NEWCOMER Blackwater Sports clashes with Kia as the 40th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup gets going on Sunday at the cavernous Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The Elite and Sorento, which will parade boxing icon Manny Pacquiao as playing coach, collide at 3 p.m., to be followed by blockbuster encounter between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Talk ‘N Text in the main game at 5:15 p.m.
The league has prepared a two-hour opening ceremony that will include the traditional parade of the teams and their muses.
While the Kings-Tropang Texters duel is the main attraction of the twin bill, Kia’s debut is also expected to hog the limelight with the presence of Pacquiao, the 11th overall pick of Sorento in the recent Rookie Draft.
At first, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach hesitated at allowing the boxing champion to play on Sunday because his title fight with American Chris Algieri is only a month away. But Roach reportedly gave in.
“I’ll only allow him to see action for only one minute,” Roach said in jest. “Of course, he can play as long as he wishes. If that’s what it will take to make the fans happy.”
Kia is one of three newcomers in the league and undeniably has the weakest roster in the 12-team field. Rich Alvarez, the 2004 top pick, is the only big name on the roster, while the rest were either picked up from the lottery pick or signed as free agents hoping to have another shot at PBA glory.
The Elite of Head Coach Leo Isaac seems to have a solid team in veterans Eddie Laure, Paul Artadi, Sunday Salvacion and Larry Rodriguez, and promising players Alex Nuyles, Juami Tiongson and Bambam Gamalinda.
Blackwater beat Kia, 88-77, in a preseason game in Binan on October 4, where Pacquiao suited up for a couple of minutes and sank one free throw.
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Crowd-drawer Ginebra and Talk ‘N Text, meanwhile, are bringing in almost intact rosters.
The Tropang Texters have a new coach in Jong Uichico, the former Kings mentor who won eight PBA titles.
The Manuel V. Pangilinan franchise added youth to its aging roster with the signing of former Gilas cadet players Matthew Ganuelas and Kevin Alas, the No. 2 overall pick of Rain or Shine but was traded for future picks.
Anthony Washington is also returning to the Talk ‘N Text camp, which will miss the services of Gilas players Jimmy Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo.
Uichico said the two national team mainstays were given a three-week respite after their stints in the World Cup in Spain and Asian Games in Incheon.
“We’re still in the feeling-out stage because we have new acquisitions, and we’re still figuring out how they could contribute to the team,” Uichico said.
He will be up against his former player Jeffrey Cariaso, who is now on his second season as Kings head coach.
Cariaso, who played for Uichico on the 2002 Asian Games team in Busan, South Korea, tabbed Joseph Yeo and inked rookie Rodney Brondial of Adamson University to a three-year contract.