PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup Game Schedule: April 8-17, 2013

During Sunday night's games at the ongoing PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup, both the Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel and Petron Blaze Boosters had sealed their fate for the next round of competition after beating Meralco Bolts and Barako Bull Energy Cola, respectively. At the first match of Sunday Superball at the PBA, the Blaze Boosters spoiled former NBA player DJ Mbenga's debut as they beat the Barako Bull via an 88-77 match. The game was close for the first three quarters until Petron pulled away during the early goings of the fourth quarter until Barako Bull could not recover any longer. Mbenga's lack of conditioning also played a key factor as he was looking rusty and slow at times, leaving the more agile Henry Sims opportunity to exploit the paint.

Meanwhile, the Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel team barely clinched the win with a shot by their import Vernon Macklin with 12.9 seconds left in the game. Previous to Macklin's heroic shot that ended up sealing the win for Brgy. Ginebra, Sunday Salvacion sunk a three-point shot from the corner despite Mac Baracael's contention, which pushed Meralco Bolts to the lead at 89-88. But with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game, Eric Dawson could not sink his high-looping shot against Vernon Macklin, thus giving Brgy. Ginebra their 7th win and guaranteeing that they move to the next round. Meanwhile, Meralco Bolts drop to 6-6 and is on a three-way tie with Talk N Text and San Mig Coffee Mixers.

To continue watching the action at the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup, make sure to take note of the schedule for the succeeding games. Here is the list of games for the coming week:

Disclaimer: Image courtesy of pba.inquirer.net

Barako Bull Energy Cola Acquires Former Laker DJ Mbenga

Image: Spin.ph

Last Sunday, the Barako Bull Energy Cola snapped their six game losing skid by beating San Mig Coffee Mixers via a 105-100 match, just barely escaping a late rally from Tim Cone's troops. Despite the win, though, the Barako Bull management finally made a move that a lot were speculating they would've made earlier, if they were to improve their bid at making the playoffs round.

The Barako Bull management had to let go of Evan Brock and acquired former Lakers center DJ Mbenga in the process. The 7-foot Congonese-Belgian player was much talked about prior to the start of the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup because a few teams, including Brgy. Ginebra Kings, were hoping to sign him. However, it wasn't until Tuesday that the Barako Bull management has confirmed that they have signed Mbenga as the team's new import.

The size and height of Mbenga was the critical factor in their decision to tap him to reinforce their current lineup. According to team consultant Rajko Toroman, "we're the worst rebounding team, that's what we need in him. We don't care if he doesn't have an offense or what. We need his defense and hustle more."

Coach Bong Ramos also seconded saying that he is confident that DJ Mbenga will be the missing part of the formula to helping Barako Bull get the most wins out of their remaining games in their bid to escape an early break this conference.

Soon after arriving in the Philippines, DJ Mbenga joined a close door training with the rest of the team, coach Bong Ramos, and team consultant Rajko Toroman. The new recruit went through usual drills for post-up plays, free throw shooting, and rebounding. The team's goal is to maximize his size in order to establish a stronger presence on the inside, something of which the hard working Evan Brock lacked during his stint with the Barako Bull team.

Right now, the team's goal is to avoid being stuck in the 9 or 10 position in the league standings or else they could be taking an early vacation this conference. DJ Mbenga will be able to strut his wares in the PBA as he debuts against Petron Blaze Boosters this Sunday, April 7. Petron is also sporting a new import in Henry Sims, so it will be interesting to see which of the new imports will prevail although Sims will have his debut this Friday.