PBA gives way to Gilas, moves Governors Cup to August

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is taking another major step in helping the Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team’s preparations for the FIBA Asia cage joust in August.

Heeding the call of top sports officials, PBA commissioner Chito Salud disclosed Tuesday that team owners have agreed to defer this season’s third conference, a bold move that gives the Nationals a flexible time schedule for the Aug.1-11 meet here in Manila.

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Based on the initial schedule, the Governors Cup was supposed to run from May 12 to July 28, ending barely four days before the start of the qualifying event for the 2014 World Basketball Championships.

Now, the pro league is transferring the third conference after the Asian tourney while lengthening the staging of the Commissioners Cup, set to start this Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I had a very positive and productive talk with our team owners," Salud said in an official statement. "Not only have they agreed to lend their players, they readily okayed moving the third conference till after the FIBA Asia tourney. As I have said, when good men reason together, the outcome is inevitably beneficial to everyone. In this case, our owners placed national interest above all considerations. I am so proud of the PBA.

“The PBA team owners have agreed to make way for the FIBA-Asia tournament by transferring the third conference of the current 2013 season from the original May-July schedule to August-October.

“To counter the negative effects on the member-teams of the resulting protracted break between conferences, the second conference will be extended by adopting the format of the recently concluded Philippine Cup. This means that the second conference will finish by the last week of May, instead of April 28,” he related.

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With this sudden turn of events, no one is happier than national team coach Chot Reyes, who is bidding to steer the country to a podium finish that will earn them a priceless ticket to Spain.

“As a result of these adjustments, Gilas Pilipinas will have two months of unhampered training as a team,” Salud added. “In the meantime, regular Monday practices can commence for Gilas Pilipinas as soon as coach Chot Reyes finalizes the line-up of our team.”

In a tweet, Reyes said he will be announcing the lineup of Gilas on Thursday.

The board of governors, headed by Robert Non of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, will stamp its approval this Thursday in a special meeting, according to Salud.

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