Business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan (second from left) smiles as Meralco lifts the Philippine Cup, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (right) leads TNT to victory in the Commissioner’s Cup, and Asia Two out of three of the pioneering team’s MVP teams won the championship. Pro league. —Photo by August Dela Cruz.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but after TNT’s final game of the year, he was in a giving mood, giving away watches and shoes to teammates, coaches and staff.
“They do so much for me,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who is a practicing Muslim. “I just want them to feel appreciated.”
Article continues after this ad
Six months earlier, Meralco star Chris Newsome finally realized the feeling he had long envisioned since entering the PBA nearly a decade ago, with two teams led by Manny V. Pangilinan as rivals. contributed to the highlight of 2024, when they acquired a top takeover team from San Miguel Corporation.
The Bolts dominated the Philippine Cup like Cinderella, defeating the San Miguel Beermen, who are perennial winners of the PBA’s most prestigious tournament, on Newsome’s corner jumper.
“I never thought this would happen,” Newsome said, basking in the elation of finally reaching the top of the PBA mountain. “I’m glad I was able to continue working hard at Meralco, the team that drafted me and believed in me from day one.”
Article continues after this ad
After Newsome and Meralco closed out Season 48 with a win, Hollis-Jefferson and TNT opened Season 49 by defeating crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra to win the Governor’s Cup and earn a much-talked-about 4 points. Introduced chute.
The MVP group won two of the three titles contested in 2024. The other trophy was won by San Miguel, who defeated sister team Magnolia in the Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup. It was a rare success in a league dominated by SMC.
Advantages of SMC
SMC teams had won the league in 18 of the past 22 conferences prior to Meralco and TNT’s title wins. Does that mean a changing of the guard?
San Miguel have since revamped their managerial structure, bringing back nine-time champion Leo Austria from a consultant role to replace Jorge Galento, who led the club to a Commissioner’s Cup success during the season. The change came amid early struggles in the Beermen’s title defense.
Meanwhile, Ginebra entered a transition period by acquiring Stephen Holt and Isaac Go from Terra Firma and selecting RJ Abarrientos with the third pick in the rookie draft.
dark horse
Meanwhile, Magnolia is currently struggling in the Commissioner’s Cup, winning the franchise’s first title since 2018 and removing the “Introvoice” tag, which has been a source of ridicule among netizens on social media. I’m still trying to find a way.
As the league remains dominated by SMC and MVP in terms of titles, two independent teams are trying to catch up.
Rain or Shine, led by firebrand coach Yen Guiao, made two semifinal appearances in 2024 on the back of a traditional approach to nurturing young talent, while Converge lost rookies Justin Baltazar and Jordan He added a header to Justin Arana, indicating his intention to break free of the SMC-MVP shackles. and a much improved Alec Stockton.
Fans continue to demand balance in the league, and the league made headlines in the basketball world by introducing a second arc, which is worth four points in a regular game, for the first time.
This shot includes Converge import Scottie Hopson’s two four-point game winners in the Governor’s Cup, Magnolia’s Jerick Ahanmisi, who has become something of a specialist in the area, and NLEX star Robert Bolick. There were some moments, like hitting the first five-point play. In both the All-Star Game and the regular game.
But purists and critics still argue that innovation and newness could have been reserved for exhibition administration and instead focused on improving attendance numbers. I am doing it.
“I think we’re putting pressure on our young kids to come out and just shoot and learn to shoot, and that’s enough,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said. “I think this game is much more than that.”
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Subscription completed successfully.
It remains to be seen whether the longest arc, installed as an experiment this season, will have a long-term impact on games, but league officials insisted teams are not obligated to aim for a quadruple every game.
