MPBL looking for PBA with the bubble options as Jinggoy offers Tanay venue

The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League is dead serious in finishing the Lakan Season, which had been suspended for the past six months owing to the coronavirus pandemic that locked down and locked out the sports scene in the country.

This was bared Tuesday in the PSA Forum by commissioner Kenneth Duremdes where no less than Manny Pacquiao sending a marching order that the season will have to be concluded in any way possible.

"Our (MPBL) founder, Senator Manny Pacquiao, said it’s a must for us to finish the national finals of the Lakan Season,” he said.

March 11 marked the most recent playdate of the MPBL, with both Makati and Davao Occidental forced a winner-take-all showdown for their respective division championships, with the former dealing defending National champs San Juan its first-ever home loss in their Northern showdown that was played behind closed doors at the FilOil FlyingV Centre.

In contrast, the Tigers silenced the full house in Lamitan as their Southern shootout with Basilan also went the distance.

However, the MPBL will have to wait for a little longer to resume just even the smallest of the training sessions, with lack of professional nod from the Games and Amusements Board kept them from resuming.

The GAB status, in which the Philippine Basketball Association, the Philippines Football League and recently the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 and the National Basketball League, was the primary reason why they are now given the go signal for their practices.

Yet even without it, Captain Marbel is keen on looking at the PBA and the NBA on drafting their own "bubble" for the conclusion of the season, in which they are looking to play for at most seven games, including the five-game National Finals, alongside the two sudden-death games for the North and South titles.

Although it was just on its infancy, Duremdes said that on paper, the plan was just as easy with the first pair of games was just a virtual knockout affair with either of the Knights, Skyscrapers, Tigers and Steel going home right away.

"It's easy for us to set up a bubble-type tournament," he said, as they will follow the protocols set by the national government should be given the nod. "On the first day pa lang, may matatanggal na."

As of this writing, it has been confirmed that the PBA will resume on October 9, with Clark being selected as the preferred venue for its resumption.

Duremdes bared that a lot of offers have been presented to them for their "bubble" venue, and one of those that they are seriously considering is a private resort which was a property of Knights' principal owner Jinggoy Estrada, which was located in Tanay, Rizal.

"It's fit for us also dahil may gym, may mga guest rooms. Fit for four teams," he added, noting that its location in the mountains makes it a perfect fit for its set up, which to him it will be easy to control.

"Parang fit siya for a bubble, dahil it's a private property. Ang isang concern na lang sakin yung shot-clock. We just need to go there and inspect there."

Apart from the venue, the MPBL is looking to go online for the rest of the season, in which it was one of the major casualties of the ABS-CBN shutdown.

However, nothing has been set in stone since they have a longer road to be given the go-ahead, but the former Adamson stalwart and PBA MVP admitted that their plan to finish the Lakan Season is a challenging one.

"You have to be careful because if you fail, the government will might the plug not just on basketball but the other sports as well."

Photo: Harold Biado/San Juan Knights (FILE)