Rain or Shine and Meralco parade reinforcements who are no stranger to the Philippine brand of basketball when they take centerstage in the 2023 PBA Governors' Cup opening salvo at the Philsports Arena in Sunday, Jan. 22.
The Elasto Painters begin their bid of ending a five-year playoff drought in this season-ending conference when they collide with the Bolts in the 4:30 p.m. affair before an equally enticing clash between the Converge FiberXers and NorthPort Batang Pier at 6:30 p.m.
All eyes will be on the expected duel between returning imports in Meralco’s KJ McDaniels and Rain or Shine’s Michael Qualls.
It would be McDaniels' second stint with the Bolts after playing in the Commissioner’s Cup with an average of 27.33 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.17 assists and 2.33 blocks per game.
Qualls, meanwhile, will be on his second tour of duty in the league as he hopes to replicate, if not surpass, his success with the Batang Pier where he steered Northport to its first semis appearance in franchise history.
Interestingly, the high-scoring import will now be under head coach Yeng Guiao, the erstwhile coach of NLEX, the same team NorthPort hurdled to advance to that semis match.
Another interesting storyline is the return of James Yap to Rain or Shine after a three-conference hiatus. The game marks a reunion of sorts between Yap and Guiao, who last worked together for the Rain or Shine-backed Gilas Pilipinas team in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
If the old hands are taking the spotlight in the opening game, new faces are also out to make an impression in the second match as the FiberXers parade New Zealand national team forward Ethan Rusbatch and the Batang Pier debut young and talented Marcus Weathers.
NorthPort and Converge, two of the busiest teams wheeling and dealing the short break, have also loaded some new weapons to their arsenal and are expected to be deployed in their first assignments.
The FiberXers have added defensive linchpins in Barkley Ebona and Jerrick Balanza, while the Batang Pier got the biggest acquisition in the trade for former first overall pick Joshua Munzon along with offseason signee Christian Balagasay to help new head coach Bonnie Tan, who switched places with now team manager Pido Jarencio.