MANILA, Philippines - With signs of an upsurge in fan interest evident, the PBA opened its 38th season at the Smart Araneta Coliseum yesterday on the way to a renaissance of the golden era that marked the early boom years of Asia’s first play-for-pay league.
Commissioner Chito Salud said he’s determined to pursue parity as the ultimate goal in providing the fans with a competitive balance that will guarantee every game to be exciting, unpredictable and entertaining.
Since taking over the PBA helm two years back, Salud has guided the league to unprecedented heights. Last season, the PBA generated gross sales of P114 million, the highest ever, and attendance zoomed to 7,300 a game, boosted by an average of 16,400 in the 7-game Commissioner’s Cup Finals between Talk ‘N’ Text and B-Meg. In Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals, attendance went up to 21,046 and in Game 7 of the Governors Cup Finals between B-Meg and Rain Or Shine, the audience was 21,853. TV ratings also soared to 9.2 percent viewership from 6.8 the previous year and Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals registered 27.4 percent.
“Our objective is to sustain the gains we’ve achieved over the last two years,” said Salud. “We want to give back to our fans by being conscious of our responsibility to deliver quality and exciting games. We want our players to be aware of being role models for our youth. We will insist on proper decorum on and off the court, impressing on our players the values of an outstanding athlete. We won’t hesitate to weed out players who cross the boundary. We won’t tolerate roughhousing and dirty tactics but we encourage tough and gutsy play anchored on hard work, integrity and sportsmanship. Our theme is focused on fan engagement, a take-off from our slogan ‘Kampihan Na.’ We’re using the tribal names of our teams so fans identify with Petroniverse, Barangay Ginebra, TNT Nation, Gatas Republik for Alaska, Barako Brigade, Bansang Meralco, Bayan Ng Rain Or Shine, San Mig Coffee Planet, Ube Republic for Air 21 and Batang Pier for Global Port.”
Salud said the officiating philosophy remains uncompromising. “We’re calling fouls only when there is clear and obvious contact,” he said. “Our referees won’t interrupt the flow of the game.”
PBA supervisor of officials Ramil Cruz said in reviewing the rule guidelines of the new season, there was no debate in the coaches conference last week. Attending the meeting were Rain Or Shine’s Yeng Guiao, Petron’s Olsen Racela, Ginebra’s Siot Tanquingcen, Air 21’s Franz Pumaren, Barako’s Bong Ramos (for Junel Baculi), Global Port’s Ricky Dandan (for Glenn Capacio), Meralco’s Patrick Fran (for Ryan Gregorio), Alaska’s Monch Gavieres (for Luigi Trillo) and Talk ‘N’ Text’s Sandy Arrespacochaga (for Norman Black). San Mig Coffee was not represented. “We went through situations like delay-of-game calls on contact with the ball after a basket, fouls to give in the last two minutes and the new rule on allowing a player to slide with possession in diving for a loose ball,” said Cruz. “We also talked about allowing only head coaches and first assistant coaches to stand at the sideline during a game.”
The referees pool consists of 14 holdovers and two recruits. The holdovers are Art Herrera and Manolito Quilinguen in Class B-1, Peter Balao in Class B-2, Raymund Maurillo, Armando Guevarra, Jimmy Mariano and Sherwin Pineda in Class C-1 and Edward Aquino, Nestor Sambrano, Rodito Marabe, Francisco Olivar, Reynaldo Yante, Jess Ferrer and Emmanuel Tangkion in Class C-2. The newcomers are Rommel Gruta and Allan Balatucan. The roster was previously 22 and one by one, Salud struck out the low performers to wind up with an elite cast.
Salud said the league is slowly moving towards parity. “It won’t come overnight,” he said. “Of course, we’ve got the perennial favorites but I think we’re now more balanced than last year. Parity is now more pronounced. There are two sources of upgrading a roster – the draft and trades. That’s the reason why I hold authority to veto any trade because I want to ensure balance of competition. Last season, we saw three different teams win our three conferences, surely a sign of balance of power.”
As for the incoming rookies, Salud said the freshmen will definitely make an impact. “They may be low-key but I think this year’s batch is as good if not better than any previous batch,” he said. PBA special assistant to the commissioner Willie Marcial said from the pre-season games, it was clear that rookies made a statement. “Pagbagsak, tatayo kaagad, hindi nagpapaiwan, totoong palaban,” said Marcial referring to the 22 rookies making their debut this season. Expected to play major minutes as rookies are Meralco’s Cliff Hodge, Petron’s June Mar Fajardo, Ginebra’s Chris Ellis and Keith Jensen, San Mig Coffee’s Aldrech Ramos, Alaska’s Calvin Abueva, Barako’s Dave Marcelo, Global’s Vic Manuel and Jason Deutchman and Rain Or Shine’s Chris Tiu.
The season also welcomes 24 veterans switching teams, including Air 21’s Nonoy Baclao, Bonbon Custodio and KG Canaleta, Meralco’s Ronjay Buenafe, Carlo Sharma and Sunday Salvacion, Ginerba’s L. A. Tenorio, Alaska’s Nic Belasco, Eddie Laure, Jvee Casio and Dondon Hontiveros, Barako’s Josh Urbiztondo, Roger Yap, Sean Anthony, Jason Ballesteros and Enrico Villanueva, Global’s Marvin Cruz and Mark Yee, Petron’s Magi Sison and San Mig Coffee’s Chris Pacana.
Because of the influx of blue-chip rookies, several veterans were displaced and some opted to pursue theircareers elsewhere. Asi Taulava, Eric Menk, Paolo Hubalde, Rob Labagala and Hans Thiele are headed for the ABL. Gone are Don Allado (still serving his five-month suspension), Lordy Tugade, Francis Allera, James Martinez, Ricky Calimag, Al Vergara, Lou Gatumbato, Pong Escobal, Bryan Faundo, Dennis Daa, Japeth Aguilar (trying out for a spot in the NBA D-League), Mark Macapagal, Axel Doruelo and Hyram Bagatsing.
The Philippine Cup splits the teams into Group A made up of Air 21, Meralco, Petron, Ginebra and San Mig Coffee and Group B consisting of Alaska, Barako, Global Port, Rain Or Shine and Talk ‘N’ Text. Teams play groupmates once and squads in the other group twice during the eliminations. The last two elimination finishers are struck out and the top eight advance to the quarterfinals where No. 1 with a twice-to-beat advantage plays No. 8, No. 2 with a twice-to-beat advantage plays No. 7 and No. 3 faces No. 6 and No. 4 battles No. 5 in best-of-three series. Winners move on to meet in the best-of-seven semifinals on the way to the best-of-seven finals.
“In the quarterfinals, we’ll do two games every day and in the semifinals, we’ll do one game every day so the excitement really builds up,” said Marcial. “We experimented with the every day format last year and it was a big success. In the eliminations, we’ll play out-of-town games in Cebu, Digos, Lucena, Tubod, Victorias and for the first time, Dipolog.”
Marcial said he expects a breakout season. “In 10 years serving the PBA, it’s the first time we received ticket orders as early as over a month before the opening,” he said. “Usually, ticket orders come in one or two weeks before. It’s a good sign. We’ve even gotten an order of 96 tickets for priests from Batangas for the games on Oct. 26. I think the fans are excited to watch the rookies and the veterans in new teams.”
Source: http://www.philstar.com/thedeanscorner/articlescontent.aspx?articleid=854676&publicationsubcategoryid=69
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