The Philippine Basketball
Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in
the Philippines composed
of ten company-branded franchised teams. It was the first professional
basketball league in Asia and
is the second oldest in the world after the NBA. The league's
regulations are a hybrid of rules from FIBA and the NBA.
The league played its first game at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on
April 9, 1975. Its individual team offices are directed out of PBA head
offices located in Eastwood City in Quezon City.
The league is currently headed by Commissioner Chito Salud.
HISTORY
The Philippine Basketball Association was
founded when nine teams left the now-defunct Manila Industrial
and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA), which was tightly
controlled by the Basketball Association of the
Philippines (BAP; now defunct), the FIBA-recognized national
association at the time. With the BAP controlling the MICAA, the league was
de jure amateur,
as players were only paid allowances. This is much like what was done in other
countries to circumvent the amateur requirement and to play in FIBA-sanctioned
tournaments such as the Olympics. With the PBA out of the BAP's control, they
could freely pay salaries to their players, making the PBA the oldest
professional basketball league outside the United States. However, this also
led to the league's players being barred from playing in FIBA-sanctioned
tournaments.
Leopoldo Prieto, the
coach for the Philippines at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, was appointed as the
first commissioner and Domingo Itchon of Tanduay was chosen as the league's
first president. The first game of the league was held at the Araneta Coliseum on April 9, 1975,
featuring Mariwasa-Noritake and Concepcion Carrier.
The league's first 10 years was known for
the intense rivalry of the Crispa Redmanizers and the Toyota Tamaraws, still considered as one of the
greatest rivalries in league history. Big names such as Robert Jaworski, Ramon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Atoy Co, Bogs Adornado and Philip Cezar played
for those squads before the two teams disbanded in 1983 and 1984 respectively.
Following their disbandment, the league moved from the Araneta Coliseum to ULTRA in Pasig. There, the league
continued to be popular, as several former Toyota and Crispa players suited up
for different teams.
During the mid to late 80s, Jaworski and Ginebra San Miguel became the
league's most popular squad for its "never say die" attitude.[4]The
team had intense rivalries with the Tanduay Rhum Masters and Jaworski's
then-rival Fernandez, and later the expansion Purefoods Corporation and players Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codiñera, Jojo Lastimosa and
Fernandez.
By the end of the 1980s, San Miguel Beer won numerous championships
that included the 1989 Grand Slam, led by coach Norman Black and
former national team stars Samboy Lim and Hector Calma.
In 1989, FIBA voted to allow professionals to
play in their sanctioned tournaments, hence the PBA's players are now able to
represent the country internationally. In 1990, the league sent its first
all-professional squad to the Asian Games,
earning a silver medal. The PBA would later send three more all-pro squads to
the event.
The early 1990s saw 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 First Conference. Patrimonio, Allan Caidic,
and a host of others became the league's main attraction.
By 1993, the league moved to the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay and later saw
the Alaska Milkmen win the 1996 grand slam and
nine titles in the decade.
From 1999-2000, the PBA endured controversy.
Several expatriate cagers arrived on the scene (such asAsi Taulava, Danny Seigle and Eric Menk).
Their lineage was questionable and most of them were deported for falsifying
documents. The arrival of dozens of these players was a counter to the
fledging Metropolitan Basketball Association,
a regional-based professional league formed in 1998. After ABS-CBN's 2001
abandonment, the MBA faced mounting expenses and would fold within a year.
Despite the MBA's disbandment and the arrival of those players to the PBA,
attendance went sour for the PBA in 2002 and was even worse the following year.
In 2004, the league introduced drastic
scheduling changes, when it decided to begin the season in October instead of
January. The change in starting the season allowed the league to accommodate
international tournaments held from June to September and it fit better with
college hoops, the NCAA and the UAAP, whose seasons run
from June to October. The league also reduced the number of conferences from
three to two, renaming the All-Filipino Cup as the Philippine Cup and introducing a new
import laden tournament named as the Fiesta Conference. To accommodate these
changes, a transitional tournament, the 2004 PBA Fiesta Conference was held
from February to July, which was won by the Barangay Ginebra Kings. The league also
began to hold the annual All-Star weekend in the provinces, alternating from Luzon
and Visayas/Mindanao provinces every year.
The league gained some popularity by this year,
thanks in large part to Barangay Ginebra's three PBA championships led by Menk
and Mark Caguioa. Solid marketing and arrival of collegiate stars
from the UAAP and
the NCAA also worked in the PBA's favor.
By 2005, the league would take on the role of
Philippine national representation under Chot Reyes,
when FIBA lifted the suspension of the country following the formation of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas despite
a ninth place finish in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship. In 2009,
however, the all-amateur Smart Gilas team became the country's official
representative in international competitions. The PBA's role in forming a
national team was thus reduced to sending up reinforcements to beef up the
national squad.
After the appointment of Chito Salud,
son of former commissioner Rudy Salud as
the commissioner of the PBA, the league returned the three-conference format
starting in the 2010-11 season. This also ushered the return of
the previously retired conferences, theCommissioner's and Governors' cups.
The beginning of 2010's also saw the dominance
of the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters, who nearly
got the Grand Slam in the 2010-11 season and successfully defended
the Philippine Cup in 2012, the first team to do so after Great Taste in 1985.
Season format
Unlike other leagues, there is no "season
champion" of the PBA. Instead, the season is divided into conferences or tournaments (not to be
confused with the definition of a "conference" in a sporting context as a
grouping of teams based on geography or historical affiliation), wherein the
teams compete for a conference cup. The winners of the conference cups do not
face each other at the end of the season to determine the season; instead all
conference champions are league champions, with the Philippine Cup being the most prestigious
conference of the season.
A season was usually composed of three
conferences. From the 2010-11 season, the conferences were
named Philippine,Commissioner's and Governors' Cups,
usually ending in a best-of-seven series where the winner took the conference
cup. If the same team won all of the conferences, the team was said to be the
"Grand Slam" champion. A draft was held in
August, with the season-ending Governors Cup ending in July. An opening ceremonies is
held before the start of the first game of the season.
Teams
All franchises are owned by corporations. They
are not based on geographic locale, so they do not play in a "home
stadium." The league 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, then a nickname - usually
connected to the business of the company. For example, the Petron Blaze Boosters is a team owned by
San Miguel Corporation, with the " boosters" nickname denoting the
Petron's Blaze product. Product names are sometimes omitted or merged with the
team's nickname. Though the company name rarely changes, the product name and
nickname change frequently, maximizing the publicity that the league can give
to a company's goods.
Team Popularity
Barangay Ginebra has owned the distinction of most popular team in
the league for many years. Its popularity can be traced to the recruitment of
the backcourt tandem of Robert Jaworski and Francis Arnaiz,
both former Toyota players. Fans of Toyota followed
the two stalwarts to Ginebra after the Toyota team disbanded in 1983.
In 2008, however, a survey showed that Purefoods shares the honor of league's
most popular ballclub with Ginebra. It appeared that Ginebra was the most
popular team among men, while Purefoods was the most popular among
women. Also, Ginebra was more popular in Metro Manila and Luzon and in
classes ABC, while Purefoods was more popular in Visayas and Mindanao and in
class D. The two teams were tied for most supporters in class E. In terms
of percentage of supporters, the survey showed that, after Ginebra and
Purefoods (which both got 31%), are Magnolia (21%), Alaska (13%), Sta. Lucia (5%), Red Bull (4%), Talk N' Text (3%), Coca-Cola(1%),
and Air 21 (1%).
Notably, the top three teams that have the most supporters have
also been considered as the most talent-laden teams. They also fall under
the San Miguel Corporation umbrella. With
these three teams acquiring players through allegedly lopsided trades and
performing strong in the past several seasons, the PBA has been considered by
some as an "SMC league".
In August 2010, rumors surfaced about a possible Purefoods
departure from the league. There were reports that San Miguel tried to sell the
food processing company.It was suggested that even the loss of the brand name
might have a tremendous impact on its popularity. However, the sale did not
push through and the Purefoods PBA franchise stayed and was renamed B-Meg Llamados.
Defunct and guest teams
The most prominent defunct teams were
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.
Rules
1.
A game consists of four
12-minute quarters, the NBA standard.
2.
The three-point line's distance is set back to
6.75 m (22.1 feet), which is the FIBA's three-point distance for
international competitions.
3.
Post up players can now
muscle their way into the basket without automatically getting a foul called.
4.
A player can now hang on
the rim after a dunk without getting called
for a technical foul.
5.
Zone defenses are allowed, the FIBA
standard.
6.
A team enters the penalty
situation after the fifth foul in a quarter, with each successive foul
entitling the fouled player to two free-throw attempts. In the last two minutes
of regulation, both teams are only allowed one foul to give, as in NBA rules.
Overtime periods allow each team two fouls in the first three minutes and one
foul in the last two minutes, as in NBA rules.
7.
Newcomers enter the
league via a draft.
8.
Non-Filipinos can play
as "imports" and only in certain conferences. Currently in the Commissioner's Cup,
imports of unlimited height are allowed to play. In the Governor's Cup imports within the height limit of 6'5" are
allowed to play.
9.
The league implements
the Trent Tucker Rule.
10.
An advantage foul,
similar to the "unsportsmanlike foul" of FIBA rules, is called when
the offensive player is fouled by an opposing player while in a fast-break
situation without going for the ball. The offense is given two free throws and
regains the ball.
Players
Most of the league's present star players are
also members of the Philippine national team.
In a 38-year historical period, Filipino basketball fans have seen the likes
of Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Benjie Paras,
Ronnie Magsanoc, Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses, Johnny Abarrientos, Danny Seigle and Danny Ildefonso take
center stage. Ramon Fernandez and Alvin Patrimonio are the only players to win
four Most Valuable
Player (MVP) awards.
Benjie Paras was the first and only player to win the league
Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same year (1989). 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 has awarded 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.
PBA champions
The San Miguel-Petron franchise (under the
names Beermen and Blaze Boosters) currently is the winningest team (19
championships) followed by Alaska Aces with
13 crowns. Among disbanded teams, the Crispa Redmanizers have the most
championships (13), while rival Toyota Super Corollas ended with nine.
The Jun Bernardino Trophy is awarded to the
winner of the Philippine Cup[18] while
theCommissioner's and Governors' cups were awarded to their
respective tournament winners.
PBA records and clubs
There are all-time records written in Philippine Basketball Association
records, as well as distinctions like the PBA 2,000 Assists Club,PBA 500
Three-Point Club, PBA 600 Most Game
Club, and PBA Top 40
Rebounder.
Rivalries
The most famous matchup was the Crispa-Toyota rivalry of the 1970s. Fans
faithfully supported their favorite squads and 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
engaged in a major brawl, leading to the arrest and detention of several
players from both clubs at Fort Bonifacio.
The most heated rivalry in the PBA today is that
of two teams representing the Ginebra franchise and the Purefoods franchise.
The rivalry is now commonly known as the Manila Clasico. It traces its
roots on the original Añejo–Purefoods rivalry of the late 1980s.]
Other short-lived or less intense rivalries include:
·
Tanduay vs Ginebra
(1986-1987 rivalry)
·
Añejo/Ginebra vs Shell
(1990s rivalry)
·
San Miguel vs Purefoods (late
1980s to 1990s rivalry)
·
Purefoods vs Swift (1990s corporate
rivalry)
·
Purefoods vs. Alaska
(1990s rivalry)
·
Añejo/Ginebra vs San
Miguel (late-1980s to present rivalry)
·
Ginebra/Gordon's Gin vs
Alaska (late-1980s to present rivalry)
·
Alaska vs San Miguel
(late-90s to the early millennium rivalry)
·
Red Bull vs. the San
Miguel franchises (Barangay Ginebra, San Miguel and Purefoods, 2000-2007)
·
Purefoods Tender
Juicy/B-Meg/San Mig Coffee vs. Rain or Shine (2009–present, "New Age
Rivalry")]
·
San Miguel/Petron Blaze
vs Talk 'N Text (2011–present rivalry)]
No comments:
Post a Comment