Kings and the Road Warriors will be highlighted by the match-up of two explosive imports.
High-scoring Al Thornton will once again lead the charge for NLEX, while Othyus Jeffers, who played one game for Talk ‘N Text last season, will now be playing for the Gin kings.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone has high hopes for Jeffers and what he can bring to the table for his squad.
‘’We’re comfortable with our import (Othyus). We feel like his versatility will really help our team a lot,’’ said Cone of his reinforcement.
Jeffers is expected to complement the inside game of Ginebra’s Twin Towers Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar as he is expected to play the wing position.
Games Friday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum) 4:15 p.m. – Mahindra vs. GlobalPort
7 p.m. – Ginebra vs. NLEX