IT’S all systems go for the PBA’s season-opening Philippine Cup tomorrow at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The PBA yesterday released the full elimination round schedule after the swab tests on all teams and league personnel the other day yielded negative results.
Alaska meets Blackwater, Rain or Shine takes on NLEX, and Meralco and NorthPort face off in the league’s inaugural games kicking off the 46th season that has been put on hold since its initial target kickoff date of mid-April.
The rest of the weekend schedule pits TNT against Terrafirma and Magnolia versus Phoenix Super LPG on Saturday while Sunday’s matches see San Miguel Beer colliding with Meralco, defending champion Ginebra getting challenged by NLEX, and the Elasto Painters meeting the Bossing.
The schedule could still be subject to changes, like what happened in last year’s Philippine Cup bubble disrupted when a game official and some players tested positive in the course of the tourney.
It’s the main reason everybody concerned should keep their guards up, stressed Commissioner Willie Marcial.
“Kailangan lahat ng protocols natin sundin to the letter dahil kapag nagka-aberya, knock on wood, baka mapatigil tayo o mahinto ng tuluyan,” he said.
Marcial admitted that he agreed to release the full eliminations schedule just to accommodate the numerous calls his office keeps receiving since it was announced last Friday that the PBA would finally be commencing.
“Maraming nagtatanong, mainly tungkol sa schedule kaya sa halip na first week pa lang ipinalabas ko na lahat,” related Marcial. “Saka na lang tayo mag-karambulan pag nagka-problema.”
The closed-circuit routine of home-venue-home must also be followed by everybody, including the small group of media personnel who also underwent testing before being allowed to cover the games first hand.
Only one thing remains to be ironed out, and that is getting permission for the teams to conduct their practices, mainly held in the provinces since mid-May, in their usual facilities within Metro Manila.
“Pag nagsimula na tayo, aayusin ko na iyon, na kung puwede na tayong mag-practice dito sa Metro,” said Marcial, who was set to make such a request to the IATF later yesterday.
As it is, everybody in the PBA is just elated and grateful that the season would finally get underway.
The single round eliminations run until Aug. 27 with the top two teams getting rewarded with a twice-to-beat advantage against Nos. 8 and 7, respectively, in the quarterfinals. The remaining four teams engage in best-of-three tiffs.
Marcial has said that should there be any disruptions leading to postponement of some games, his primary option is to hold daily games so the tournament would hit its early or mid-October finish.
“Hindi natin masabi, baka may ma-tsambahan, kaya kailangang mag-ipon ng puhunang mga araw para matapos tayo on schedule,” explained Marcial. “After that, mga one week na pahinga lang umpisa na ulit tayo ng second conference.”
Marcial added that just a little less than 200 persons will be allowed inside the venue during game days, while maximum team personnel allowed on the bench is now at 27 from the previous 25 during the Clark bubble last year.
