If this was anywhere between 2005 to 2010, the current PBA season would
be over. But since one of the country’s national mottos is “Bola muna bago dro…” …er, I mean “We can’t get enough of
basketball” (yeah, I’m making this one up), the PBA will give us the Governor’s
Cup in just a few days.
But imagine having this kind of third conference for the PBA.
The 12 teams will be divided into four groups, with the top four teams
with aggregate win-loss record of the two conferences having their spot in each
group. The other eight will be determined by draw lots. In the first round Groups
A, B, C, and D will play a single round robin among their groupmates. The top two
teams of each Groups A and B will form Group E, and same will happen with Groups
C and D to form Group F. In the second round the teams will carry over their
standings from the first round excluding the game they played against the
eliminated team and play another single round robin among their groupmates
except for their groupmate in the first round. The top team in Groups E and F
will advance to the semifinals. The second and third placers in each group will
advance to a crossover knockout quarterfinals match. Single elimination in the
playoffs to determine the champion of this third conference.
Imagine… Groups A and B will play their first round games in Pangasinan
on the first week in a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Groups C and D will play
their first round games in Cagayan De Oro on the second week in a Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday as well. Let’s go some other place like Quezon province for
the second round, with doubleheaders scheduled on Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. Then let’s have the final round, let’s say, in Cebu, with the
quarterfinals on Friday, semifinals on Saturday, and Finals on Sunday. That’s a
total of 25 games for 12 teams for us to have a champion, with all games played
outside Metro Manila. It will also take only four weekends to finish this
conference.
For one, this I think is one of the best way the PBA can reach to farther
areas where they can only afford to watch the best basketball in the country
thru television. Plus, all these games would have so much meaning because it is
just a short conference, in comparison with random Saturday out of town games
where it falls right smack in middle of the elimination round where indeed it
would feel so random. With this, the fans would expect an all-out performance
from the players, thus a great weekend of high-level basketball for the fans of
the host city. With proper marketing, three or four-day sellouts on the venues
is almost a guarantee.
Next, this will give the teams who are great in starting strong in a
conference. The eventual champion will only play a maximum of seven games and a
two-game losing streak to start the conference means you are out of the title
contention. Take for instance the Columbian Dyip; they were 2-1 at the start of
the Commissioner’s Cup. That win-loss record could be enough to merit them a
spot in the quarterfinals. Another example is the recent Commissioner’s Cup
champion Brgy. Ginebra, who had a really bad start in that conference. If they
have that same bad start in this imaginary conference and drop their two games
in the first round, they will be eliminated. Adapting a FIBA-style tournament
to these professional teams will present an equal opportunity to all of the
teams to win a championship. Imagine a universe where Blackwater Elite is
crowned a PBA Champion… this kind of conference will make it possible.
For the players, I’m pretty sure they will like this, so they can give
their bodies that much needed time to recover between conferences. No one will
complain about their tired bodies anymore because of too much basketball. This
will also enable the league to get some breathing space whenever they are going
on a break to make way for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
In short, let’s go back to the day where we have a couple of
conferences; the Philippine Cup, and the Fiesta Cup. For the sake of having a third
conference like we used to do ever since its creation in 1975, let’s have this
tournament. I’ll leave it up to them on what will they name it if ever they
found this one a good idea. I just laid down the format, and the potential
advantages it will bring. They are better on the details and all other stuff.
I just like to see this work. It’s a mere suggestion that I can give to
Philippine basketball.
#ParaSaBayan
---
Follow the writer on Twitter and Instagram: @sportscastengr
No comments:
Post a Comment