2015–16 PBA Philippine Cup
The 2015–16 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup, also known as the 2015–16 SmartBRO-PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2015–16 PBA season. The tournament started on October 21, 2015 and was finished on February 3, 2016. The tournament did not allow teams to hire foreign players or imports. Format. The following format was observed for the duration of the conference: Quarterfinals. First phase. In this round, the higher-seeded team in the series has the twice-to-beat advantage. Second phase. This is a one-game playoff. The winner  advances to the semifinals. Section::::(4) Barangay Ginebra vs. (5) GlobalPort. In the final 8 seconds of overtime period of the knockout quarterfinal game between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and GlobalPort Batang Pier, review showed that Stanley Pringle held the ball for over 5 seconds, which would have resulted in a five-second ball-hogging violation, but no call was made. After the final buzzer, the Batang Pier already went to the dugout, but Ginebra stayed behind. Ginebra fans, which were more than half of the crowd, were left stunned along with players and the Ginebra coaching staff. Head coach Tim  Cone immediately went to center court and pleaded with the referees for a call or a review of the final 8-second possession of Globalport. He then went to the scorer's table and signed the official scorecard, signifying the team's intent to file a protest with the game's result. He stayed mum after coming out of the dugout on whether they would actually file a protest. Under the league's rules, Barangay Ginebra had until 12 noon of December 28, 2015 to file a letter of protest together with a bond, which requires a minimum of P20,000 . Some fans who waited by the players exit booed and threw coins at the car of GlobalPort forward Jay Washington, who left the venue with his family. Security struggled to control the mob of angry fans. When the car started to leave, Washington opened the window and shouted, "Better luck next conference!" to the crowd. A day after, Barangay Ginebra did not send a formal protest to the PBA office as the 12 noon deadline lapsed. Commissioner Chito Narvasa said that the league summoned the four referees of the Ginebra-GlobalPort game, Edward Aquino, Rommel Gruta, Mardy Montoya and Bing  Oliva, on December 29 and re-evaluated their performance during the quarterfinal game. According to the findings of the PBA technical committee, two violations were not called: the five-second ball-hogging violation and the backcourt violation committed by Stanley Pringle. Referees Edward Aquino and Rommel Gruta were therefore suspended for the rest of the Philippine Cup. Semifinals. This is a best-of-seven round. The winner advances to the finals. Section::::(2) San Miguel vs. (3) Rain or Shine. The two-time PBA MVP Fajardo had shrugs off hard fouls by different Rain or Shine players had had given him  a "hard life" as promised until game 6 wherein he finally fell down and injured his left knee (torn ACL) because of a hard box-out play by Rain or Shine forward Jireh Ibañes. Fajardo, who was wincing in pain, had to be stretchered out off the playing court at the 7:11 mark of the third and was later brought to St. Luke's Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. After the game, Ibañes says he meant no harm against Fajardo. The injury had not only put a damper on San Miguel's return to the finals but also  to Gilas Pilipinas 2016 Olympic qualifiers as he had to sit out for the rest of the season because of a torn ACL.