FILE–Gilas Pilipinas celebrates after beating Saudi Arabia in the fifth window of the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Photo by Fiba
With Gilas Pilipinas’ goal of winning back the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold in mind, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) decided to make sure that season-ending Governors’ Cup will be held as quick as possible.
The league penciled the start of the new conference on Sunday at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, with majority of the eliminations to be held five playdates a week.
A champion could be crowned by April before the PBA allows some of its players to be tapped for the regional meet in Cambodia.
Gilas is hungry to retain supremacy in the event which in the past was considered as a cakewalk.
Last year saw Gilas suffer a stunning loss to Indonesia for the gold, ending a 33-year SEA Games dominance.
Some weeks will see the league hold less than five doubleheaders for various reasons.
Only four twinbills are slated for the period of Feb. 22 to 26 due to Gilas’ stint in the final window of the Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cup Asian Qualifiers. The national cagers are scheduled to host Lebanon and Jordan at Philippine Arena.
There will be a one-week lull between March 8 and 15 due to the All-Star Weekend which Passi City in Iloilo is likely to host.
A full slate of games was released on Tuesday, with the eliminations to end on March 17.