THE format of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup has forced Meralco not to take any chances and immediately replaced injured import Jelanie McCoy.

In McCoy’s place is Jarrid Famous, whose mettle will be tested when the Bolts play B-MEG at the start of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Meralco-B-meg match is set at 7:30 p.m. with Famous expected to perform as well as McCoy, a National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran who suffered a calf strain injury.

“The format does not allow teams to relax. With only nine games, the mindset is already playoff basketball,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio.

Each team plays nine elimination games with the bottom four bowing out of the race. The top two teams get automatic semifinals berths while the next four figure in a best-of-three quarterfinal series.

The six-foot-11 Famous, who played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA Developmental League, arrived two days ago.

“I hope he adjusts well to how we run things,” Gregorio added.

The 23-year-old Famous will be pitted against Denzel Bowles, who is regarded as one of the top imports in the tournament.

The six-foot-10 Bowles played for James Madison University where he averaged 17.6 points and 8.8 rebounds and is coming off a solid stint in the Euro League.

B-MEG begins its campaign minus Kerby Raymundo, who was shipped to Barangay Ginebra in a three-team trade, and got JC Intal in return. Head coach Tim Cone said Intal is a boost at the small forward position.

The Llamados are out to erase the stigma of a bitter quarterfinal loss to Powerade last conference, where they emerged top seeds after the eliminations.

 “We are ready for battle against one of the stronger teams in the league,” said Gregorio, who is reunited with Paul Artadi. Artadi landed at the Bolts camp in a one-on-one trade with Barako Bull for Chico Lanete.

Gregorio also noted that Mark Cardona has performed well in their pre-season games.

In the other game on opening day at 5:15 p.m., the Energy of coach Junel Baculi will be parading another legit NBA veteran in DerMarr Johnson when they collide with the Alaska Aces.

Johnson was the sixth overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

“DJ [Johnson] is a good import. He can help us in getting Ws,” said Baculi, who also has a pair of new players in Ronald Tubid and Reil Cervantes. Tubid and Cervantes were part of the Raymundo trade that saw Barako Bull lose Dylan Ababou.