PBL opens shop with 8 teams

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) enters its new season on Feb. 16 with eight competitive teams and a promise that the country’s oldest amateur league is here to stay.

Commissioner Chino Trinidad said this during yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Avenue as he aired confidence that the coming tournament, known as the PG Flex-UK Derm Open Conference, will be as good and exciting as the previous tournaments.

The PBL faced a very difficult challenge last year with old teams taking a leave of absence due to various reasons but Trinidad said it only opened the doors to other commercial and school-based teams that have long wanted in.

“The PBL has always weathered any crisis that came its way. As long as you see people who want to fuel the league, then the tradition continues,” said Trinidad, who’s in his 10th year as commissioner.

Trinidad took his hat off to Paccual Laboratories owner Jappy Pascual who is fielding two teams this season, saying it was the young and vibrant executive who encouraged him to “keep the faith” and push on.

“It’s a huge sacrifice on the part of people like Jappy Pascual fielding two teams. The support he’s showed to the PBL is so intense. And after the uncertainty, we’re glad that the PBL is ready to open a new season,” Trinidad said.

“As long as we have people who share the common passion of helping Philippine amateur basketball, it’s not impossible to bring back the glory days of the PBL. We will continue with the tradition,” Trinidad said.

The commissioner assured everybody, particularly the new teams, that the PBL board is “working on something that is bigger than the PBL itself.”

He asked all the PBL partners to “forget what has happened in the past.”

Games will be played Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and the PBL is bound to return to its old home, the Makati Coliseum. Games will be aired by Solar Sport’s Basketball TV on Sky Cable’s Channel 71.