A BLOCKBUSTER triple bill to be played in the country’s three major islands ushers in the 39th Philippine Basketball Association Season today with Barangay Ginebra and San Mig Coffee clashing to start the Philippine Cup eliminations at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Simple opening rites will also be held at the Big Dome with four other teams— Air21, Barako Bull, Globalport and Petron Blaze—joining the Gin Kings and the Mixers in the traditional parade of teams starting 2 p.m.
After that, it will be a simultaneous tip-off at the Cebu Coliseum where Meralco clashes with defending champion Talk ‘N Text at 3 p.m. Rain or Shine and Alaska clash at the USEP gym in Davao at 5:15 p.m.
This will be the first time that a season will open this way, a far departure from the usual one-game schedule. Another innovation is the four-day-a-week schedule as the league has added Saturday to its usual Wednesday, Friday and Sunday playdates.
Talk ‘N Text is seeking to win this tournament for an unprecedented fourth straight year with a lineup that still has the nucleus of the Gilas-Pilipinas squad.
Ginebra and San Mig got the first two picks in the Annual Draft, and it would be interesting to see how No. 1 Greg Slaughter, the 7-footer from Ateneo, and second choice Ian Sangalang can measure up to the veterans.
Still, it will be a show of Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio at Ginebra, while two-time MVP James Yap is still expected to carry the scoring load for the Mixers, with Sangalang likely to come in as a relief at the middle.
Slaughter will try to fill a position that Ginebra has wanted so direly in the past. Though Slaughter is not in the mold of an Asi Taulava or an Eric Menk, he has also shown the willingness to slug it out underneath.
“I would have liked to give more time for the rookies to practice with us,” said San Mig coach Tim Cone, who is eyeing a record 16th championship.