Ten-month PBA season 46 eyed

MANILA, Philippines, March 11 ------ The PBA sets out to bring a whole lot of basketball in 2021, eyeing two conferences over a 10-month period after managing to do a solitary bubble tourney last year. PBA chairman Ricky Vargas of TNT said the pro league is looking forward to staging the centerpiece Philippine Cup plus the import-flavored Governors’ Cup for Season 46 under a semi-bubble or closed circuit setup. The All-Filipino will run for four months and the Governors’ Cup, featuring a double round-robin format with foreign reinforcements standing 6-foot-5, six. “It is our hope we’ll be able to bring 10 months of basketball to the Philippines starting April 11,” Vargas said after the PBA board of governors’ two-day planning session.

The PBA has a pending request with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for its 2021 activities. It is optimistic ground situations will vastly improve to allow the games under non-bubble setup, especially with vaccines being rolled out. “We’re looking good despite the challenges in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020 where financials were hit. If we do this right this season, we’ll be able to recover our financial standing. If not equal to, a little lower than what we experienced in 2019,” said Vargas. Simultaneously, the PBA is launching its standalone 3x3 league. To be played Fridays and Saturdays, PBA 3x3 will have three conferences composed of six legs and one grand finals each.

The PBA’s own vaccination program got a big boost as PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan is donating 3,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID 19 vaccines for the players and their dependents. “For that, we are very grateful to Mr. MVP for looking after the welfare of players of all teams and their dependents,” said PBA vice chair Bobby Rosales of Terrafirma.

Meanwhile, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president and Meralco governor Al Panlilio said Gilas Pilipinas won’t be tapping PBA stalwarts for the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers and FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in June and July. He said the squad will stick to the cadets who will train longer. “If we really want (Gilas) to start training as early as this month and the PBA will start in April, and this (Gilas campaign will) go all the way to July 4, it will completely disrupt the calendar of the PBA,” he said.

Source: sports.inquirer.net