By Jonas Terrado • Waylon Galvez
San Miguel, Ginebra, TNT are teams to beat.
The PBA Board of Governors shared a roundtable in yesterday’s press conference at Okada Manila in Parañaque City, the first time representatives of all 12 teams gathered as one since an impasse that marred the league’s offseason left them into a divided group.
Ten of the 12 governors were present during the presscon held to drum up interest for the league’s opening on Sunday but offered no details of any resolution with regards to the tenure of Commissioner Chito Narvasa, the source of indifference between the two camps.
Narvasa was present during the presscon, but politely declined interviews while allowing the spotlight to be on the league’s decision-makers who are hoping to put the focus back on basketball weeks of canceled meetings and backchannel discussions.
Five of the seven teams from the group that voted not to renew Narvasa’s contract in reaction to the highly-disputed trade that sent Kia’s No. 1 draft pick to San Miguel showed up for the press conference. They are incoming chairman Ramoncito Fernandez of NLEX, Dickie Bachmann of Alaska, Mamerto Mondragon of Rain or Shine, Raymond Zorilla of Phoenix and Siliman Sy of Blackwater.
Representing TNT was its assistant team manager Magnum Membrere while Meralco sent in Ryan Gregorio in lieu of team governor Al Panlilio.
“What the board promises you is we will have a more exciting year and we’ll continue to delight the millions of fans of the PBA,” Fernandez said. “We promise that with your support, we will continue to make the PBA very relevant to the Filipinos.”
In complete attendance were the five governors of the group that backed Narvasa – Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Alfrancis Chua, San Miguel’s Robert Non and Magnolia’s Rene Pardo, Kia’s Bobby Rosales and GlobalPort’s Erick Arejola.
Also present was GlobalPort team owner and outgoing chairman and Rep. Mikee Romero, who is eager to see the games take place while having the issues resolved behind the scene.
“We want the opening to really start this Dec. 17 and after that gusto namin na all the 12 governors na basketball ang pagusapan, time to move on,” Romero said. “With regards to anything about the board, we want to keep it among ourselves internally.”
Meantime, reigning champion San Miguel Beer, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and TNT KaTropa are the consensus teams to beat.
SMB is touted as the logical choice due to its solid roster powered by four-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and fellow Mythical Five members Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos.
“I think it’s going to be SMB because of its intact lineup,” said Gregorio.
“San Miguel Beer… the reason being is their intact line up,” said Bachmann.
The Beermen, coached, by Leo Austria, captured their third straight Philippine Cup championship last season after downing Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in six games.
Other mainstays of the team are Gabby Espinas, Anthony Semerad and Brian Heruela, while the latest additions are free agents Billy Mamaril, Chico Lanete and rookie Louie Vigil.
As for Ginebra, the team will likewise come in with a complete roster led by Twin Towers 7-footer Greg Slaughter and 6-foot-10 forward Japeth Aguilar.
Slaughter missed the Philippine Cup due to an ACL injury.
TNT, which came back from a week-long training camp in Lithuania, also has an untouched lineup led by veteran guard Jayson Castro and 2017 Rookie of the Year RR Pogoy, as well as Kelly Williams, Troy Rosario and Mo Tautuaa.
“TNT also has an intact lineup this conference, and they also have bigs who can match up with June Mar. Same with Ginebra, Greg is back in the lineup,” said Non.
While the three are the consensus ‘teams to beat,’ there are also ‘dark horses’ expected to create some noise in the season-opening tournament of the PBA – count in that category the NLEX Road Warriors.