Games today
Araneta Coliseum
4:15 p.m.- Star vs. Blackwater
7:00 p.m.- Talk ‘N Text vs. Alaska
TITLE contenders Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters and Alaska Aces parade new imports when they face off in today’s main match of the 41st PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Talk ‘N Text will be fielding in David Simons as they try to snap a two-game losing slide.
The Tropang Texters played without an import in their opening assignment but still escaped with a 108-102 win over the Blackwater Elite.
Talk ‘N Text’s previous import Ivan Johnson sat out in that match to serve a one-game suspension for his involvement in a fracas against the same Blackwater squad in a tune-up game.
Johnson suited in the team’s next game but only played for 15 minutes after he got ejected in the second quarter of their 84-88 loss to the Meralco Bolts.
Things turned from bad to worse for Johnson after he was slapped with a one-year ban and P150,000 fine for confronting league commissioner Chito Narvasa in that game.
A lifetime ban and P250,000 were initially meted against Johnson but the penalties were downgraded by Narvasa.
Alaska, on the other hand, will have Shane Edwards, who once played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA.
The six-foot-seven Edwards replaced Rob Dozier, the former Best Import awardee who led Alaska to the 2013 Commissioner’s Cup crown.
Dozier is nursing a foot injury (plantar fasciitis) that prevented from playing in Alaska’s first game—a 107-111 loss to Blackwater.