LATEST ONE-ON-ONE WITH PBA COMMISSIONER

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With a full 31 days over for the year 2014, pba.ph sits down with PBA Commissioner Chito Salud to discuss the biggest issues for the league.

pba.ph: With the 2014 Philippine Cup semifinals well on its way, we only have four teams gutting it out for the championship. Do you think that they are the best four teams in the league this conference?

Comm. Salud: Yes. You have Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine which are consistently in the Top Four for the whole conference. You have Petron Blaze, which was also one of the leaders but just fell back later in the eliminations. And you have San Mig Coffee, which came out strong on the latter stages. Yes, I do believe that they are the Top Four in this conference.

pba.ph: In your opinion, is there any one of those four which owns a clear-cut advantage for the title?

Comm. Salud: At this stage of the semis, no, I cannot say who has the advantage. I think all four of them can easily be in the Finals.

pba.ph: The past month has been tainted with flagrant fouls which resulted in you meeting with some players and eventual penalties. What have you told the players who were summoned by your office?

Comm. Salud: As I’ve always emphasized to the players – you are role models. You cannot be violent oncourt. You cannot cross the line of unsportsmanlike behavior because our fans, particularly the kids, are looking up to you. That is not correct basketball. We allow tough defense. We allow physicality, but only to a certain extent. You cannot cross the boundaries of flagrant fouls and unsportsmanlike behavior, and they admit that they did cross that line.

pba.ph: How did these players respond to your meetings?

Comm. Salud: Each of those players would respond differently. They will play their best. Some take time to get back to form, but in the whole, they do realize that they have that role of being models to the youth, and they have the responsibility to always play in their best.

pba.ph: There are also some issues regarding the officiating in some games. What are you doing to implement the fairness of the games when it comes to the technical side of things, especially with the referees?

Comm. Salud: Our referees are trained and oriented to be competent, consistent, and fair. Most importantly, they are trained to implement the announced guidelines of this league with respect to the kind of play that we allow. Anytime that they do not observe the parameters of the officiating that we have imposed and announced, they get sanctions. And I am going to say this clearly– their sanctions are heavier than the sanctions that I mete out to the players.

pba.ph: For the record, what are those sanctions that you talk about?

Comm. Salud: Fines and suspensions. And in other cases, they’re out for the rest of the conference.

pba.ph: June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, and Greg Slaughter are in the Top Five of the Best Player of the Conference race. With the young guys being at the forefront of the league in terms of leading their respective teams to victory, can we say that we are now witnessing a “changing of the guard”?

Comm. Salud: The new players – the rookies, the sophomores, and even the juniors – they’re the lifeblood of the league. The future of the league. And it’s evident right now that they’re leading the league in terms of statistics, in terms of fan base, and in terms of popularity. So I think they are in a good spot right now having these young players. Big men leading the way in terms of performing, and in terms of attracting the fans for the league.

Changing of the guard is a long process. You still have James Yap out there. You still have Mark Caguioa out there. You still have Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, and Ranidel de Ocampo out there. That will be a long process before we can finally say that these young turks have finally taken over for the league.

The new players challenge our veterans and compel them to elevate their games. What you see here is not just the coming of a new breed of players, but also veterans who are elevating their play to be able to stay on top of the game.

pba.ph: In our past interview, you said that the PBA is committed to helping the national team in any way possible, that it is a commitment that the league has willingly undertaken. And on Thursday, the PBA Board of Governors and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) had a meeting regarding the team’s preparation for the FIBA World Cup this August and the Asian Games in September. Can you talk about the resolutions that you had during that meeting?

Comm. Salud: To amplify my initial statement that the league is fully supportive of our national team, here are the resolutions reached during the board meeting of the PBA Board of Governors on Thursday.

1. Let’s shorten the season from August 13, 2014, ending to as early as July 15, 2014. What does that mean? An additional one month of training for the Gilas team to be ready for the August 30 World Cup and the September 19 Asian Games.

2. Monday practices for the Gilas team players will start immediately after the Philippine Cup Finals and will continue until the Gilas team finally leaves for Spain.

3. Since the Asian Games will extend beyond October, the Board also agreed to delay the opening of the 2015 Season of the PBA from its original October 5 schedule to October 19.

4. Additional players that coach Chot Reyes may have in mind to strengthen the current lineup that he has in the Gilas team can be requested. Coach Chot said that he will consult his coaching staff with regards to choosing the players that he might need both for the World Cup and the Asian Games. And the team owners and the team governors said yes.

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