PBA Looking to Retain Philippine Cup Format with Slight Changes

Nope. We won't be seeing June Mar Fajardo back this year but yes, we're going to see PBA come back to our lives soon. It's still the question of when. It's also the question of how as the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has already taken six months away from us which means time isn't a luxury for everybody. That is why the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is trying everything within its charter to salvage an All-Filipino conference for the league's 45th season which they hope can happen in October. 

PBA teams have already started holding limited training after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases gave the league the go-signal. The league is also hoping that the national government will also allow teams to hold scrimmages this month. While they are still looking for a venue that will host the "bubble"- similar to what the National Basketball Association (NBA) has done inside the house Mickey Mouse in Orlando, the PBA isn't looking to make any significant change in the format for the already compressed Philippine Cup. As PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial said, "I think we can no longer change the format (of the conference). It's the same but we might increase the numbers of game days. It can be four or five times a week, or a doubleheader or tripleheader (per day)."

Also set to be discussed in the board meeting next week is the possibility of changing the number of games in the semifinals and the finals from a best-of-seven to a best-of-five. 

The PBA commissioner also pointed out that it would be unfair for team owners who sacrificed a lot of money during these trying times if their players would only get four or five games' worth of exposure if the league changed the format of the conference. "If you're a team owner, you're paying the whole team for a year and yet, your exposure will be five games. It's not worth it" Marcial explained. "If possible, the more (games), the better. It shouldn't be short so that it's already finished. We want the other teams to be exposed," he concluded.

There are convincing and discussions that needed to be done between the PBA, the team owners, and the national government before the league can restart its 45th season. It's the question of how, when, and where. 

Photo is from The Manila Times