Reboot starts

The excitement is palpable at Quest Hotel here in Clark Freeport as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) forges ahead with its ambitious plan of resuscitating its stalled 45th season.

And on Sunday, two teams heavily favored to topple a vulnerable defending champion and another squad declaring its intention to “win it all,” will kick off a compressed Philippine Cup, a tournament that will be played inside a heavily fortified environment at Angeles University Foundation (AUF).

“We’re blessed to be in this position,” TNT’s Bong Ravena told the Inquirer on Saturday, shortly after watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Quest’s café.

Quest serves as one of two carefully constructed bubbles dedicated to the PBA restart after the league ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The other, a 15-minute ride away, is AUF, where games will be played.

Circling sharks

With June Mar Fajardo (right) out due to an injury, several teams feel defending champion San Miguel Beer is vulnerable in the Philippine Cup. Among the teams favored to topple the Beermen? TNT and its newly acquired big man, Poy Erram (left). —SHERWIN VARDELEON

Ravena’s Tropang Giga is one of the squads touted to end defending champion San Miguel Beer’s stranglehold of the all-Filipino tournament. The Beermen have won the last five editions of the league’s most prestigious conference. But with six-time MVP June Mar Fajardo rehabilitating a surgically repaired leg and not in roster, they look vulnerable—and the sharks are starting to circle.

“We have business to take care of,” said Ravena, whose wards kick off the restart when they tangle with Alaska at 4 p.m.

After crafty offseason maneuverings, the Tropang Giga landed center Poy Erram, a defensive whiz who completes a starting unit of ex-national team members. Erram joins fellow Gilas Pilipinas players Troy Rosario, Jayson Castro, Ray Parks Jr. and RR Pogoy. And to underscore the seriousness by which TNT is pursuing the crown, Rosario packed enough clothes to last him two months—the amount of time a team competing for the trophy will have to stay in the bubble.

The other serious threat is Barangay Ginebra, which plays NLEX in the second game. But Gin Kings coach Tim Cone is still in the process of whipping his team into competitive shape.

“We’re a little bit more concerned about preparing purselves rather than preparations for NLEX at this point,” Cone said. “Just the day before the game (on Sunday) is the time that we’re getting LA (Tenorio) and Japeth (Aguilar) back into the lineup, so we don’t know if we’ll get contributions from them in our first game.”

“But we certainly have guys who can step and fill the void, so that’s who we’ll go with,” added Cone. “One thing’s for sure, everybody is excited to play again.”

And everybody is eager to get his hands on the trophy, favorites or not.

“Our goal is to be in this bubble and win it all. That is what we’re striving for. No ifs and buts about it,” Alaska mentor Jeff Cariaso said as he prepares his team for an explosive test in TNT.

Training bubble

The Tropang Giga have the decided advantage in that showdown, not just because of their talent glut. TNT also managed to cobble up a training bubble the moment they were allowed to by government authorities.

“[The bubble training] gives us an advantage. Especially mentally, because we now know how to adjust [here],” Ravena said. “But it may not really be that big of an edge. Other teams have been here for almost two weeks now.”

The situation will be unique for the teams and players. Everything that happens right from the first tip-off will be a first. In that sense, everyone’s a rookie. How will isolation from families and loved ones affect performance? Will the battery of required tests and the anxiety of waiting for results take a mental toll? Can a crowd-adored squad like Barangay Ginebra thrive in an empty gym? Will players be able to hold up emotionally with the stringent scrutiny?

“I feel like everybody’s just waiting for their first games. Once the games start, we’ll have a better picture of things. We’re talking about teams who have bottled things up. So the first game, really, is a release,” Ravena said. “[On Sunday], we’ll know where we’re at. It will be an exciting and very important game for us.”