2016 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup explained

Year:	2016
Conference Name:	D-League Aspirant's Cup
Subheader:	The 5th PBA Aspirant's Cup
Pixels:	300px
Duration:	January 21-April 14, 2016
No Of Teams:	9
Best Player:	Mac Belo
Finals Mvp:	Mac Belo
Champion:	Phoenix-FEU Accelerators
Runner-Up:	Cafefrance-CEU Bakers
Prevconf Link:	2015 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup
Prevconf Year:	2015
Nextconf Link:	2017 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup
Nextconf Year:	2017

The 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup was the first conference of the 2015-16 PBA Developmental League season. It was opened on January 21, 2016 at the Filoil Flying V Center and competed by 9 teams and it was finished on April 14, 2016 where the Phoenix-FEU Accelerators defeated the Cafefrance Bakers-CEU in the best-of-5 finals showdown, 3 games to 2 and clinching their first ever title in their franchise.^[1]

Draft

The draft was conducted on December 1, 2015 at the PBA Cafe in Pasig. 215 hopefuls were applied in the draft for the chance to play in the league.^[2]

Draft Order:

First Round

• 1.) Jason Perkins (Racal/Keramix - DLSU)
• 2.) Julian Sargent (AMA University - DLSU)
• 3.) Von Pessumal (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
• 4.) Taylor Statham (Cafe France)
• 5.) Avery Scharer (Wang's Basketball - Shoreline CC)
• 6.) Mikey Williams (Mindanao Aguilas - Cal State U)
• 7.) Agustini Amar (Jam Liner - UP)
• 8.) Richard Escoto (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
• 9.) BDO-NU - Passed

Second Round

• 1.) Jordan Rios (Racal/Keramix - St. Clare)
• 2.) Ryan Pascual (AMA University - Cal State-Long Beach)
• 3.) Alfonso Gotladera (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
• 4.) John Karl Casiño (Cafe France - CEU)
• 5.) Anton Castro (Wang's Basketball - Adamson)
• 6.) Taylor Wetherell (Mindanao Aguilas)
• 7.) Alfrancis Tamsi (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
• 8.) Jam Liner - Passed
• 9.) BDO-NU - Passed

Format

Conference format as it follows:^[3]

• Teams will play in a single round-robin elimination round.
• Top 8 teams will advance to the quarterfinals while the 9th placer team will be eliminated.
• Top 4 teams will get a twice-to-beat quarterfinals incentive against lower-ranked teams to determine the semifinals placings. Semifinals is a best-of-three affair.
• The two teams who won the semifinals matches will battle in a best-of-5 championship series.

Eliminations

The elimination round will run from January 21 to March 7, 2016. Games will be held in Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan and Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig.

Team standings

Team standing at the end of the elimination round:

Results

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

This round is in a best-of-3 format. The winner advances to the finals.

Phoenix vs. Caida series

Finals

With only 2.3 seconds left in the final frame and the Bakers leading by 2, 84-82, Roger Pogoy made a game-winning 3 pointer where it was assisted by Achie Inigo to close the gap to an inch for winning the 2016 PBA Aspirant's Cup title.^[4]

The Bakers led as much as 14, with a score of 82-68 in the final 6:47 of the game before the Mac Belo-led Phoenix-FEU drained down the lead to just a single point, 89-88 in the last 2:58 of the game. But Paul Zamar had answered the destruction to regain the six-point lead by the Bakers, 94-88 with 1:07 remaining.^[5]

Tolomia of the Phoenix-FEU started exchanging threes with Paul Zamar as the Accelerators clinch an 81-78 lead with 2:39 left, but Roger Pogoy joined the party by hitting his shot from the downtown to extend his team's lead to 6, 84-78 in the last 10 seconds before the 2-minute mark.^[6]

Awards

2016 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup Champions: Phoenix-FEU Accelerators (1st title)

Runners-up: Cafefrance Bakers-CEU

Finals MVP: Mac Belo (19.6 points/game)

Tournament Most Valuable Player:Mac Belo

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bakers open title bid vs Aguilas; D-League opens on Jan. 21. PBA. Inquirer.net. Leongson. Randolph B.. 4 January 2016. 5 January 2016.
2. Web site: Jason Perkins picked first overall by Racal-Keramix in PBA D-League rookie draft. Spin.ph. 1 December 2015.
3. Web site: Caida meets Tanduay, Jam-UP battles BDO-NU in PBA D-League openers. People's Journal. Jurado. Theodore. 4 January 2016. 5 January 2016.
4. Web site: Pogoy hits winner as Phoenix-FEU moves a win away from title . PBA . Inquirer.net . Leongson . Randolph B. . 7 April 2016 . 7 April 2016.
5. Web site: D-League Finals: Cafe France forces Game 5 . PBA . Inquirer.net . Leongson . Randolph B. . 12 April 2016 . 12 April 2016.
6. Web site: Phoenix rises in D-League; Claims title against Cafefrance. PBA. Inquirer.net. Lozada. Bong. 14 April 2016. 25 April 2016.