Black: Discipline key to PBA return

MANILA, Philippines — PBA teams are fully committed to do their part to make the 5-on-5 practices a success and eventually use it as a jump-off point to competition proper.

Meralco Bolts coach Norman Black said discipline is the key in the closed-circuit training sessions the squads will undertake soon.

“We have to stay very disciplined in how we approach the set-up,” Black told The STAR.

This, he said, means strictly observing health standards day in and day out and following the home-venue-home routine to the letter.

“We have to follow the protocols to avoid getting sick; go to work, go home, go to work, go home and limit the possibility of getting infected. That’s No. 1,” said Black, whose team is eyeing a 10-day bubble training in Ilocos Norte.

Black is confident the pro league will handle the practices well.

“We’re doing pretty well. We just have to continue to do that,” he said.

PBA commissioner Willie Marcial underscored the importance of the scrimmages in the league’s bid to open Season 46 by mid-June when he met with coaches and team managers Monday and with players yesterday.

“We need everyone’s cooperation as we have to stay super vigilant,” said Marcial. “This will be our road to the games so it’s really up to them if they want the PBA to be back.”

Marcial said even though safety nets and monitoring will be in place in the sessions, the teams themselves will ultimately be responsible for their own ranks.

“We have strict protocols and we’ll have our random visits in the practice venues. But of course, we can’t really monitor every movement especially outside of the practices,” he said.

Marcial has already presented the guidelines to GAB chairman Baham Mitra, whom he said has approved them in principle. He expects the government sports body to formally flag off the workouts in the next few days.