PBA teams now inside Clark ‘bubble’
ALL 12 TEAMS of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are expected to be inside the “bubble” made for them inside the Clark Freeport Zone on Tuesday, September 29.
Five teams made the trip to Pampanga on Monday, September 28. These were the Magnolia Hotshots, TnT Tropang Giga, Terra Firma Dyip, Meralco Bolts, and the Phoenix Fuel Masters.
The other seven PBA squads— Barangay Ginebra, Alaska, NLEX, Blackwater, Rain or Shine, NorthPort, and San Miguel will all arrive at the Quest Hotel, where all PBA teams are staying,
on Tuesday.
PBA players, coaches and staff all went through swab testing and were requested to stay in their own rooms until the results came out. Negative results will give PBA teams the green light to play in scrimmage games amongst themselves.
The PBA is slated to restart its stalled Philippine Cup on October 11, 2020.
"Thankful sa PBA sa effort na ginagawa nila para matuloy ang liga. We'll just try our best on how to manage the situation inside the bubble," Magnolia head coach Chito Victolero was quoted as saying on the league’s official website.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beermen will be playing in the restart of the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) Philippine Cup without wingman Matt Ganuelas-Rosser who opted out of the Clark “bubble,” citing personal reasons.
Ganuelas- Rosser is the second player to make such a decision after NLEX’s veteran off guard Larry Fonacier did the same a few weeks ago. This development also leaves the reigning Philippine Cup champions without another key player especially since they are already without Cebuano stalwart June Mar Fajardo, who is still on the road to recovery following a serious shin injury earlier this year.
Ganuelas-Rosser actually tried to make it back in time for the PBA restart, which kicks off on October 11 but was unable to secure a flight back to the Philippines.
San Miguel is gunning for an unprecedented sixth straight Philippine Cup crown.