Barangay Ginebra on Tuesday leads the last batch of teams that will head to Clark, Pampanga for the start of life inside the PBA bubble.
Defending PBA Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer is also heading to the official residence at Quest Hotel alongside Rain or Shine, NLEX, NorthPort, Alaska and Blackwater.
Five teams arrived Monday in Clark to earn the distinction of being the first to see the things every PBA bubble participant will experience over the next couple of months at least.
Players, coaches and staff of Magnolia, TNT, Phoenix Super LPG, Meralco and Terra Firma, however, had to undergo swab tests and a 24-hour quarantine inside their hotel rooms before they could be allowed to start 5-on-5 scrimmages at Angeles University Foundation.
The same protocols will be observed by the final group of teams that will arrive in the hotel.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone is hoping his players can respond to whatever the challenges the bubble will present, starting with the scrimmages followed by the resumption of the Philippine Cup, the season’s lone conference, on Oct. 11.
“We’re hoping everything goes like clockwork, but we know there will be some challenges to overcome,” said Cone, whose team is expected to be among the favorites to end SMB’s five-year reign as all-Filipino champions.
“How we meet those challenges will be the key,” added Cone.
Meanwhile, AUF has been busy the past few days installing a wooden floor inside a multipurpose hall that will serve a practice facility for teams.
Photos provided by the PBA over the weekend saw that the court used by the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan was borrowed in order for teams to have a practice area inside the AUF campus.