Marcial ecstatic as PBA PH Cup restart gets underway

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MANILA, Philippines — It took seven months but the PBA is officially back and no one was happier than commissioner Willie Marcial.

In a Zoom press conference, Marcial expressed his happiness seeing the players back on the floor for the league’s first official game since San Miguel defeated Magnolia on March 8.

“I already got goosebumps just seeing them warming up and doing some shooting,” said Marcial in Filipino as he watched TNT and Alaska prepare for the Philippine Cup’s first game since March.

“I can really say that the PBA is back.”

The PBA had to suspend its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic but found a way back after months of deliberation and cooperation with the Inter-Agency Task Force and Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Clark, Pampanga was eventually chosen as the league’s bubble venue with Angeles University Foundation gym as the venue for all games and the entire PBA delegation housed at Quest Hotel.

TNT and Alaska, too, did not disappoint with a game that displayed much of the physicality that the league has been accustomed too.

A total of 56 fouls were called including and an ejection on Tropang Giga center Poy Erram after hitting Aces forward Barkley Eboña on the back of the head.

“You all saw it. They were all going all out, diving for the ball, and they were going at it,” said Marcial. “Some people were saying that they’re just going to play in the hotel, but that’s not what the PBA is.”