The Philippine Basketball Association opens its 36th season on October
3 with a certified blockbuster pitting crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra
Kings against rookie team Meralco .
Bolts.
The lone encounter is scheduled for 6 o’clock at the Araneta Coliseum
following the 4:15 p.m. opening ceremonies.
Defending All-Philippine Cup champion B-Meg Derby Ace makes its debut
on Oct. 6 against Talk N’ Text, which made key player trades during
the off season.
The Llamados-Tropang Texters game comes off at 7:30 p.m. after the 5
p.m. match between Rain or Shine and Powerade (formerly Coca-Cola) –
two teams that are expected to make some noise in the league’s first
conference.
Defending Fiesta Cup titlist Alaska takes its turn on Oct. 8 when it
battles Barako Bull at 5 o’clock. On that same day, San Miguel Beer
also opens its campaign against new-look Air 21, powered by top two
rookie picks Noy Baclao and Rabeh Al-Hussaini.
“We have a lot of fresh talents coming in this season and a new team
in Meralco. So I am very sure the games will very thrilling and
exciting,” said league Commissioner Chito Salud.
The league’s first road game has been scheduled on Oct. 9 pitting
Powerade against Barangay Ginebra in Batangas City.
The PBA Commissioner’s Office has released playdates for the first two
weeks of October. The rest of the schedule are as follows: Oct. 10
(Cuneta Astrodome) Meralco vs Barako Bull, TNT vs SMB; Oct. 13
(Araneta Coliseum) Air 21 vs ROS; Derby Ace vs Alaska; Oct. 15 (Cuneta
Astrodome) Alaska vs ROS, Meralco vs TNT; Oct. 16 (Naga City) Derby
Ace vs Air 21 and Oct. 17 (Araneta Coliseum) Barako Bull vs Powerade;
SMB vs Barangay Ginebra.
Tournament format will be inter-intra meaning the 10 teams will be
divided into two groups. Teams in the same group play each other once
while playing teams in the opposite group twice.
Bracketed it Group A are Alaska, Barangay Ginebra; TNT, Meralco and
Air 21. In Group B are Derby Ace; SMB; ROS; Powerade and Barako Bull.
The last two teams after the classification round will be eliminated.
The quarterfinals will pit No.1 vs No. 8 and No.2 vs No.7 with the top
two seeds enjoying a twice to beat advantage. The games between No. 3
v No.6 and No.4 vs No.5 will be a best-of-three affair.
Winners if the quarterfinals will advance to the best-of-seven
semifinals. (pr)
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