PBA prepares Guam invasion

After a sellout in its first overseas venture in Jakarta, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is set to play another game abroad–this time, in Guam tentatively on May 14.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala said the other day singer Dingdong Avanzado, head of the Guam Visitors Bureau, is coordinating the project. Avanzado recently organized a celebrity golf tournament in the US territory. He left for Guam a few days ago to thresh out the details of hosting the PBA game and is expected back in Manila this weekend.

Eala said he will clear with the Board of Governors the two teams to see action in Guam. Reportedly in contention to make the trip are Alaska and FedEx.

Two wild card games are being reserved for playdates in Jeddah and Dubai.

A Hong Kong outing was scratched when no venue with a seating capacity to assure the viability of the project could be available.

Bringing the PBA beyond the Philippine borders to reach out to overseas Filipinos is unprecedented in league history. And it’s at no cost to the PBA.

"The organizers pay for everything," said Eala. "They take care of the air fare, board, lodging and allowances for game officials. On top of that, the PBA is paid a rights fee of as much as $15,000."

Eala said the "historic" Jakarta game featuring Talk ‘N’ Text versus Shell drew over 5,000 spectators, about half of whom were Filipinos.

"It was a huge success," said Eala. "The promoters had so many sponsors like Samsung, a cigaret brand, Molten and others. We were warmly received by the Governor of Jakarta, Mr. Supioso, who used to be the president of the Indonesian Basketball Association and is now the president of the Indonesian Badminton Association. Governor Supioso used to play basketball in high school and is very influential in Indonesia. He made the ceremonial toss before the game."

Eala said the PBA visit was widely covered in Indonesian media.

"There was full coverage in the newspapers and of course, the game was shown on TV," he said. "Indonesian fans know who the top Filipino players are. In fact, Romel Adducul is a favorite. But among the players who came for the game, the most popular were Jimmy Alapag, Ronald Tubid, Tony de la Cruz and Rich Alvarez. The fans were all over them."

The PBA entourage left Manila for Jakarta last Saturday and arrived back home last Monday, except for the Shell delegation that took a side trip and spent a night in Singapore before returning the next day.

The Talk ‘N’ Text delegation was headed by Paul Gueco while the Shell delegation was led by Bobby Kanapi.

"Our Indonesian hosts, particularly the Indonesian Basketball League commissioner Agus Mauro, welcomed us with open arms," said Eala.

In deliberations with Eala during the visit, Mauro offered to host a summit with other cage commissioners of neighboring countries for the purpose of forming a regional professional league. The initial plan is to invite representatives from Australia, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines to be the founding members of the league.

"The idea is to organize a regional league without imports," said Eala. "Agus is serious in making basketball grow in Indonesia and he feels an international league will be a big boost."

Another point they discussed was the possibility of sharing the cost in bringing a National Basketball Association (NBA) team to play in Manila, Jakarta and Thailand or Singapore.

"We could share in the travel cost and get international sponsors for the trip," said Eala. "Our concept is to play our national team against the NBA team. Sharing is the only formula where we could afford to bring in an NBA team to play in our countries."

A third point Eala took up with Mauro was the possibility of Filipino cagers playing as imports in the Indonesian league.

"The Indonesian league starts in March and ends in July," continued Eala. "We could send our fringe players to play in Indonesia and earn good money. They won’t earn as much as what they would in the PBA but at least, it’ll be an opportunity to play for a living."