Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association ( PBA ) is a professional basketball league in the Philippines . It was founded in 1975 by nine teams from a former league from the capital Manila . This makes it the oldest professional basketball league in Asia . Two titles are played each year from October to February and from March to July. There is no regional allocation of the teams to Filipino locations. The teams are tied to the namesake owner. The games of a season are played in a few halls in the greater Manila area. The league takes over parts of the rules of the FIBA and the NBA .
history
The Philippine Basketball Association was created out of several teams from the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association ( MICAA ). This defunct predecessor league, which no longer exists, was run by the now inactive Basketball Association of the Philippines . Nine teams from the MICAA participated in the first season, which began on April 9, 1975. The first 10 years of the league were shaped by the intense rivalry between the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Tamaraws . This competition between the two clubs is still considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in league history. Top players of these two teams like Robert Jaworski , Ramon Fernandez , Francis Arnaiz , Atoy Co , Bogs Adornado and Philip Cezar shaped the face of the league even after the withdrawal of these teams (1983 and 1984).
After these two teams were eliminated, the PBA moved from the Araneta Coliseum to the ULTRA in Pasig City, near the capital Manila. The league continued to be popular at this venue. In the mid and late eighties, the rivalry between Robert Jaworski and his Ginebra San Miguel against the Tanduay Rhum Masters led by Jaworski's arch-rival Ramon Fernandez was a particular highlight in the PBA's game operations .
In 1990 the league was able to send a professional team to the Asian Games for the first time. It won the silver medal. Later three teams could take part in the Asian Games. Since 1993, the league games have been played at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. In 1999/2000 the PBA got into a crisis. Some players have been deported due to questionable origins and forged documents. The Metropolitan Basketball Association ( MBA ), a regional professional league founded in 1998, benefited from the downturn in the PBA's popularity . Despite the later closure of the MBA , the PBA's situation deteriorated increasingly. That didn't change until 2004, when the Barangay Ginebras won the championships three times in a row and some star players from the college-level University Athletic Association of the Philippines ( UAAP ) and NCAA moved to the league.
Game operation
Until 2003, the season was divided into three so-called conferences or tournaments. They followed one another in time. One title was played in each tournament. The finals were each played in best-of-seven mode. Since the 1993 season, the titles All Filipino Cup , Commissioner's Cup and Governors Cup have been named. Winning all three tournaments in one season was known as the Grand Slam . This was achieved by the Crispa Redmanizers in 1976 and 1983, the San Miguel Beermen in 1989 and, most recently, the Alaska Milkmen in 1996. The league reform in 2004 reduced the number of tournaments to two and the honorary title Grand Slam lost its importance.
The first tournament of a season is now the Philippine Cup , which is played from October to February of the following year. Only local players are allowed in the squads in this competition. This cup takes place after the season of the popular Philippine college league UAAP . In the course of the reform, the draft date, i.e. securing the rights of local new professionals, was moved from January to August. The second tournament is the Fiesta Conference . It is held from March to July. One foreign "import" player per team is allowed in this tournament. Most of these are former players in the US college league NCAA , which is also popular in the Philippines and whose season finale is in March. The league reform took into account the extreme popularity of the two college leagues. In addition, the teams and players in the league should be able to take part in international tournaments between June and September.
Current teams
All teams belong to companies and have no connection to geographic locations. They do not play in their home stadiums, but in halls rented by the league. The name of a team often consists of three parts: first the company name (company), then the product name (can be omitted or mixed with the next part) and finally the nickname, which is usually associated with the company's trade. One example is the San Miguel Beermen , owned by the San Miguel Brewery . The Beermen nickname alludes to the San Miquel Beer as a product. The company is rarely changed, only when the team is sold or when a parent company hands over the management of the team to a subsidiary. The product name and nickname are changed comparatively frequently for marketing reasons.
- Alaska Aces (1986 - from the Original San Miguel Beermen )
- Barako Bull Energy Boosters (2000)
- Barangay Ginebra Kings (1979)
- Burger King Batang BK (2002 - from the Revived Tanduay Rhum Masters )
- Coca-Cola Tigers (2002 - from Pop Cola Panthers )
- Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants (1988 - from the Original Tanduay Rhum Masters )
- Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (2006-07 - from Shell Turbo Chargers )
- San Miguel Beermen (1975–1985; 1986 - from Northern Consolidated Cement )
- Sta. Lucia Realtors (1993 - from Great Taste Coffee / N-Rich Coffee Cream / Presto Fun Drink / Ice Cream / Tivoli Ice Cream / Milk )
- Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters (1990)
Venues
Most of the league games take place in the largest hall in the Philippines, the Araneta Coliseum . This arena has a capacity of 20,800 spectators for basketball. There are also several alternative locations, including the Cuneta Astrodome (10,000 spectators) in Pasay and the Ynares Sports Arena (3,000 spectators) in Pasig City , which are also located in Metro Manila . Games outside the metropolitan area rarely take place, never during the playoffs . The most frequently used hall outside the capital is the Ynares Center (12,000 spectators) in Antipolo City . Since the league is also noticed outside of the own country, five league games have taken place abroad so far, one each in Jakarta , Singapore , Hong Kong , Guam and Dubai .
Former and visiting teams
Probably the most prominent former teams are the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Super Corollas . The most noticed visiting team was probably the American Nicholas Stoodley team , which won the 1980 Invitational Conference .
Web links
- Official website (English)