PBA takes wait-and-see stance

The Philippine Basketball Association will study the framework of the proposed Philippine basketball super body before eventually deciding whether to join it or not.

The PBA board of governors made this stand in a special meeting last night in preparation for the second round of talks among the "convenors group" discussing the possible creation of the super body that would take an active role in improving the state of Philippine basketball.

"The board wants to assess the situation first. We don’t want politics. That’s the last thing we would indulge in. So we’re not closing nor opening our door for the super body," said PBA board chair Buddy Encarnado.

In a separate interview, PBA commissioner Noli Eala said the board wants assurance they would not be dragged into some sort of personality clash among key cage officials but rather on principle of unifying basketball in the country.

"The PBA should not be playing politics and should not give blessing on personalities. If we join the super body, it should be based on principles," Eala pointed out.

Meanwhile, FedEx, which has just hired a coaching consultant in multi-titled mentor Joe Lipa, hopes to finally get over the hump as it takes on Alaska Milk at the resumption of the Gran Matador PBA Fiesta Conference at the Araneta Coliseum today.

Alvin Jefferson will be playing his last game as FedEx import since his replacement Mike Maddox has flown in although the team is still working on his playing license. The 27-year-old Maddox, a product of Georgia Tech, is fresh from his stint with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese league.

Lipa, the current mentor of the RP junior men’s team, made his first appearance in FedEx’s practice yesterday morning at the Makati Coliseum.

Sta. Lucia Realty, on the other hand, is tackling Talk n Text in its first outing since its sorry loss to Purefoods in their match Saturday marred by the ejection of coach Alfrancis Chua in the closing seconds.

Chua hit the ball in possession of referee Joey Calungcaguin with the ball slamming the face of the game official in questioning a crucial call. He was heavily fined for it.

But Chua said he didn’t mean to hurt Calungcaguin as he just wanted to vent his frustrations on the ball. In reviewing the game tape, Chua said he saw no less than 19 wrong calls going against them.

"May limang out-of-bounds sa harap namin na ibinigay sa Purefoods. Lahat siya (Calungcaguin) ang tumawag," said Chua.