The PBA, once again, is making another sacrifice for the national team.
The league, following a board meeting just before the weekend, has decided to compress the schedule of the 2022 PBA Governors' Cup to give Gilas Pilipinas ample time to prepare for its bid to reclaim the gold medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
In anticipation of the national team possibly tapping the services of PBA players anew, the Season 47’s third conference, initially slated to end in May 10 and will run smack into the SEA Games set on May 5 to 17, is set to be shortened.
That means that there could be additional playing days, aside from the usual four days a week schedule and triple headers for the next conference.
“Baka tayo pa rin ang sumali sa SEA Games," said Marcial on Saturday, Nov. 26.
“Baka maglaro tayo ng Thursday or may triple header. Kailangan bilisan natin para mabigyan ng time na makapag-practice (ang national team) bago mag SEA Games,” he added.
The move was the latest adjustments the PBA has made to provide support to the national team which aside from the SEA Games, will also be preparing for the 2023 FIBA World Cup which the country will be co-hosting with Japan and Indonesia in August.
The PBA had earlier decided to reduce its Season 48 calendar to two conferences to free up the players and let them focus on the Gilas buildup for the World Cup, leaving the league on a four-month break.
In order to fill the void, Marcial also bared league plans to stage a mini-tournament from June to July with the teams playing in some sort of preseason games which could be down out-of-town,
“Magkakaroon tayo ng mini-tournament and matatapos siguro within two months. Parang pre-season tournament. Gagawin natin yun para masuklian naman kasi yung owners natin. Nawala na nung Covid (several conferences), tapos mawawala pa ng apat na buwan,” explained Marcial.