THOUGHTS | WHY ARE THE MACAU GIANT PANDAS EVEN IN THE PBA GOVERNORS' CUP?

I am not trying to be rude.

And I don't want to be discriminatory.

It's far from it.

I have to ask...

Why the hell are the Macau Giant Pandas even in the PBA if they aren't going to bring in a competitive lineup?

I mean... 114 to 75?

Haven't THEY learned anything from the previous conference?!?

I just saw NLEX wallop the Giant Pandas by 39 points in the conference opener. Super scorer Damian Chongqui led all players with 35 points, and import De'Vondre Perry had 26.

However, the rest of the squad combined for just 14 points.

And I don't care if they were down by just nine points in the first half.

Even masochists would find this game too painful to watch.

The Giant Pandas also went 10-for-37 from the three-point line and 1-for-12 from the four-point line. Yes, the Road Warriors attempted a combined 25 shots from the three-point and four-point areas, but they also had 70 shots inside the arc.

The Giant Pandas attempted a total of 87 shots, so if you break this down, they only had 38 attempts in the two-point area.

70 to 38? I mean, no wonder they finished the game with a 39-point loss. The Giant Pandas were miserably chucking up pitiful outside attempts instead of looking for high-percentage shots.

But here's the thing. We knew they'd do this because they did the same thing at the last conference.

Sidenote: I thought the PBA gave Macau a lot of leeway with their moniker. So what, they forgot Titan Ultra also had "Giant" in their team name? I don't know if this Giant Pandas team is some sort of Macanese tax write-off, but the PBA went from the Bay Area Dragons, a team that almost won the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup, to this?

But here's the biggest problem with Macau's participation in the Governors' Cup. The conference format has the teams divided into two groups. Each team will play its groupmates twice before heading to a Best-of-5 quarterfinals. This is sort of the PBA's way of combining its rules with FIBA rules.

2026 PBA GOVS' CUP | TOURNAMENT FORMAT

GROUP A	GROUP B
SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN	BARANGAY GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL
TNT TROPANG 5G	MERALCO BOLTS
NLEX ROAD WARRIORS	RAIN OR SHINE ELASTO PAINTERS
CONVERGE FIBERXERS	MAGNOLIA HOTSHOTS
TERRAFIRMA DYIP	PHOENIX FUEL MASTERS
TITAN ULTRA GIANT RISERS	BLACKWATER BOSSING
MACAU GIANT PANDAS

PLAYOFFS  

QUARTERFINALS | BEST-OF-5

A1 VS B4

A3 VS B2

A4 VS B1

A2 VS B3

SEMIFINALS | BEST-OF-5

WINNER OF A1 VS B4 VERSUS B2 VS A3

WINNER OF B1 VS A4 VERSUS A2 VS B3

FINALS | BEST-OF-7 

That said, isn't it weird that seven teams will play a total of 12 games while the other group has only 10?

If one of the reasons PBA teams join the league, aside from putting up a competitive squad, is to promote their brands, this means the six teams in Group B have two fewer games to play in front of an audience.

I mean, no wonder there is such a discrepancy between the players from the major teams and the so-called farm teams. How can a team like Blackwater build the necessary growth or momentum if they are only playing 33 games? TNT's Rey Nambatac has already played in 50 games this season because the team reached both the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner's Cup Finals. Meanwhile, Blackwater has played just 23 games because the team failed to reach the playoffs in both conferences. And now, with the Best-of-5 quarterfinals, this means the eliminated teams will enjoy a very long break.

I doubt the weaker teams will even make it to September because they'll probably have already been eliminated from playoff contention by then after posting cellar-dwelling win-loss records.

But hey, if all the teams agreed to the group format, fine. I'll stop with my rant.

Meanwhile, back to the Macau Giant Pandas.

Ramon Cao, one of the team's leaders at the last conference, and Kobey Lam, who also has the distinction of playing for Bay Area and Hong Kong Eastern, combined to shoot 3-of-22 from the field, with just eight outside makes. Basically, Macau's half-court offense is to chuck the ball and pray that it goes in.

I mean, what the hell?

And where is Phoenix Shackelford? Especially with Jenning Leung injured, where is the guy who had the best shooting percentage for them last conference? Of all the players they left unsigned, Shackelford is the one player they needed to bring back.

I mean, the first game sets the tone for what we can expect from Macau, and from the looks of things, the PBA must have received a boatload of moolah for accepting a team that doesn't deserve to carry the name of the city they allegedly represent.

Or the animal.

Please, do better, Macau.