MANILA: Someone may have called Manny Pacquiao a joke as a professional basketball player, but the same cannot be said of his KIA Motors crew.

The Carnival posted another mammoth reversal on Wednesday night when they chopped down Talk 'N Text, 106-103, after coming back from 17 points down that had KIA enhancing its playoff chances in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Pacquiao did not impress — as usual — on the court, winding up scoreless, but the Carnival were so inspired by the near triple double performance of 7-foot-3 import PJ Ramos that they climbed to a 3-4 record overall.

Ramos scored 24 points, had 25 rebounds and nine assists in a mammoth effort befitting his mammoth frame as the Carnival brought down another league heavyweight after also scoring victories over defending champion Purefoods and San Miguel Beer.

“This is the result of all the sacrifices we have put in during training,” a proud Pacquiao, registered as the head coach who defers to Chito Victolero during game situations, told reporters shorty after the franchise’s fourth victory.

Leo Avenido and Hyram Bagatsing shone in the stretch for the Carnival, who now have a large lead in their head-to-head race with fellow newcomer Blackwater Elite.

Bagatsing finished with 21 points built around six triple conversions, and the Carnival, as a team, wound up with 18 triples for the night that tied the season mark held, ironically enough, by the Tropang Texters.

Avenido, the veteran called out of semi-retirement for another shot at the pros, and Bagatsing hit consecutive triples that had the Carnivals zooming to a 105-98 lead.

“We now have the confidence to keep on playing the top teams,” added Pacquiao, who is slated to slug it out with undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 in what will be the richest fight the world has ever seen in Las Vegas.

Pacquiao played almost seven minutes in the second quarter and missed the only two attempts that he took.

After being able to play several games since the season opened last Oct. 19 before 52,000-plus people at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, it is now clear that Pacquiao doesn’t have the basketball talent to become a dominating force in the PBA.

His mediocre performance that came in a winning game against Purefoods more than two weeks ago had import Daniel Orton calling him a ‘joke’ in interviews with several sports websites.

That comment didn’t escape the attention of the Commissioner’s Office, who readily fined him P250,000 before the Star Hotshots sacked Orton and brought back former Best Import Denzel Bowles.

Pacquiao hinted that he might play his last game on Saturday before flying to the United States to start his eight-week camp for the Mayweather fight, where the Filipino ring icon stands to earn no less than $80 million out of the $200 million purse.

Meanwhile, the league’s board of governors will meet in a special capacity on Thursday to discuss the criteria it will use in selecting the man who will succeed Chito Salud as the next commissioner.

Salud announced that he would be stepping down at the end of the season in July, which was accepted by the board.

Several names have cropped up as a possible replacement, but it is futile at this point for any of the teams to announce their favored candidates with the criteria yet to come out.

Under Salud, the league blossomed to an all-time high roster of 12 teams with the entry of KIA and Blackwater at the start of the season.

Also under Salud’s reins, the league accepted Meralco and NLEX as members after having bought the franchises of Sta. Lucia in 2010 and Air21 last year, respectively.