BASKETBALL Pundits welcome return of commercial caging

After a long absence, commercial basketball leagues will make a comeback in Cebu in 2018.

The year will start with the Sinulog Cup next month, followed by two more commercial tournaments.

“We have no basketball activities (after Cesafi) so we’ll have the Sinulog Cup then after that is the Summer League. I hope we’ll have a Christmas League that could be an invitational,” decorated basketball coach Yayoy Alcoseba told SunStar Cebu.

Alcoseba is working on bringing back the good old days of basketball with Cebu City Councilors Jerry Guardo and Jun Gabuya, and the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) headed by its chairman Edward Hayco.

“We want to revive basketball here in Cebu,” said Alcoseba.

Alcoseba believes that the commercial leagues, which feature college and junior players, should be a good outlet to showcase the talent of local players.

“Hopefully some of the products of inter-barangays get noticed and earn scholarships, while senior players get a chance to play after they graduate,” said Alcoseba, who is the head coach of University of Cebu Webmasters.

Unversity of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers mentor Gary Cortes believes that this is a huge development for local basketball. However, he feels that commercial leagues should set rules that should favor the local up-and-coming young players.

“I’m a product of Cebu commercial basketball. If ever this pushes through, we need to have an age limit and base it on the age that will qualify for the PBA DLeague or PBA, and team strengths need to be balanced. Players need to apply for draft, players are to be paid on a monthly basis. There’s a salary cap so that team owners can sustain, and with a legal contract for the players so that they can’t abandon their teams in favor of ‘panalay’, from which they earn much bigger on a per game basis. Organizers and commissioners should be transparent and not be connected to any of the member-teams to avoid protests and allegations that they favor one team over the other. The players should be the ones who will win the games and not the organizers and the officials.”

University of San Carlos (USC) head coach Bong Abad also shares Cortes’ sentiments.

“For me this is important for our local players because it has been a very long time since there have been commercial leagues in Cebu. This is also an opportunity for the players to show their talent in basketball and to build their confidence for professional basketball. At the same time, the basketball fanatics will be entertained,” he said./

A revival of commercial basketball leagues in Cebu is a welcome development for all the players, especially those players who have just ended their playing years in college, to give them another chance to showcase their abilities in basketball. GARY CORTES UV head coach