PBA posts impressive numbers for season-opening meet

The Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) move of reverting to its three-conference format – the league’s old, winning formula – is turning out to be a correct decision. Indications that the 2010-11 season could turn out to be a banner year for commissioner Chito Salud surfaced over the weekend when the league released the figures – representing the attendance and gate receipts – in the just concluded Philippine Cup. Average gate attendance per game day in the season-opening meet, which Talk ‘N Text won, rose by eight percent compared to last year’s edition of the same tournament topped by B-Meg Derby Ace. PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial also said that gate receipts improved by an astonishing 25 percent from last year. Marcial said the gross gate receipts reached P38,014,005, or a seven percent jump from last season’s All-Filipino Cup despite having eight play dates less. There were only 49 game days this season, compared to last year’s 57. Under Salud, Asia’s pioneering professional league reverted to its regular three conferences a year after five seasons of implementing a two-conference format. This was seen as part of its commitment to help in the training and formation of the national team. Likewise, the gross gate receipts of this year’s Philippine Cup turned out to be 16 percent higher than the league’s target revenue for the conference. "Apparently, the short elimination round and longer playoffs tend to be more appealing to the fans," Marcial said. Officiating gets passing mark Efforts of the Commissioner’s Office to improve officiating could have added to the success as well. At least four coaches who were asked to assess the officiating in the recent Philippine Cup Finals gave the referees a passing mark. Alaska’s Tim Cone, Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine, Powerade’s Bo Perasol and Ryan Gregorio of Meralco all agreed that while it may not have been perfect, officiating was the least of their concerns during the most crucial time of the season-opening meet. All four witnessed the quality of the calls up close and personal when they sat as part of the Solar television panel during the entire stretch of the best-of-seven title series won by Talk ‘N Text in six games. "That’s the beauty of good officiating. You won’t notice it at all," said Perasol. "I think the game officials did a great job." Even more gracious was Gregorio, who had his own share of technical fouls in the past for resenting the referees’ calls. "I thought the officiating was above par. I didn’t see any violent reactions from the coaches who usually vent their frustrations if the call went against them. No controversies were noted, and obviously the officials did not decide any of the games." "The best test of the success of a series is when the players are the ones who decide the outcome of the game, and the referees are there just to maintain parity in the game," Gregorio added. Salud has prioritized officiating as one of the major concerns needed to be addressed for the league to gain the trust of both member teams and fans alike. True, fines were meted on Mark Yee (P10,000) and Emerson Oreta (P5,000) for committing physical plays in the waning minutes of Game 3. But no violent incident happened during the Finals. Ryan Reyes and Jason Castro were also assessed fines for flagrant fouls after reviews of Games 1 and 5 by the Office of the Commissioner. And that should be enough for even the most vocal critics of PBA referees – Cone and Guiao – to give them the thumbs up. "I thought it was fine though a bit physical," Cone said. “It seemed that the players adjusted well to what was being called." Guiao added, "Quite decent. There were lapses, but not enough to affect the result of the games." Chot Reyes, the Talk ‘N Text mentor, praised the way the referees handled themselves in the first conference Finals held under Salud’s term. And he clarified it’s not because they won. For him, it’s all just a matter of giving credit where credit is due. Win or lose. "Commissioner Salud committed to both teams during the press conference just before the Finals that the referees will not be a factor in the series. So if the referees are doing their jobs, why would I complain," Reyes said. "They didn’t hear from us because even in the games that we lost (Games 3 and 4), the referees did a wonderful job. And that propped us to go to the Commissioner’s Office to give them kudos for a job well done." – JVP, KY, GMA News