The 2011 PBA D-League Foundation Cup is the inaugural tournament of the PBA Developmental League.
Format
The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference: The teams were divided into 2 groups.
Group A: NLEX Road Warriors Freego Jeans RnW Pacific Pipes Black Water Elite Pharex Naproxen Sodium Bidang Generix PC Gilmore Wizards
Group B: Maynilad Water Dragons Junior Powerade Tigers Max! Bond Super Glue Sumos Cobra Energy Drink Iron Men Cafe France Bakers Cebuana Lhuillier Gems FCA Cultivators
Teams in a group will play against each other once, Group A will play an extra game, the pairings of which will be decided by lottery; 6 games per team; Teams are then seeded by basis on win–loss records. Ties are broken among point differentials of the tied teams. The top two teams of each group will advance to the semifinals while the next four teams of each group will qualify to the quarterfinals. The two bottom-ranked teams in Group B will play a knockout game for the last playoff spot. Quarterfinal phase (knockout games): first round Q1: A3 vs. B6 Q2: A4 vs. B5 Q3: B3 vs. A6 Q4: B4 vs. A5 second round Q5: A1 vs. Q4 Q6: A2 vs. Q3 Q7: B1 vs. Q2 Q8: B2 vs. Q1 Semifinals (knockout games): SFA: Q5 vs. Q8 SFB: Q6 vs. Q7 Best-of-three Finals: winners of the semifinals.
Elimination round
Playoff round
The top two teams of each group will be automatically in the quarter-finals second round. But, in group B, there are seven teams. So, the two teams who are in the lowest standings will be battle for the knockout stage. It will be Junior Powerade Tigers and the Cafe France.
From Quarter-finals to Semi-finals the game is always knockout. But in the finals, it is best of 3 series.