PBA to hold daily double-headers in season restart at Clark Freeport Zone

The Philippine Basketball Association announced on Thursday that it will be resuming the 2020 Philippine Cup on October 9 at the Clark Freeport and Economic Zone in Pampanga.

“The board decided to take the offer of Clark,” bared league chairman Ricky Vargas during a press conference held via Zoom immediately after the board meeting.

The Angeles University Foundation (AUF) gym in Angeles City will serve as the official venue of the games while league personnel will be housed at the Quest Hotel in Mimosa.

The league will be using a full bubble setup wherein players, coaches and staff will be transported under strict health protocols from the hotel to the practice and playing facility, and vice-versa.

Once the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases gives the go-signal, teams will enter the bubble on September 26 and then start with scrimmages the day after.

The compressed conference will have daily double-headers for 49 game days – or around 90 matches until an All-Filipino Cup champion is crowned.

The tournament calls for a single round-robin elimination round with the top 4 finishers getting a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

The winners will engage in a best-of-five semifinals with the top 2 clashing in a best-of-seven championship round.

League commissioner Willie Marcial disclosed that San Miguel’s opening day win over Magnolia will count in the standings.

“Sinabi ko noong April di ba, tinanong nyo ako, kung sa tingin ko from a scale of 1 to 10 na matutuloy, sabi ko 7 to 8. Heto na po, matutuloy na po kami, heto na po, parating na po ang PBA,” said Marcial.

Games will be shown live on One Sports and PBA Rush with Wednesday, Friday and Sunday matches televised on TV5.

First game will be played at 4:00pm while the second will be 8:00pm.

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