PBA bares 2014 Philippine Cup schedule
GREG Slaughter and Junemar Fajardo
INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — The PBA on Wednesday released its schedule of the coming PLDT-DSL 2014 Philippine Cup.
And apart from its unprecedented three-game in three cities opening day on November 17, mark your calendars for some of the marquee match-ups avid basketball fans surely wouldn’t want to miss.
A rematch between Petron Blaze and San Mig Coffee, two teams that went toe-to-toe in the recently-concluded PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, meet for the first time since the Mixers outlasted the Boosters in seven games last October on November 27.
The Mixers and Alaska Aces renew their rivalry in the main game on November 22 while the Boosters take on Talk ‘N Text a day after.
But perhaps the most awaited battle this 39th season is between Petron Blaze and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, featuring the two giants Junemar Fajardo of the Boosters against Greg Slaughter of the Kings on Christmas Day.
The six-foot-10 Fajardo has become one of the elite big men in the league after his sterling Finals performance and he will be put to the test when he meets someone of his own size in the seven-foot Slaughter, the top overall selection in last Sunday’s Rookie Draft, as both take their college rivalry in Cebu to the pros.
Another interesting team to look out for is the new-look GlobalPort, which made the most off-season moves among the 10 teams.
The Batang Pier drafted UAAP stars RR Garcia, Terrence Romeo and Nico Salva before trading for another UAAP cager in Justin Chua and acquiring veteran big man Enrico Villanueva from Barako Bull.
The newest PBA season unfolds with three games with each game to be played in a different city.
After an elaborate opening ceremony, Barangay Ginebra and San Mig Coffee clashes at the Smart Araneta Coliseum at 3pm with Meralco tangling with TNT simultaneously played at the Cebu Coliseum. The other opening day game featuring Alaska and Rain or Shine, which will be parading no.3 pick Raymond Almazan, will be at 5:15pm in Davao.
