PBA D-League Foundation Cup opens June 2

INQUIRER PHOTO/AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Seven teams will wage war when the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup begins on June 2.

Phoenix Petroleum will try to make it two in a row, but standing in its way will be its Aspirants’ Cup Finals opponent and defending Foundation Cup champs CafeFrance, as the two emerge as the frontrunners for the championship.

Racal Tile Master, Tanduay Rhum Makers, AMA Online Education, and Mindanao Aguilas also return this season, while Blustar Detergent Dragons will bring in some international spice for the second conference.

Blustar, coached by Ariel Vanguardia, will parade Fil-foreign studs Matthew Wright and Jason Brickman to lead its all-Malaysian core this tournament.

For the first time in D-League history, the elimination round will go on a double-round phase with the top four advancing to the semifinals and the top two owning a twice-to-beat advantage.

Tiebreaks will be broken via the PBA quotient system.

Winners of the said series will juke it out on a best-of-three championship series.