With mental health in mind, coaches bat for shortened PBA conference in bubble

FILE – NLEX head coach Yeng Guiao. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Head coaches Yeng Guiao of NLEX and Louie Alas of Phoenix think that a shortened season is ideal for the PBA’s planned season restart and part of that is to make sure that the players and coaches’ mental health are kept in top shape.

The PBA is hellbent on pushing through with its season resumption later this year with a bubble conference seriously being considered.

“You have to be in a bubble for three to four months? The players, especially the coaches will go crazy,” said Guiao in Filipino in a story on PBA.ph.

Alas echoed Guiao’s statements saying that being inside a confined environment for an extended period may lead to cabin fever.

The PBA version of the bubble will be similar to the NBA’s setup at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, where NBA players get to play golf, go fishing and other activities inside the campus-like environment.

“A shortened conference is ideal because the longer we stay, the more we have to consider the mental health of those inside the bubble,” said Alas in Filipino. “You’re stuck in your hotel then you’ll go out for games and go back to your room after. The NBA has leisure activities so they can last for three months.”

Guiao and Alas also look at Smart Araneta Coliseum as the most viable venue for games with the Big Dome just a few steps away from a hotel.