MANILA: The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) resumes hostilities Friday as the league's Commissioner's Cup opens with the crowd-favorite Barangay Ginebra Kings clashing with the re-tooled Meralco Bolts in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte province. The Kings boast an intact lineup bolstered by a first-time import in Nate Brumfield who was a star for Oklahoma Baptist University, which he led to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I title last year. He is coming from a fresh stint in the Mexican basketball league, where he averaged 14.5 points, on .566 field shooting and .673 from the stripe, in 32 games. The 6-foot-3 bruiser has been described as a certified “inside player” and he is expected to add a solid presence which the team sorely lacks at the post. On the other hand, the Bolts have gained more firepower with the acquisition of explosive guards Sol Mercado and Ren-Ren Ritualo to back up Macmac Cardona. Meralco has also acquired the services of forwards Eric Rodriguez, Reynel Hugnatan, and Mark Isip. Marlou Aquino has also returned to their roster which also includes an explosive import in Anthony Dandridge. Dandridge was the 2009 US NCAA slam dunk champion while playing for New Mexico. He is coming off a stint in the Lebanese Basketball League, where he ranked second behind Lebanon national team stalwart Fadi El Khatib in scoring, with an average of 28.0 points per game. Ginebra coach Jong Uichico and Meralco mentor Ryan Gregorio both said they will go all-out for the win Friday since the tournament is short and every game counts. “The target, really, is to win as many games as possible. Blinking is not allowed. The upper six goes up, the bottom four says goodbye,” Gregorio said. The shortened conference will see the top two teams advancing to the semifinals, the next four to the quarterfinals and the last four teams eliminated outright. The quarterfinals pit teams ranked third and sixth and Nos. 4 and 5 in a pair of best-of-three duels.
