2022–23 PBA Commissioner's Cup

[jakelyson]

Northport now is undermanned, Bollick is not playing due to minor injury, but good thing is that they have a good import, a short one but very aggressive in attacking the basket. Northport is the underdog but I'm trusting them to win this game with the help of their import.

Northport import was good but only in the first half of the game. Once Converge figured him out, they locked him down. And Northport locals were not able to help their import. Converge took the game with a big lead against Northport. I would like to point out how I like the discipline of Converge in this game. Even though they are already on a big lead and sure of winning the game, they never let go of their aggressiveness. They are still pushing the ball even in the dying minutes when the lead is over 30 points. I like that attitude of Converge.

Speaking of NorthPort locals, Robick Bolick did not play on this game, outcome might be different had he played because we all know how important he is in every NorthPort plays plus he averaged double digits in point production. No, he doesn't have an injury but rumors had it that NorthPort management and Bolick had yet to sit down and talked about the contract extension as his contract will expire this coming January 31.

If this will not be ironed out, rumors have it also that a company/persons are willing to bring this ace point guard of NorthPort to Taiwan thus causing another problem to the PBA.

That will hurt Northport a lot. Robert Bollick has been a steady source of offense to the Northport. He has been carrying this team since he joined them. But we cannot blame PBA superstars for transferring to leagues abroad since the pay is substantially higher than what PBA can offer. Their time as basketball players is just limited and if they can get more benefits financially somewhere else, we cannot stop them from going abroad.

Guys, I'll just be different but this is still related to Philippine Basketball. Mario Chalmers is going to play with Zamboanga Valientes. This is surprising yet very exciting to see that local teams (not from PBA) are also having their stars and this is for sure going to attract more fans to watch the team.
(https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/22/23/dating-nba-champion-mario-chalmers-lalaro-sa-valientes)

Saw this news right now and that's a good player to play with the team, though the current standing of Zamboanga Valientes in ASEAN Basketball League is not that good, let's see if an NBA Champion can help the team to be on a better position for the next round. Looking forward as well to see the former NBA player that will play in PBA with NLEX. Looks like basketball opportunity in the Philippines is slowly growing, hope they can also attract local players to stay.

That will attract viewers. I wonder how much the Zamboanga Valientes are paying him. He is old but he still can play and be competitive, especially in Philippines basketball.

[1715657982]

1715657982

[blockman]

Guys, I'll just be different but this is still related to Philippine Basketball. Mario Chalmers is going to play with Zamboanga Valientes. This is surprising yet very exciting to see that local teams (not from PBA) are also having their stars and this is for sure going to attract more fans to watch the team.
(https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/22/23/dating-nba-champion-mario-chalmers-lalaro-sa-valientes)

Saw this news right now and that's a good player to play with the team, though the current standing of Zamboanga Valientes in ASEAN Basketball League is not that good, let's see if an NBA Champion can help the team to be on a better position for the next round. Looking forward as well to see the former NBA player that will play in PBA with NLEX. Looks like basketball opportunity in the Philippines is slowly growing, hope they can also attract local players to stay.

That will attract viewers. I wonder how much the Zamboanga Valientes are paying him. He is old but he still can play and be competitive, especially in Philippines basketball.

I'm also thinking that it seems that they won't disclose it and that's a confidential matter. Maybe soon once Chalmers ends his contract there then we're going to get a glimpse of how much the Valients paid for him. I think retirees of the NBA, this is where they're going.
They'll be offered contract to play offshore even in the slightest league that they want to play because the passion remains and as long as the pay could be decent and acceptable to them, they won't mind playing for them.

[harizen]

Converge has shown a good start. They are the only team that I saw active in development after being eliminated at the last conference.

One of the best independent teams and the only one I saw that is serious about winning.

I hope that they will have a good run at this conference like what they did last. Just a tough road though as SMC teams are a hard wall to break for them.

[goinmerry]

No schedule yet for Ginebra until the end of the month. That was the privilege of being a champion - long rest and vacation even new conferences start only between few days or around a week. Once they come back, they will be back again in pure works.

They deserve this long break and let the current teams now battle for elimination.

I agree with one of the posts here that it seems good to bet on underdogs.

[Distinctin]

No schedule yet for Ginebra until the end of the month. That was the privilege of being a champion - long rest and vacation even new conferences start only between few days or around a week. Once they come back, they will be back again in pure works.

They deserve this long break and let the current teams now battle for elimination.

I agree with one of the posts here that it seems good to bet on underdogs.

Well, even if they didn't win the championship, I guess they will still be given that privilege because they have a late vacation, unlike other teams who were eliminated in the early rounds. What we have witness last night was a boring game, it was all a one sided beat down, I hope to see a very close game next time.

[Fredomago]

No schedule yet for Ginebra until the end of the month. That was the privilege of being a champion - long rest and vacation even new conferences start only between few days or around a week. Once they come back, they will be back again in pure works.

They deserve this long break and let the current teams now battle for elimination.

I agree with one of the posts here that it seems good to bet on underdogs.

Well, even if they didn't win the championship, I guess they will still be given that privilege because they have a late vacation, unlike other teams who were eliminated in the early rounds. What we have witness last night was a boring game, it was all a one sided beat down, I hope to see a very close game next time.

In fairness with the first game where RoS did try to hold in the first half, it so happen that the import is not as good as McDaniels there's a huge difference when in terms of impact, Meralco's squad got a decent help with their reinforcement while RoS can't find any rhytm and the chemistry inside the game is really far from winning the game.

Though it's understandable they needed to adjust if they wanted to win the game, looking to see a balance matchup as the 2nd game Bolick-less NP are not capable to hold the whole Converge lineup.

[Natalim]

Though it's understandable they needed to adjust if they wanted to win the game, looking to see a balance matchup as the 2nd game Bolick-less NP are not capable to hold the whole Converge lineup.

They are lost in that game, the ball movement is a pain in the eyes. Also, their import is forcing to drive the ball that's why he becomes so predictable, it would be good for the team if there was a good contribution from the locals because that will make their attack less predictable.

Without Bollick, this team will once again struggle and will not reach in the elimination.

[Distinctin]

No schedule yet for Ginebra until the end of the month. That was the privilege of being a champion - long rest and vacation even new conferences start only between few days or around a week. Once they come back, they will be back again in pure works.

They deserve this long break and let the current teams now battle for elimination.

I agree with one of the posts here that it seems good to bet on underdogs.

Well, even if they didn't win the championship, I guess they will still be given that privilege because they have a late vacation, unlike other teams who were eliminated in the early rounds. What we have witness last night was a boring game, it was all a one sided beat down, I hope to see a very close game next time.

In fairness with the first game where RoS did try to hold in the first half, it so happen that the import is not as good as McDaniels there's a huge difference when in terms of impact, Meralco's squad got a decent help with their reinforcement while RoS can't find any rhytm and the chemistry inside the game is really far from winning the game.

Though it's understandable they needed to adjust if they wanted to win the game, looking to see a balance matchup as the 2nd game Bolick-less NP are not capable to hold the whole Converge lineup.

It would be a close game if Converge didn't make the right adjustment. In the 2nd half, they have a lot of open shots, and if you noticed, most of the shots are through driving the ball inside, that's how weak the interior defense of the Northport, yes, they have an import but he does not play good defense inside due to his height.

And Converge have a local player that can guard him, or at least minimize his production, and that is none other than Abu Tratter.

[Fredomago]

No schedule yet for Ginebra until the end of the month. That was the privilege of being a champion - long rest and vacation even new conferences start only between few days or around a week. Once they come back, they will be back again in pure works.

They deserve this long break and let the current teams now battle for elimination.

I agree with one of the posts here that it seems good to bet on underdogs.

Well, even if they didn't win the championship, I guess they will still be given that privilege because they have a late vacation, unlike other teams who were eliminated in the early rounds. What we have witness last night was a boring game, it was all a one sided beat down, I hope to see a very close game next time.

In fairness with the first game where RoS did try to hold in the first half, it so happen that the import is not as good as McDaniels there's a huge difference when in terms of impact, Meralco's squad got a decent help with their reinforcement while RoS can't find any rhytm and the chemistry inside the game is really far from winning the game.

Though it's understandable they needed to adjust if they wanted to win the game, looking to see a balance matchup as the 2nd game Bolick-less NP are not capable to hold the whole Converge lineup.

It would be a close game if Converge didn't make the right adjustment. In the 2nd half, they have a lot of open shots, and if you noticed, most of the shots are through driving the ball inside, that's how weak the interior defense of the Northport, yes, they have an import but he does not play good defense inside due to his height.

And Converge have a local player that can guard him, or at least minimize his production, and that is none other than Abu Tratter.

Nothing to say, we all witness how good the defenders from Converge they are all ready and willing to sacrifice their body not to allow an easy basket, and yes the good adjustment that being done to adopt the opponents system and dominate them to collapse. It's noticeable that Converge is really improving. With coach Ayo, he manages the players to know their role inside the court.

Congrats to all who pick them both ML and handicap a well-covered pick to all bettors who backup this team.

[Botnake]

Nothing to say, we all witness how good the defenders from Converge they are all ready and willing to sacrifice their body not to allow an easy basket, and yes the good adjustment that being done to adopt the opponents system and dominate them to collapse. It's noticeable that Converge is really improving. With coach Ayo, he manages the players to know their role inside the court.

This team is the old Alaska team who are good in playing defense, they don't give up easy shots so their opponent really has to earn that points in a hard way. The lack of defense by the Northport was pretty evident, that team loves to shoot but does not go back on defense, and as we've seen, Converge just love to run and scored the basket.

Congrats to all who pick them both ML and handicap a well-covered pick to all bettors who backup this team.

Both winners are just slight favorites IIRC, so it's a good win especially if it was a parlay bet.

[goinmerry]

This team is the old Alaska team who are good in playing defense, they don't give up easy shots so their opponent really has to earn that points in a hard way. The lack of defense by the Northport was pretty evident, that team loves to shoot but does not go back on defense, and as we've seen, Converge just love to run and scored the basket.

Only a few players remain from Alaska to Converge. We should not associate the current Converge today with how Alaska is before.

Converge is a team that start from scratch and now looking good slowly and that was because of the effort of their Head Coach Ayo that is known to be strict.

Even though they will surely get eliminated or outclassed by SMC teams if they will meet in the playoffs, I do hope that Converge will also experience a championship even once to give credit to the whole team's seriousness to compete as an independent team.

[LogitechMouse]

Import of Rain or shine had a very bad game.
~
As you can see on the stats above, Qualls only made 3 shots of 22 attempts, that's only 13% Shooting percentage. very low.

A very awful first game for him indeed. 13% for an import is very, very disappointing that even Coach Yeng said something to it.
On the other hand, I guess 1 game isn't enough for him to be judged right now because there might be some who might judge him already just because he played like this.

Let's give him some time to adjust and I believe that he will play better on their next game.

Converge has shown a good start. They are the only team that I saw active in development after being eliminated at the last conference.

One of the best independent teams and the only one I saw that is serious about winning.

I hope that they will have a good run at this conference like what they did last. Just a tough road though as SMC teams are a hard wall to break for them.

The points is spread across the players in Converge. That's better than just relying on their import.
That strategy will be more deadly because you don't know who might takeover in that game because all of them can score. Their import, Rusbatch only scored 17 points with 3/9 shooting on threes. Three points is his specialty and it's only his first game in PBA and in the PH in general so I expect him to be more productive in their next games.

As for NorthPort, Bollick didn't play and there is lack of support from the local players thus, they lost by 30 points.

[Kelvinid]

The points is spread across the players in Converge. That's better than just relying on their import.
That strategy will be more deadly because you don't know who might takeover in that game because all of them can score. Their import, Rusbatch only scored 17 points with 3/9 shooting on threes. Three points is his specialty and it's only his first game in PBA and in the PH in general so I expect him to be more productive in their next games.

Honestly, I have trouble identifying their import because everyone was playing well, and Converge also has players that looks like an import. Also, one of the reasons is that I don't follow this team, I just watch the game because it's the opener.  Their import will not be having a problem because the locals are very good, they are like the Bay Area who have players who can contribute which would lessen the burden of the import.

[Fredomago]

The points is spread across the players in Converge. That's better than just relying on their import.
That strategy will be more deadly because you don't know who might takeover in that game because all of them can score. Their import, Rusbatch only scored 17 points with 3/9 shooting on threes. Three points is his specialty and it's only his first game in PBA and in the PH in general so I expect him to be more productive in their next games.

Honestly, I have trouble identifying their import because everyone was playing well, and Converge also has players that looks like an import. Also, one of the reasons is that I don't follow this team, I just watch the game because it's the opener.  Their import will not be having a problem because the locals are very good, they are like the Bay Area who have players who can contribute which would lessen the burden of the import.

I see that they just adopt what they've done last season, all are moving, and the ball is really rotating so well, the import will need to initiate the first line of their offense but the locals are all ready to receive the ball in case he drop it out and let the open man to take the shot. I like the way these young guns are playing. They are willing to adjust and do an extra effort to help when given a chance to play inside.

If the management will be able to be developed more good system like this, and the players have earned experienced together, chemistry will
be established and they will execute good plays, possible to have a winning outcome or very competitive games.

[bisdak40]

Games for today:

First game...
Blackwater Bossing 2.08
NLEX Road Warriors 1.70

Second game...
TNT Katropa 1.18
Phoenix Fuel Masters 4.48

We have two games for today and what attract me most was the odds on the second game. Phoenix was a huge underdog and we all knew that this is their first game so there will adjustments and chemistry issues and TNT could lose the game so i decided to put a few dollars on the Phoenix Fuel Masters, let's see if our speculation will materialize.

[LogitechMouse]

First game...
Blackwater Bossing 2.08
NLEX Road Warriors 1.70

The odds with Blackwater is attractive IMO.

Take note that the NLEX are now import-less because Simmons didn't fly to the PH and choose to stay with China (contract problems) that's why the Road Warriors now will play without an import and we know how imports are a factor to a team. If you are a bettor, you might take the risk and bet with the Bossing. Glover is a good import I guess and he's their import when they ended their record-breaking 29 game losing streak.
PS: Update on this one. I just saw a Facebook post regarding Simmons playing with the NLEX. They've got a last minute clearance and the NLEX will play with Simmons as their import. I thought that they will play today import-less. Now with Simmons playing, I might put my bet on the NLEX on this one.

Second game...
TNT Katropa 1.18
Phoenix Fuel Masters 4.48

We have two games for today and what attract me most was the odds on the second game. Phoenix was a huge underdog and we all knew that this is their first game so there will adjustments and chemistry issues and TNT could lose the game so i decided to put a few dollars on the Phoenix Fuel Masters, let's see if our speculation will materialize.

Betting on Fuel Masters might be a bit too risky for me.
Both teams now have different coaches and a different coach might affect the whole chemistry of the team. The 4.48 odds for the Fuel Masters might be attractive, but I don't think I will bet on them. I'd rather go all in on the first game and just let go of the second game . Good Luck on your bet though.

The points is spread across the players in Converge. That's better than just relying on their import.
That strategy will be more deadly because you don't know who might takeover in that game because all of them can score. Their import, Rusbatch only scored 17 points with 3/9 shooting on threes. Three points is his specialty and it's only his first game in PBA and in the PH in general so I expect him to be more productive in their next games.

Honestly, I have trouble identifying their import because everyone was playing well, and Converge also has players that looks like an import. Also, one of the reasons is that I don't follow this team, I just watch the game because it's the opener.  Their import will not be having a problem because the locals are very good, they are like the Bay Area who have players who can contribute which would lessen the burden of the import.

I just don't hope that SMC and MVP will not make Converge a farming team like what they are doing with NorthPort and TerraFirma.

Since they entered the league, Converge is performing very well already and they entered the playoffs on their first season and played better on the second season though they lost against SMB on that one. Overall, I expect Converge to play like what they did last Commissioner's Cup. Lets just see how they will play the rest of the season.

[bisdak40]

First game...
Blackwater Bossing 2.08
NLEX Road Warriors 1.70

The odds with Blackwater is attractive IMO.

Take note that the NLEX are now import-less because Simmons didn't fly to the PH and choose to stay with China (contract problems) that's why the Road Warriors now will play without an import and we know how imports are a factor to a team. If you are a bettor, you might take the risk and bet with the Bossing. Glover is a good import I guess and he's their import when they ended their record-breaking 29 game losing streak.

Just read this info now and you are right, without an import NLEX will be having trouble with the Bossings as import is more or less equal to the number 1 player of the team so this will give Blackwater an edge for this particular game. Just wonder why the odds still favor the Road Warriors though, may be the bookies don't know what is happening around lol.

That's the reason why Gilas Pilipinas chooses Brownlee to be naturalized because of his loyalty to the Gin's team and his commitment to the National team as well. He have received lucrative offers to play for China and Korea yet he chooses to stay in the Philippines.

[Questat]

First game...
Blackwater Bossing 2.08
NLEX Road Warriors 1.70

The odds with Blackwater is attractive IMO.

Take note that the NLEX are now import-less because Simmons didn't fly to the PH and choose to stay with China (contract problems) that's why the Road Warriors now will play without an import and we know how imports are a factor to a team. If you are a bettor, you might take the risk and bet with the Bossing. Glover is a good import I guess and he's their import when they ended their record-breaking 29 game losing streak.

Just read this info now and you are right, without an import NLEX will be having trouble with the Bossings as import is more or less equal to the number 1 player of the team so this will give Blackwater an edge for this particular game. Just wonder why the odds still favor the Road Warriors though, may be the bookies don't know what is happening around lol.

That's the reason why Gilas Pilipinas chooses Brownlee to be naturalized because of his loyalty to the Gin's team and his commitment to the National team as well. He have received lucrative offers to play for China and Korea yet he chooses to stay in the Philippines.

NLEX has no import but they still won the game, that 4th quarter big run beat the Blackwater and NLEX won by 22 points. The last 3 games so far are one sided game, this time between the TNT and Fuel masters, I hope to see a close game. By the way, I put my bet on the underdog here.

[bisdak40]

First game...
Blackwater Bossing 2.08
NLEX Road Warriors 1.70

The odds with Blackwater is attractive IMO.

Take note that the NLEX are now import-less because Simmons didn't fly to the PH and choose to stay with China (contract problems) that's why the Road Warriors now will play without an import and we know how imports are a factor to a team. If you are a bettor, you might take the risk and bet with the Bossing. Glover is a good import I guess and he's their import when they ended their record-breaking 29 game losing streak.

Just read this info now and you are right, without an import NLEX will be having trouble with the Bossings as import is more or less equal to the number 1 player of the team so this will give Blackwater an edge for this particular game. Just wonder why the odds still favor the Road Warriors though, may be the bookies don't know what is happening around lol.

That's the reason why Gilas Pilipinas chooses Brownlee to be naturalized because of his loyalty to the Gin's team and his commitment to the National team as well. He have received lucrative offers to play for China and Korea yet he chooses to stay in the Philippines.

NLEX has no import but they still won the game, that 4th quarter big run beat the Blackwater and NLEX won by 22 points. The last 3 games so far are one sided game, this time between the TNT and Fuel masters, I hope to see a close game. By the way, I put my bet on the underdog here.

Jonathan Simmons did play for the Road Warriors contrary to earlier report that NLEX would be import-less. Simmons got the clearance to play on the last minute and he registered 32 points in 36 minutes of play, had he not played, NLEX would have lost that game.

The second game game has already started and it's close, 60 all. My bet ticket has a chance to win this one hehe.

edit:
end of third quarter and the score is 93-89, a very slim lead by the Katropa, exciting game for those who bet @4.48 odds.

[Kelvinid]

The second game game has already started and it's close, 60 all. My bet ticket has a chance to win this one hehe.

This game is fun to watch, Phoenix is fighting despite being down. As long as the lead is manageable, I believe it the underdog team has a huge chance of beating TNT. It's the game that I love to bet, especially the live betting because Phoenix here has a very attractive odds.