Philippine Basketball Association
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| Philippine Basketball Association | |
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| Current season or competition: 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference |
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| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Claim to fame | The oldest professional basketball league in Asia |
| Motto | "Laban ng mga Bida." (Battle of the Heroes) |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country(ies) |  Philippines |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Sta. Lucia Realtors (Philippine) and Alaska Aces (Fiesta) |
| TV partner(s) | ABC |
| Official website | PBA.ph |
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a professional basketball league in the Philippines founded in 1975. It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia. The league's rules are a hybrid of FIBA's and the National Basketball Association's rules.
The league is currently headed by Commissioner Sonny Barrios.
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[edit] History
The Philippine Basketball Association was founded as a "rebellion" of several teams from the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association which was tightly controlled by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (now defunct), the then-FIBA recognized national association. Nine teams from the MICAA participated in the league's first season that opened in April 9, 1975.
The league's first 10 years was known for the intense rivalry of the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Tamaraws that is still considered as one of the greatest rivalry in league history with big names such as Robert Jaworski, Ramon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Atoy Co, Bogs Adornado, and Philip Cezar to name a few playing for those squads, before both teams disbanded in 1983 and 1984.
Following their disbandment, the league moved from the Araneta Coliseum to ULTRA in Pasig City. There, the league continued to be popular despite several remnants of Toyota and Crispa players suiting up for different teams.
During the mid to late 80's, Jaworski and Ginebra San Miguel became the league's most popular squad for its "never say die" attitude and had intense rivalries with the Tanduay Rhum Masters of Jaworski's then-arch rival Fernandez, and later the expansion Purefoods Corporation of Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codinera, Jojo Lastimosa and Fernandez.
By the end of the 1980's, San Miguel Beer won numerous championships that included the 1989 Grandslam under coach Norman Black and former national team stars Samboy Lim and Hector Calma.
In 1990, the league sent its first all-pro squad to the Asian Games finishing a silver medal to China. The PBA would later sent three more all-pro squads in the said event.
The early 90's saw the Ginebra and Shell forming an intense rivalry that included Ginebra's walkout in 1990 finals against Shell and the team's dramatic comeback from a 3-1 deficit to beat Shell in the 1991 Open Conference while Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, and a host of others became the league's main attraction.
By 1993, the league move to the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City and later saw the Alaska Milkmen win the 1996 grandslam and nine titles in the decade.
From 1999-2000, the PBA suffered a controversy after several expatriate cagers arrived on the scene (such as Asi Taulava, Danny Seigle and Eric Menk) and their lineage were questionable with most of the them deported for falsifying documents.
The arrival of dozens of these players was a counter to the fledging Metropolitan Basketball Association, a regional-based pro league formed in 1998. But, the said league eventually folded as expenses and ABS-CBN's abandonment in 2001 led to their demise a year later.
Despite the MBA's disbandment, and the arrival of those players to the PBA, attendance went sour and turned from bad to worst after a huge decline in 2003.
However, the league was able to gain some popularity by 2004, thanks in large part to Barangay Ginebra's run through three PBA championships led by Menk and Mark Caguioa, other marketing aspects and arrival of collegiate stars from the UAAP and the NCAA.
By 2005 the league became active in the national team role under Chot Reyes even when FIBA lifted the suspension of the country following the formation of the BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas despite a ninth place finish in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship.
[edit] Season format
From 1975-2003, a season was usually composed of three conferences (tournaments). From the 1993 season, the conferences were named All Filipino, Commissioner's and Governors Cups, usually ending in a best-of-7 Finals series match wherein the winner takes the Conference Cup. If the same team wins all of the conferences, the team is said to be the "Grand Slam" champion. A draft was held on January.
In 2004, then-commissioner Noli Eala introduced drastic changes to the season calendar. He reduced the number of conferences from three to two and changed the start of the season from February to October, so that the league can accommodate international tournaments that were frequently held from June to September. Another reason for the change in schedule was the popularity of college hoops, the NCAA and the UAAP, whose basketball season runs from June to October each year.
The first tournament is the Philippine Cup, which is held from October to February the following year, where only locals are allowed to play. The second tournament is the Fiesta Conference, held from March to June, teams are allowed to field one foreign player called an "import". The Philippine Cup is identical to the All-Filipino Conference of the previous seasons. The rookie draft is now usually held every August.
[edit] Teams
All franchises are owned by corporations, and are not based on a geographic locale, therefore they do not play in a "home stadium" and the league per se rents the different stadiums in which the teams play.
A team's name is often divided into three parts; the first is the company name, then the product (can be omitted or merged with the next part), and a nickname - usually connected to the business of the company. For example, the San Miguel Beermen is a team owned by San Miguel Corporation, with the "beermen" nickname denoting the San Miguel Beer product.
The company name rarely changes - it can only change if the franchise is sold or if the mother company transfers the operations of the franchise into another subsidiary. The product name and the nickname often changes, as companies would maximize the publicity the league gives to its products.
[edit] Current teams
| Name | Season joined | Team colors | Company | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air21 Express | 2002 | Indigo and white | Airfreight 2100, Inc. | 0 |
| Alaska Aces | 1986 | Red, black and white | Alaska Milk Corporation | 12 |
| Barangay Ginebra Kings | 1979 | Red and white | Ginebra San Miguel, Inc.* | 7 |
| Coca-Cola Tigers | 2002 | Red and white | Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. | 2 |
| Magnolia Beverage Masters | 1975** | Blue and white | San Miguel Beverages, Inc.* | 17 |
| Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants | 1988 | Red, navy and white | San Miguel-Pure Foods Co., Inc.* | 7 |
| Red Bull Barako | 2000 | Red, yellow and white | Photokina Marketing Corporation | 3 |
| Sta. Lucia Realtors | 1993 | Green and white | Sta. Lucia Realty & Development, Inc. | 2 |
| Talk 'N Text Phone Pals | 1990 | Yellow, blue and white | Pilipino Telephone Corporation | 1 |
| Welcoat Dragons | 2006-07 | Midnight blue and white | Asian Coatings Philippines | 0 |
* San Miguel Corporation subsidiaries.
**Left on the 1985 season, returned on the 1986 season's third conference.
[edit] Defunct and guest teams
The most prominent defunct teams are the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Super Corollas.
Among guest teams, most notable was the American Nicholas Stoodley team that won the 1980 Invitational Conference.
[edit] Rules
The PBA has a hybrid of FIBA and NBA rules:
- A game consists of four 12-minute quarters, the NBA standard.
- The three-point line's distance is 20 feet, 6 inches, the FIBA standard. The line was previously 22 feet away from the basket.
- The "key" is a trapezoid, the FIBA standard. It was previously the NBA standard rectangular key.
- Zone defenses are allowed, the FIBA standard, although illegal defense was implemented before.
- A team enters the penalty situation after the fifth foul in a quarter, each successive foul thereafter entitles the fouled player two free-throw attempts. However, in the last two minutes of regulation, both teams are only allowed one foul to give considering the team is not yet in penalty. Team fouls and penalty situations carry over in overtime periods whenever applicable.
- Newcomers enter the league via a draft.
- Only Filipinos are allowed to play, non-Filipinos can play as "imports", and only on certain conferences. Currently the Fiesta Conference limits imports of one per team, with no height limit; two teams with the worst records after the Philippine Cup eliminations receive an import of unlimited height and another with a height limit of 6'1".
The PBA has also different rules:
- If the time left in the game clock is .2 of a second or less, it is automatically shut down and the quarter ends.
- In the league, there is a foul called an advantage foul, This is called when an a player is fouled by an opposing player while in a fastbreak situation. The opposing player fouls another player without going for the ball. Then the opposing players team will be given two freethrows and will regain the ball.
[edit] Important people
[edit] Commissioners
- Leopoldo Prieto (1975-1983)
- Col. Mariano Yenko (1983-1987)
- Atty. Rodrigo Salud (1988-1992)
- Reynaldo Marquez (1992-1993)
- Emilio Bernardino, Jr. (1993-2002)
- Jose Emmanuel Eala (2003-2007)
- Sonny Barrios (2008-present, officer-in-charge from 2007-08)[1][2]
[edit] Players
Most of the league's present star players are also members of Philippine national team. Within a 30-year historical period, Filipino basketball fans have seen the likes of Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses, Johnny Abarrientos and Danny Ildefonso take centerstage. Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio are prominent names, as they are the only players to win four Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards.
On the other hand, Vergel Meneses is the only player to win four All-Star MVP awards while Danny Ildefonso is the only player to have won five Philippine Basketball Association Best Player of the Conference Awards.
The league awards the MVP award since 1975 and the Rookie of the Year award since 1976. Other lesser awards are handed out at the end of the season; the Best Player and Best Import of the Conference awards are handed out at the end of the conferences.
[edit] PBA champions
The Magnolia Beverage Masters (more popularly known as the San Miguel Beermen) currently is the winningest team, with 17 championships. Among disbanded teams, the Crispa Redmanizers have the most championships, with 13, while rival Toyota Super Corollas ended with nine.
The Sta. Lucia Realtors won the 2007-08 PBA Philippine Cup, their 2nd championship, while the Alaska Aces won the 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference, their 12th championship.
[edit] Rivalries
Team encounters are a natural phenomenon in the PBA, and this sometimes results in soaring ticket sales.[citation needed] The most famous matchup was the Crispa-Toyota rivalry of the 1970s.[citation needed] Fans faithfully supported their favorite squads, and had appeared in the multitudes at the Araneta Coliseum, or wherever the archrivals had met. In those days, the players were very passionate. On one occasion, they had engaged in a major brawl. Players from both clubs were arrested and detained for one night in jail.[citation needed]
Other famous contests include:[citation needed]
- Crispa vs Great Taste
- Ginebra vs Purefoods (late-1980s rivalry, both are now sister teams)
- Añejo/Ginebra vs Shell (early-1990s rivalry)
- Purefoods vs. San Miguel (1990s All-Filipino Conference rivalry)
- Purefoods vs. Alaska (1990s All-Filipino Conference rivalry)
- Añejo vs San Miguel (late-1980s rivalry, the "sister team" rivalry)
- Ginebra/Gordon's Gin vs Alaska (late-1990s rivalry)
- Red Bull vs. the San Miguel franchises (Barangay Ginebra, Magnolia and Purefoods)
- Air21 Express vs. Talk 'N Text
- Barangay Ginebra vs. Talk 'N Text
[edit] Media coverage
The PBA had been covered by television, as well as other media since its opening day. Their current TV and radio partners are the Associated Broadcasting Company and Sports Radio 918 respectively. Their former radio partner was DZRH 666.The PBA can also be watched worldwide through The Filipino Channel, which will be replaced by GMA Pinoy TV.[3]
- PBA on KBS (1975;1977)
- PBA on BBC (1976)
- PBA on GTV/MBS (1978-1981)
- PBA on Vintage Sports (1982-1999)
- PBA on Viva TV (2000-2002)
- PBA on NBN/IBC (2003)
- PBA on ABC (2004-2008)
- PBA on RPN (2008-2010)
[edit] Playing venues
A majority of elimination round games are held in the Araneta Coliseum, the Philippines' largest indoor arena, Cuneta Astrodome at Pasay City (both at Metro Manila) and the Ynares Center in Antipolo City. Playoff games are exclusively held at venues in Metro Manila, most especially the Araneta Coliseum.
Provincial games are held on selected locations throughout the country, with most of the games held on a Thursday or a Saturday. Very rarely does a playoff game is held outside Metro Manila, if at all.
All-Star games, on the other hand, are currently rotated between Luzon and Visayas/Mindanao. Metro Manila last hosted the all-star game on 2003; Baguio City and La Union jointly co-hosted the all-star weekend for 2007. Bacolod City hosted the 2008 edition which ran from April 24-27, 2008.
Four games had been held overseas: one each at Jakarta, Indonesia; Hong Kong, China; Guam; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Recently, the league is in a planning stages to build a PBA Coliseum that is rumored either to be located in North EDSA in Quezon City or at the reclamation area beside the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
[edit] Current season
| <<2006-07 PBA season | 2007-08 PBA season | 2008-09 PBA season>> | |||
| 2007-08 PBA Philippine Cup | 2008 PBA Fiesta Conference | ||||
[edit] See also
- List of sports attendance figures - the PBA in a global context.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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