By JONAS TERRADO
PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial bared that a shortened version of the halted Philippine Cup could now be a possibility if the league is able to resume as late as mid-October.
Marcial initially said that the Philippine Cup will only be held under its usual format of an 11-game elimination round, eight-team quarterfinals and best-of-seven semis and Finals.
But Marcial bared that deputy commissioner Eric Castro has already laid out the possibilities of a full schedule and a shortened version of the PBA’s most important tournament.
“May nakaplano na kami, nagpagawa na ako kay deputy commissioner Eric ng shortened at full conference na laro,” Marcial said, but added that approving the shortened conference will depend on its commitments.
“Meron tayong naka-set na appearance ng teams kada conference so pag-uusapan yun kasi baka di natin ma-meet yun.”
The league is also exploring other plans with television partner TV5, especially if the planned bubble setup pushes through.
The bubble plan may prompt the PBA to have a daily schedule of games.
TV5 has primetime slots allotted for PBA games every Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
“Pag hindi pwede sa TV5, siguro pwede magaraw-araw kasi ang One Sports (UHF channel) nandyan, yung (PBA) Rush (cable channel exclusive to Cignal subscribers) nandyan, so yun madaming pag-uusapan pa,” said Marcial.
The league was suspended after just one game last March 8 when San Miguel Beer produced a 94-78 win over Magnolia at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Marcial already said that the Beermen’s win over the Hotshots will count in the team standings once play resumes.
