2026 PBA Governor's Cup

[bisdak40]

Converge vs NLEX for the first game and this gonna be a good game,
NLEX + 7.5 vs CONVERGE ...

NLEX will play importless tomorrow and that is their big challenge while the new import of Converge is bringing good hope for the team as they start winning again.
I will go with Converge tomorrow and I hope Abueva will play heavy again.

I'm going the opposite kabayan, though the Road Warriors will be playing without an import but i think their system will work and everybody might step up and dedicate this game to their injure import. NLEX as what i've read has already a negotiation with KJ McDaniels to replace Jones but i think he is not yet in town to play for today's game.

[mirakal]

Converge vs NLEX for the first game and this gonna be a good game,
NLEX + 7.5 vs CONVERGE ...

NLEX will play importless tomorrow and that is their big challenge while the new import of Converge is bringing good hope for the team as they start winning again.
I will go with Converge tomorrow and I hope Abueva will play heavy again.

I'm going the opposite kabayan, though the Road Warriors will be playing without an import but i think their system will work and everybody might step up and dedicate this game to their injure import. NLEX as what i've read has already a negotiation with KJ McDaniels to replace Jones but i think he is not yet in town to play for today's game.

That was the right call. NLEX almost had it as they took the lead after Bollick hit a 4 point shot but sadly Juan Gerardo Gomez de Liano answered with a 4 point shot of his own.

It was really a very interesting game. Bollick also made what could have been a tying 4 point shot with less than a minute remaining, but it was not counted because he was fouled before the shot.

Overall, even though NLEX lost, I'm still satisfied with what they showed.

[Questat]

It was really a very interesting game. Bollick also made what could have been a tying 4 point shot with less than a minute remaining, but it was not counted because he was fouled before the shot.

That was expected because NLEX are playing without an import, but with Bolick you can really trust him to make that kind of shot as I have seen him do it many times in past games. The good news here is NLEX backers are happy because the handicap was covered, I just hope they were not greedy because if they took the moneyline then they lost. Anyway if they lost they should not stop there, we have the second game live now Meralco vs Ginebra, but sadly Brownlee isnt here yet.

[Sanitough]

we have the second game live now Meralco vs Ginebra, but sadly Brownlee isnt here yet.

And the game is over, if Meralco was really the underdog in that game then bettors who took them were lucky enough to get a nice return since Meralco won by 9 points. The ML bet hit. And yeah, no Brownlee is really a problem. I thought I also read in this thread that Brownlee was already coming back. ( https://www.sofascore.com/basketball/philippines)

So i look at the sched ( https://www.pba.ph/schedule).. next game will be on Wed, Oct 07 ... what is happening?

[bisdak40]

That was the right call. NLEX almost had it as they took the lead after Bollick hit a 4 point shot but sadly Juan Gerardo Gomez de Liano answered with a 4 point shot of his own.

It was really a very interesting game. Bollick also made what could have been a tying 4 point shot with less than a minute remaining, but it was not counted because he was fouled before the shot.

Overall, even though NLEX lost, I'm still satisfied with what they showed.

Robert Bolick was very deadly in the -point area, no lead is safe when Bolick still around, luckily for Converge Juan Gomez De Liano hit that 4 pointer on his own and got the ball position after that because of Bolick's foul on Calvin Abueva, that was the story of the game. No import but NLEX showed guts and even have the lead after 3 quarters, that is how the system of coach Jimmy Alapag works now, not just relying on a single player to do the job.

So i look at the sched ( https://www.pba.ph/schedule).. next game will be on Wed, Oct 07 ... what is happening?

Looks like we have to wait for more than a month to see action in the PBA once again as the league is taking a break to give way national commitments Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA qualifying tournament and the Asian games which will be held this coming September 19 to October 4.

[mirakal]

Looks like we have to wait for more than a month to see action in the PBA once again as the league is taking a break to give way national commitments Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA qualifying tournament and the Asian games which will be held this coming September 19 to October 4.

That is quite a long break, teams that have injured players or those looking for a new import would really benefit from it. And by the way Brownlee is expected to be back with Gilas, he's arriving in Manila and will join practice for the World Cup qualifiers and Asian Games.

https://tempo.mb.com.ph/2026/08/15/brownlee-arriving-as-gilas-begins-preparations-for-2-major-events/
https://www.fiba.basketball/en/events/fiba-basketball-world-cup-2027-asian-qualifiers/games/126980-JOR-PHI

August 28, 2026 — Jordan vs Philippines, 8:30 PM at MOA Arena.
August 30, 2026 — Philippines vs Iran, 8:00 PM at MOA Arena.

September 11 — Philippines vs Bahrain
September 12 — Kazakhstan vs Philippines
September 14 — China vs Philippines

[Japinat]

That's a lot of games and all of them are exciting. Teams like China, Iran and Jordan, those are the teams I really want the Philippines to beat.

Two games will be at home so the fans will surely be there to support Gilas. Hopefully Brownlee is healthy this time and we won't see the same kind of performance he had against New Zealand.

[mirakal]

That's a lot of games and all of them are exciting. Teams like China, Iran and Jordan, those are the teams I really want the Philippines to beat.

Two games will be at home so the fans will surely be there to support Gilas. Hopefully Brownlee is healthy this time and we won't see the same kind of performance he had against New Zealand.

That's what I'm looking forward to as well, it's just satisfying to see Gilas beat these teams since they've been our rivals for a long time.

China is probably the toughest among the three, but we've beaten them before so it's not impossible to do it again. And speaking of Brownlee, months have already passed since his injury so hopefully he's fully healed now and back at 100% to represent the country.

Good luck to us.

[Sanitough]

August 28, 2026 — Jordan vs Philippines, 8:30 PM at MOA Arena.
August 30, 2026 — Philippines vs Iran, 8:00 PM at MOA Arena.

This is a good matchup for Gilas. Jordan IIRC is the team that Gilas beat when RHJ was their naturalized player, and that was the only time Brownlee beat an RHJ team.
Hopefully RHJ is still playing in this rematch, though I heard he was injured and that's also the reason he did not play with TNT.

For the second game I don't really know Iran's players anymore, but during the time of Haddadi that team was one of the best. They could even beat China.

[LogitechMouse]

That's a lot of games and all of them are exciting. Teams like China, Iran and Jordan, those are the teams I really want the Philippines to beat.

Two games will be at home so the fans will surely be there to support Gilas. Hopefully Brownlee is healthy this time and we won't see the same kind of performance he had against New Zealand.

Am I the only one here that's not excited with our Gilas team?

The 4th window is happening 2 weeks from now, and we haven't even build the final 12 of our team just yet. Aside from that, some notable players will not play as well for some reasons. Kai Sotto is one because he's busy pursuing his career on the NBA. Clarkson might not play as well because they will just get Brownlee again as their naturalized player, and I don't know but I think even QMB will not play as well because of an injury. With this, our big will just be Fajardo, Edu, and whoever it will be, but we will have a very small line up compared to other countries.

I'm not saying that we have no chances of winning though, but in a window where every win counts, I can't see the sense of urgency towards our Gilas team. I get it that some of our kababayan are excited to watch them play, but looking at it, I just don't want to expect too much about them especially now that they only have less than 2 weeks of preparation.

[Maslate]

I'm not saying that we have no chances of winning though, but in a window where every win counts, I can't see the sense of urgency towards our Gilas team. I get it that some of our kababayan are excited to watch them play, but looking at it, I just don't want to expect too much about them especially now that they only have less than 2 weeks of preparation.

This is the related news about that.. https://www.philstar.com/sports/2026/08/15/2549479/all-pba-gilas-squad-defend-asian-games-gold

MANILA, Philippines -- As Gilas Pilipinas aims to defend its Asian Games title, it will bring in an all-PBA contingent to Japan, head coach Tim Cone said.

With the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers window and the Asian Games separated by just a few days, Gilas will train two separate teams to prepare for the respective contests.

“We're gonna have two pretty much separate teams. One for the window and one for the Asian Games. So, I guess we'll release that at some point. I can't tell you what they are all off the top of my head, but that's pretty much the plan,” Cone told reporters.

So it's on a 2 tournaments and yes we are the defending champion in the Asian Games after beating Jordan in the final last time. And I agree with you, they haven't even formed the final team yet so the preparation is quite short. Considering we are the defending champion, I don't think that's the right way to prepare if we really want to defend the title.