Uytengsu: Let’s learn from the best

MANILA, Philippines — Alaska Milk Aces owner Fred Uytengsu said the PBA can pick up valuable pointers from the NBA and other major sports leagues overseas currently in play that it can use for its own planned restart.

Uytengsu, who is currently in the United States with his family, said he had a nice discussion with NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum about their resumption strategy, and there are things to learn from this model.

“For me, the first step is let’s learn,” Uytengsu said in Tuesday’s Sports Page on One Sports.

“Let’s learn from some of the best sports franchises and organizations in the world and what they do, what they can do, what works, what doesn’t work, and then let’s see how we can adopt that in our own setting with the PBA,” he added.

The PBA is set to resume small group training sessions once Metro Manila eases back to the less strict general community quarantine (GCQ) level from the current modified enhanced CQ.

It hopes the situation will improve further and make it possible to resume the Philippine Cup by mid-October at the latest.

“The best scenario for the PBA is we play one conference only,” said Uytengsu.

If ever play resumes, the owner of the 35-year-old franchise expects some dip in quality compared to pre-pandemic times.

“I think the fitness level of the players will be challenged because no matter how hard you’re working at home, it’s not like you have your teammates to push you,” he said.

“You can do as much as you can, you think you’re working hard but there’s no substitute for competition,” he added.

“I think the games might be slower,” he opined.