2026 PBA Governor's Cup

[tech30338]

As expected, Ginebra won the finals.  (88-76) Final score
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TNT has the lead to as much as 9 points, but they can't held onto it on the 3rd quarter mainly because of the foul trouble of their import.

Ginebra's momentum carried until the 4th quarter and the problem with TNT during the 4th quarter is that, they can't find their points. They only scored 16 points on the final quarter, and more than half of it came from McCollough's free throws which BTW has missed very crucial free throws. I think he missed 5 on that quarter alone. If those went it, the lead could be manageable on the final minutes, but it is what it is.

Anyway, congratulations to Ginebra for a job well done. Governor's cup will be starting on July 10th. Another import-laiden conference yet again which is an exciting one. I just hope that I can watch even just one game personally since I'm living outside of Metro.

I have watch the game in youtube and i can 100% say they cook the game 7 in favor of Ginebra, the calls were the worse of its kind, and they have no remorse, while Ginebra fans were closing their eyes when there is no foul but the refs are calling it a foul, if i was a Ginebra fan i will definitely not going to root for them again with that kind of win, before I like Ginebra when the league, is not favoring any team especially when its the finals, but this one is one of the worse
if a person is a real basketball fan without even thinking and even a ref that is not pro or against will surely say this game is already in the bags before it starts.

[mirakal]

I have watch the game in youtube and i can 100% say they cook the game 7 in favor of Ginebra, the calls were the worse of its kind, and they have no remorse, while Ginebra fans were closing their eyes when there is no foul but the refs are calling it a foul, if i was a Ginebra fan i will definitely not going to root for them again with that kind of win, before I like Ginebra when the league, is not favoring any team especially when its the finals, but this one is one of the worse
if a person is a real basketball fan without even thinking and even a ref that is not pro or against will surely say this game is already in the bags before it starts.

We have our own way of interpreting how we saw the game, but for me being able to bet on Ginebra, I think all the calls were just right.

Seriously, we bettors know about the calls in the PBA, we notice it from time to time, so it is not a big deal or something new that we should be discussing. I am sure we are all mature bettors here, so we just choose which team we bet on because we think the refs will favor them and we win.

It is just that in Game 7, that is what people wanted to see, they wanted to see Ginebra win and that was given to them. In fact, even if they were down 7 points at the half, I was not worried because I knew they would come back and indeed that was the story.

[Fredomago]

I have watch the game in youtube and i can 100% say they cook the game 7 in favor of Ginebra, the calls were the worse of its kind, and they have no remorse, while Ginebra fans were closing their eyes when there is no foul but the refs are calling it a foul, if i was a Ginebra fan i will definitely not going to root for them again with that kind of win, before I like Ginebra when the league, is not favoring any team especially when its the finals, but this one is one of the worse
if a person is a real basketball fan without even thinking and even a ref that is not pro or against will surely say this game is already in the bags before it starts.

We have our own way of interpreting how we saw the game, but for me being able to bet on Ginebra, I think all the calls were just right.

Seriously, we bettors know about the calls in the PBA, we notice it from time to time, so it is not a big deal or something new that we should be discussing. I am sure we are all mature bettors here, so we just choose which team we bet on because we think the refs will favor them and we win.

It is just that in Game 7, that is what people wanted to see, they wanted to see Ginebra win and that was given to them. In fact, even if they were down 7 points at the half, I was not worried because I knew they would come back and indeed that was the story.

Hahahahah Good point kabayan! We place our bets according to how we project the outcome, in this case those who believes that Gin kings will have a upper hands not only with the game but also with how the refs will favor their calls, not mean to say that they've got it but we all witness it just a personal take Kabayan Hahaha. Congrats to all who wins and for those who entrust their money for TNT they did everything but it's for gin kings to celebrate.

[bhadz]

Any idea when the start of the next conference?

I think maybe around October. They have to give way for some players to participate in some international games for Gilas. CMIIW.

Looks like the next conference is scheduled to start on July 10. But it will be paused on August 14 (to give way for Gilas playing in the Asian Games), and then resume on October 7.

The season-ending Governors’ Cup is scheduled to open on July 10, barring any major changes. That is right after Window 3 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers where Gilas Pilipinas will play on the road against New Zealand in Auckland on July 3 and Australia on July 6 in Perth.

But after a couple of weeks of play, the Governors’ Cup competition will stop on August 14 to give way to Gilas Pilipinas’ preparation for the 2026 Asian Games where the country is the defending champion.

The Governors’ Cup will then resume three days after the official end of the Asiad on October 7.

There we go, that's the exact time and windows for the PBA to its resumption and give way to Gilas to play for its game. And speaking of Gilas, they've already given the line up on who's going to play for the team.

Mike Phillips and Justine Baltazar have been named on Gilas Pilipinas' final 12-man roster for window three of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers in Australia.
[....]
Joining them in Tim Cone's final 12 are Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, Troy Rosario, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos, and RJ Abarrientos.

I thought that Jordan Clarkson will be there since he just became a champ for the New York Knicks.

[bisdak40]

No RHJ next conference, that is according to the news..

https://all-starmagazine.com/news-and-updates/tnt-darius-days-governors-cup-import/

As RHJ continues recovery, TNT opts to bring in NBA vet Darius Days as Govs’ Cup import

The name of Darius Days has been ringing a bell for the TNT Tropang 5G as early as two years ago.

He was supposed to play for the Tropang 5G in the Governors’ Cup in 2024, when Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, then the reigning Best Import was exploring opportunities in Europe.

Hollis-Jefferson returned to give TNT its second straight championship in the Governors’ Cup, prompting Days to bring his skill set in the Australian National Basketball League where he also helped the Illawara Hawks in winning the championship.

A former NBA player, maybe he can really contribute to the team.

TNT can afford to hire a good import as long as it can help them win, and hopefully he is not just good on record but also in the actual game, and that he can fit with the style of playing in the PBA. Coach Chot might be pissed off, he was just smiling in the game but probably always believed that the calls were favoring Ginebra, so maybe if they will be the one in that position, he will be happy.

This is news to me as i thought that they will retain CJ McCullough as their import this Governor's Cup. Anyways, Darius Days resume looks attractive and it will also be good to the PBA fans that we will see new imports not recycled ones. Personally i have a feeling that Ginebra will once again win the Governor's Cup as this is Justine Brownlee's conference as the height advantage of the other imports is cancelled out. This Commissioner's Cup, i haven't heavily betted for the Gin Kings as i thought that they are undersized but they make up with that disadvantage with pure hustle and heart.

[LogitechMouse]

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I have watch the game in youtube and i can 100% say they cook the game 7 in favor of Ginebra, the calls were the worse of its kind, and they have no remorse, while Ginebra fans were closing their eyes when there is no foul but the refs are calling it a foul, if i was a Ginebra fan i will definitely not going to root for them again with that kind of win, before I like Ginebra when the league, is not favoring any team especially when its the finals, but this one is one of the worse
if a person is a real basketball fan without even thinking and even a ref that is not pro or against will surely say this game is already in the bags before it starts.

Well, nothing new. We've seen this in the past, and I'm pretty sure many PBA fans know this as well, but when it comes to playoffs, there really are games where calls are favoring Ginebra or even SMB (I will not sugarcoat it because they also are).

As for the fans, if you're the opponent of Ginebra, you will feel that your like in a road game against the home team just because of the percentage of Ginebra fans that are watching personally. You can really feel the intensity of these fans, and I can compare it to like the Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs where the fans are just WILD. As for the calls of the referees, even though there are some missed calls or weird calls out there, there's nothing that we can do about it. We can criticize them, but at the end of the day, they'll just simply be forgotten after a few weeks and those referees will be back to do their job yet again.

[Maslate]

We can criticize them, but at the end of the day, they'll just simply be forgotten after a few weeks and those referees will be back to do their job yet again.

They will be back again and will win another championship, that is business, and now only Ginebra is really making the PBA interesting to watch.

If they put another team in the Finals, people will not watch it and as a result, they will not gain from that.

That is the problem with the PBA, there is no balance in terms of fans because most fans are cheering for Ginebra, SMB, and TNT, while other teams are just trash to be honest, so I hope they see that and try to revise the format, add more teams, and avoid adding trash teams.

[Vaculin]

If they put another team in the Finals, people will not watch it and as a result, they will not gain from that.

The data they have says it all, in some games in the Finals they always show the viewers and Ginebra games always have the highest.

The good thing about Ginebra being on the court is that it attracts people not only to watch online but also to go to the venue, that is what the management wants because they make money from that as well. So unless Ginebra really plays bad, that is the only time they will lose.

That is the problem with the PBA, there is no balance in terms of fans because most fans are cheering for Ginebra, SMB, and TNT, while other teams are just trash to be honest, so I hope they see that and try to revise the format, add more teams, and avoid adding trash teams.

PBA is one of the oldest league in the S. Asia, but it has no change its format yet, so expecting they will change is like expecting a miracle to happen.

[Fredomago]

If they put another team in the Finals, people will not watch it and as a result, they will not gain from that.

The data they have says it all, in some games in the Finals they always show the viewers and Ginebra games always have the highest.

The good thing about Ginebra being on the court is that it attracts people not only to watch online but also to go to the venue, that is what the management wants because they make money from that as well. So unless Ginebra really plays bad, that is the only time they will lose.

Untill now that same old Never say Die fans continue to support the Gin kings and PBA managements need to compensate with that popularity, that's why the chance of seeing  Gin kings in the finals is not by far, though Boss R.A and MVP can play their cards using different team that they've got but most likely the two big boss will declare who's going to play for the finals, just my take to what's happening to this league.

That is the problem with the PBA, there is no balance in terms of fans because most fans are cheering for Ginebra, SMB, and TNT, while other teams are just trash to be honest, so I hope they see that and try to revise the format, add more teams, and avoid adding trash teams.

PBA is one of the oldest league in the S. Asia, but it has no change its format yet, so expecting they will change is like expecting a miracle to happen.

I agree to that, as if they are really aiming to do that, it's not that hard to let an additional franchise who can really compete but since the league already been handled by big infulence they'll not going to allow or embrace the change that will affect the businesses of SMC and MVP.

[bisdak40]

We can criticize them, but at the end of the day, they'll just simply be forgotten after a few weeks and those referees will be back to do their job yet again.

They will be back again and will win another championship, that is business, and now only Ginebra is really making the PBA interesting to watch.

If they put another team in the Finals, people will not watch it and as a result, they will not gain from that.

That is the problem with the PBA, there is no balance in terms of fans because most fans are cheering for Ginebra, SMB, and TNT, while other teams are just trash to be honest, so I hope they see that and try to revise the format, add more teams, and avoid adding trash teams.

If only PBA could afford the format of the NBA then i think fans would flock to the venue to watch them but we have to admit that those are just wishful thinking. MBA tried and very successful at first that we think PBA is already out but the cost of maintaining MBA operations halted the league abruptly. Watching PBA teams in the same venues is just too boring for those who are not die-hard fans of a team so it it just understandable that Ginebra would bring the most fans to the venue because of their fans and the PBA does like it.

I just notice this governor's cup that the PBA doesn't have a lot of out-of-town games held in the Visayas and Mindanao, they should revive that strategy so that fans who experienced watching them live in the venue will have interest in watching them on TV or youtube.

[LogitechMouse]

Popular faces are coming back to play for their respective teams coming this Governors Cup 2026. LINK
Brownlee is obvious one here, but there are some like Fuller who carried the ROS last year in the playoffs, DeQuan Jones will play for NLEX and George King will play for SMB.

There are some new faces as well, and you can just look at the article that I shared, but overall this will be an exciting season again... or is it. Kidding aside, it seems like TNT will not tap RHJ still because of the injury that he got which is a ruptured Achilles tendon, so they got Darius Days, a new import on our league. I really do hope that they'll get Bol Bol again at some point because he's been a good import for the team. It will take a time though because of the injury that he got.

[Russlenat]

What do you think about Gilas that will represent us in the coming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers?

These are the names that were mentioned, do you think we have a shot with that lineup?
https://www.pba.ph/news/ginebra-players-make-12-man-gilas-roster-for-wc-qualifiers

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee spearheads the national team roster along with Ginebra teammates Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos, and Troy Rosario.
Joining them are old hands June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao along with new faces Mike Philips and Justin Baltazar.

they will start next month..

Gilas plays New Zealand on July 3 and then flies to Perth Australia on July 6 for its game against the Boomers.

[Botnake]

What do you think about Gilas that will represent us in the coming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers?

As long as Brownlee is there, that roster is very interesting to watch.

Against New Zealand, I think there is a chance, but against Australia, we will likely see the same outcome as before even with Brownlee. Gilas could not even beat young Australian players, how much more if they bring their best players for that game. So I do not expect much, I am already happy if Gilas will be able to make it a close game, so at least the fans will be excited watching it.

[bisdak40]

What do you think about Gilas that will represent us in the coming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers?

As long as Brownlee is there, that roster is very interesting to watch.

Against New Zealand, I think there is a chance, but against Australia, we will likely see the same outcome as before even with Brownlee. Gilas could not even beat young Australian players, how much more if they bring their best players for that game. So I do not expect much, I am already happy if Gilas will be able to make it a close game, so at least the fans will be excited watching it.

Agree, Brownlee is a good fit for this Gilas squad. I think Scottie Thompson will be replace by Juan Gomez de Liano because of his hamstring injury and he needs some rest on that. QMB was not on the list but Justine Baltazar is there so maybe Baltazar was his replacement. Against these tall players from New Zealand and Australia we need big guys with agility like QMB to be able to compete. But to be honest even with QMB, Baltazar and Fajardo playing together i think we will be having a hard time against New Zealand and Australia, these teams are far more better than our Gilas team.

[LogitechMouse]

What do you think about Gilas that will represent us in the coming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers?

As long as Brownlee is there, that roster is very interesting to watch.

Against New Zealand, I think there is a chance, but against Australia, we will likely see the same outcome as before even with Brownlee. Gilas could not even beat young Australian players, how much more if they bring their best players for that game. So I do not expect much, I am already happy if Gilas will be able to make it a close game, so at least the fans will be excited watching it.

Against the Boomers, he only scored 4 points, but against the Tall Blacks, he scored 20 points. That's his performance during the 2nd window of the elimination.

Well, yes the roster's interesting to watch, but aside from that, Gilas must also know that other teams already have found a way to stop him especially with the Boomers as we've seen that he had a hard time scoring. They need to have another scorer/s to support him if they want to win against these 2 strong teams. I also look at Boomers as "impossible" to win, and with the Tall Blacks, I see it as "low chance, but not impossible" especially with Sotto being out.

Looking at the roster, they don't have a big that can go up against the big of other teams. Fajardo is too old, Edu is a small big, Phillips and Baltazar is just new with the team so they'll be having a hard time in terms of chemistry and experience. Having Sotto and QMB gives them a higher chance, but let's see how this one goes.

[Fredomago]

What do you think about Gilas that will represent us in the coming window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers?

As long as Brownlee is there, that roster is very interesting to watch.

Against New Zealand, I think there is a chance, but against Australia, we will likely see the same outcome as before even with Brownlee. Gilas could not even beat young Australian players, how much more if they bring their best players for that game. So I do not expect much, I am already happy if Gilas will be able to make it a close game, so at least the fans will be excited watching it.

I agree to that kabayan as long as JBL will play the way he always does fans will continue to support the PH nationals, though we might not have that big chance but we never know just like what Pilipino always say "Bilog ang bola" out young guns for me are already ripe KQ, Ramos, Tamayo,  Edu and now Philips was added let see how they'll going to perform playing again with JBL, hopefully CTC will now maximize them and not just those old veterans who already been checked by their opponents.

[Russlenat]

hopefully CTC will now maximize them and not just those old veterans who already been checked by their opponents.

We will see, but I am pretty sure CTC has already learned from what happened in the past, if they still fail then maybe the fans will start looking for a new head coach for the PH team who can help them improve. The last campaign was not really good, so there is a doubt that CTC is not really as great as we expected him to be.

If we decide to bet on this game, we will certainly get high odds since Gilas will surely be a heavy underdog.

[mirakal]

If we decide to bet on this game, we will certainly get high odds since Gilas will surely be a heavy underdog.

Obviously because those two teams they will play are teams they cannot easily beat. I do not know if they will achieve the same thing they achieved in the past, where in the FIBA World Cup they even surprised some top-seeded teams.

This is just the Asia Qualifiers if I am not mistaken, and these two teams are strong enough, so if they fail they will not qualify for the World Cup. Gilas already has an aging Brownlee, maybe if they still fail, they should consider replacing him with a younger naturalized player.

[Questat]

This is just the Asia Qualifiers if I am not mistaken, and these two teams are strong enough, so if they fail they will not qualify for the World Cup. Gilas already has an aging Brownlee, maybe if they still fail, they should consider replacing him with a younger naturalized player.

Yeah this is Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

and as per ranking, they are in Group A currently at rank 3. https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-basketball-world-cup-2027-asian-qualifiers/standings
So for them to enter in the FIBA world cup, they need to finish within the top 3 as well if my understanding is correct.

New Zealand and Australia, that's a very tough opponents, let's just hope that Guam will not win as well.

[Finestream]

New Zealand and Australia, that's a very tough opponents, let's just hope that Guam will not win as well.

I will trust Gilas to upset the favorite, they may struggle against Australia but I think they have a good shot at winning against New Zealand. This team is good, but I believe they already beat this team before, so it has already happened and I think it can happen again. According to the schedule, Gilas will only face these 2 teams, it would actually be easier for them if they played Guam instead of Australia, along with New Zealand, because most likely they would win at least one of them.