SOLID GOLD
LAS VEGAS—The four-point shot will be retained, imports of unlimited height will play in one conference and faster play is expected, among others, when Season 50 of the PBA gets off the ground with the Philippine Cup starting Oct. 5.
Three titles will again be contested in the league’s landmark golden season as the league anticipates to have its most glorious year yet with a full field of 12 teams—albeit one of them expected to be a new one in time for tip-off at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“The theme being ‘Solid ang galing, Solid ang laban,’ our 50th Season will show that your PBA is solid than ever,” Ricky Vargas, the TNT representative elected to an unprecedented ninth straight time as board of governors chair, said.
“It’s a year-long celebration, but the main goal remains to entertain the fans with exciting games and make them happy,” Vargas added. “We will go around (the country and elsewhere) to bring the game closer to the fans.”
The league’s board of governors decided to retain the three-conference format with no big event in the international calendar, even as a day reserved for fans has been slated on Oct. 4 with practically the entire perimeter of the Big Dome as venue.
Taking the game closer to the fans will have the league traveling to as far as New York in the United States, Bahrain, Dubai, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, where the PBA has a huge Filipino following.
The game in the Big Apple will hopefully be played on the Philippiones’ Independence Day next year, at around the time the Governors’ Cup is being played where reinforcements without a height limit can be tapped by each team.
The Commissioner’s Cup will have imports standing no more than 6-foot-6 seeing action, even as several tweaks in the rules will be applied to speed up play—and the conferences, too, as there will be no more playoff for teams tied at No. 8 heading into the quarterfinals.
There is also the possibility of foreign teams playing in either import-spiced tournament, with the Macau Black Bears and Hong Kong Eastern already sending feelers.
Members of the board made the trip to Sin City to plot the path the league will take in its 50th year, retaining Vargas as chair and Alfrancis Chua as vice-chair before also giving Willie Marcial a ninth term as commissioner.
The season will run well into December next year, with the Draft to be held in January to be able to accommodate as many collegiate standouts as possible, unlike this year when the UAAP is just about to start its season.
