The Philippines Basketball Association returns to Dubai on Friday for a two-night show at Al Wasl Club. The PBA returned to the UAE for the first time since 2012 in May, and is back to showcase its product after a successful run of Governor’s Cup games at Al Shabab Club then.
Of special note this time around is the participation of Manny Pacquiao's fledgling PBA franchise, Mahindra Enforcer, which played its first season in 2014/15. That team will be joined by one of the Philippines' most popular teams, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, who were here in May, and Alaska Aces, one of the league's most consistently successful teams last season.
Here’s what to know:
– Two games are being played, on Friday night and Saturday night. According to the Facebook page for organisers, gates will open at 4pm at Al Wasl for games listed with 7pm start times on the PBA website. Player-coach Pacquiao will feature on Friday night for Mahindra Enforcer's game against Alaska Aces.
– Tickets: See here. Organisers list VIP at Dh250, lower box at Dh150 and general at Dh100. Alaska Aces play Mahindra Enforcer on Friday night, Alaska Aces play again on Saturday night against Barangay Ginebra.
– Location: Al Wasl Club is located in Bur Dubai, off E66. It can be reached easily via D73 from the World Trade Centre roundabout. It can also be reached coming down from E11/D75 and taking a U-turn. Al Wasl is near Emirates Kart Zone and Latifa Hospital. If you’ve managed to hit Dubai Creek, you’ve gone too far.
– PBA: The PBA season is dvided into three round-robin tournaments, with the top eight of 12 teams making the play-offs at the end of each, making for three titles available per season. The Philippine Cup begins the season, and will be the competition on offer in Dubai. It is followed by the Commissioner’s Cup and the concluding Governor’s Cup, which featured matches in Dubai in May.
The teams:
Mahindra Enforcer: Presumably the main draw, thanks to their high-profile association with the beloved Pacquiao. Though the team have lost their first two games to begin the new PBA season, their opener – a 108-94 loss to Rain or Shine Elasto Painters – featured Pacquiao's first professional basket, as he went 1-of-3 with two points and an assist.
The team struggled last year in their first season, going 10-23 across the three cup tournaments and missing the play-offs each time.
Their top players include Aldrech Ramos, a 6ft 7in (2.01m) big man who starred in university in the Philippines, and 6ft 6in rookie Bradwyn Guinto, the 14th pick of the 2015 draft.
Ramos was the fifth pick of the 2012 PBA draft, and had 27 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks between the first two Enforcer games. Guinto has contributed 28 points in the two games, with 22 rebounds.
The club also feature Nino “KG” Canaleta, the 2013 PBA most improved player and five-time slam dunk champion – he had 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting in their opener before struggling to seven points on 1-of-8 shooting in their last game, a 101-97 loss to Talk n Text Tropang Texters.
Others, like guard LA Revilla (21 points against Talk n Text), captain Paolo Hubalde and guard Chito Jaime (12 points v TnT) will figure into their fortunes. Rich Alvarez, a 2003 gold medal winner at the Southeast Asian Games with the Philippines and two-time PBA all-star, is also getting minutes with the team at 35 years old.
They will be without Filipino-American guard Karl Dehesa, who is injured.
Barangay Ginebra: A well-supported club whose fans packed the stands for their game in May, they haven't won a title since winning the second, and then final, tournament of the 2007/08 season, known at the time as the Fiesta Conference.
They nevertheless have a well-decorated team, with former league MVPs Jayjay Helterbrand (2009, seven-time all-star) and Mark Caguioa (2012, seven-time all-star); two members of the 2013 Fiba Asia Championships silver medal winning national team, LA Tenorio (six-time all-star) and Japeth Aguilar (three-time all-star); four-time all-star selection Joe Devance; Southeast Asian Games gold winners Scottie Thompson (2015), Nico Salva (2011) and Dave Marcelo (2011); and a trio of two-time all-stars: Greg Slaughter (the top 2013 draft pick), Chris Ellis and Sol Mercado.
They have lost their opening two matches this season, and went 16-17 overall last season with one play-offs appearance, in the Philippine Cup.
So far the likes of fan-favourite Caguioa (10 points in two games), Tenorio and Mercado (both zero points in the opening loss) have struggled. Helterbrand, at 39, has played only 20 minutes total.
Big men Slaughter, at 7ft 0in (2.13m) and Aguilar, at 6ft 9in (2.06m), have been strong, though, with American Slaughter providing 28 points, 16 rebounds and then 27 points, 26 rebounds in their two games. Aguilar has combined for 32 points and 21 rebounds.
Promisingly, Tenorio and Mercado perked up in their last game as well, with 12 and nine points respectively in a three-point loss to Barako Bull Energy.
Alaska Aces: One of the league's best sides across the three tournaments last year, going 21-12 overall and reaching two finals, in the opening Philippine Cup and closing Governor's Cup. They proved the almost-team, though, losing the first final series in seven games and getting swept 4-0 in the last finals. They won their last title in the 2012/13 season, when they edged Barangay Ginebra for the Commissioner's Cup.
They have been led in their first two games, both victories, by 6ft 4in (1.93m) forward Vic Manuel, who has scored 35 points and collected 17 rebounds. Three-time PBA all-star Calvin Abueva was a member of the silver-medal winning team at this year’s Fiba Asia Championships, and has 22 points and 18 rebounds in the first two games.
Papua New Guinea-born centre Sonny Thoss, a 10-time PBA all-star, is an important player inside and scored 17 points in their opening victory, a 16-point win over Talk n Text. Donaldo Hontiveros, 38, played on the silver-medal winning team in Changsha this year as well and is a 12-time PBA all-star, and another veteran, 35-year-old eight-time all-star Cyrus Baguio, has chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds so far.
American Chris Banchero, a 2014/15 all-rookie team member, has scored 27 points in two games, as has JVee Casio, a 5ft 10in (1.78m) guard who was the first pick of the 2011 draft.
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