PBA Quarterfinals Schedule – 2020 Philippine Cup Bubble

Here is the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals round schedule. All games are set to be played at the Angeles University Foundation sports complex in Pampanga.

Below is the said schedule which will start on November 13, 2020 and if additional games are necessary it will end on November 16, 2020.

On Friday, the second phase of the All-Filipino Cup will feature teams coming from the SMB franchise. The San Miguel Beermen will face the much improved Meralco Bolts in the quarterfinals opener. The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will follow next and will try to tame the hungry-to-win Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the main event.

After their bumpy ride during the elimination round, the defending champion found themselves in the top-four of the standings and automatically awarded them a twice-to-beat advantage. That’s minus their five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and former PBA scoring champ Terrence Romeo. It only shows that the squad coached by Leo Austria is so deep and they got a lot of talents who know how to take over the scoring slack and deliver enough victories to have the first-round playoffs advantage.

For Meralco, it took them five seasons for them to reach the All-Filipino playoffs. The last time they reached the second phase of the first conference was during the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup. Their manpower movement during the tail-end of the last season is now paying dividends. For sure, coach Norman Black and his troops wanted more, and going deep in the playoffs is their real goal.

Many had expected that playing inside the PBA bubble is level ground to all teams as the Gin Kings no longer have their usual die-hard supporters due to the social distancing protocol. Yet, the squad of coach Tim Cone ended at the top of the standings with the 8-3 slate. Entering the bubble was a challenge for Ginebra, LA Tenorio, and Japeth Aguilar were reported earlier not in their game shape plus they don’t have their gentle giant Greg Slaughter who decided to retire few weeks after they won the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup title. During their first few battles, several of their role players stepped up and one player who is now considered by many to win this year’s Most Improved Player award is Prince Caperal. If Ginebra loses games, the barometer used by many PBA analysts is how Caperal performed. Now it’s playoff time, we’ll see how the former Arellano University standout takes his game to another level.

For the Elasto Painters, they started this conference scorching hot with their three-game winning streak and was even stayed on the top of the standings for several days until they got hit a wall and absorbed a three-game losing skid. Good thing, they have enough win in order to be rewarded with the last ticket going to the playoffs round. Though they require to win twice, they have already proven this year that they know how to slay an All-Filipino Cup dragon, one of their wins this conference is against the Gin Kings with the score of 85-82 in overtime.

The following day, the quarterfinals will feature the TNT Tropang Giga up against the Alaska Aces then the Phoenix Super LPG Fuelmasters, and the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok.

The Tropang Giga was the longest occupant of the standings top spot after winning five games in a row. During that successful initial five outings, RR Pogoy, Ray Ray Parks Jr., and Poy Erram registered career highs in scoring. However, after the league decided for another forced break due to the threat of COVID-19, TNT feet got pulled back to the ground as they swallowed a 2-4 win-loss record in their next six games. Good thing they got that early buffer for them to have the twice-to-beat advantage.

Coach Jeff Cariaso’s team is fueled by the emergence of their youngsters particularly his frontcourt players. Abu Tratter and rookie Kevin Barkley Ebona are the two forces inside the paint that every team should worry about if they face the Aces. Not only that, Alaska’s Vic Manuel will now have plenty of muscle help for him to operate inside the post.

The Fuelmasters is always labeled as the league’s dark horse particularly in the All-Filipino conference. That mark just getting bolder especially with the return of their prime player Calvin Abueva. With the “Beast” back in the harness, Phoenix registered a 5-1 record upon his return.

Last year’s runner-up, the Hotshots warm-up time in the bubble is over, and now ready to bring their game to the next level. Most of Magnolia’s fans got worried in the early stage of the conference after seeing their squad at the bottom of the standings. Yet, they’re now enjoying a six-game winning streak and for sure they will ride on that winner’s feeling as they enter the playoffs.