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It’s Sunday night at the University of Angeles Foundation gym in the city of Angeles, Pampanga. NLEX will play Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the second of two games that kicked off the Philippine Cup restart in the shortened 45th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
You don’t hear the defensive roar from the rabid Geneva fans because except for team members, officials, staff, the television crew and some media, no one else is allowed into the gym.
But you hear a familiar scream that stands out and reverberates through the gym walls and into the parking lot.
You guessed it right, that angry voice could be from NLEX’s head coach Yeng Guiao.
“I guess without the crowd [they’re playing Ginebra], my voice will stand out, ”Guiao told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I guess my voice will be even louder because the noise from the crowd won’t drown it out.”
But Guiao said that with or without the crowd, the game remains the same, although hinting that things can get physical because with no one in the room, players tend to get more emotional.
“Like a simple tune-up game,” Guiao said. “It seems like you’re playing in a closed-door gym where everything is on the line, and of course that makes for a safe competitive game.”
Guiao said the bubble does not offer any profound effect on his team’s system, much more on his coaching style.
“I don’t think I will change the way I train because there are no people and the place is very quiet,” he said. “I’ve been training for 30 years and I don’t think you’re going to change because of your environment.”
Guiao might be feeling more of the comforts of home among those in the PBA entourage while inside the bubble. He comes from the city of Magalang and was the former deputy governor of Pampanga.
But he says it is not.
“You still can’t go out, so you can’t see your friends and family, so it’s useless and there’s no advantage even if you’re in your hometown,” he said. “The only advantage is that if you know someone who is working at the hotel or at the game venue, you can talk to each other in Kapampangan.”
Sunday’s NLEX-Geneva match is set at 6:45 pm, right after TnT Tropang Giga plays Alaska at the 4 pm curtain opening. NLEX will play without veterans Larry Fonacier (family reasons) and Cyrus Baguio.
A total of 66 games will be played in the eliminations capped by a rare triple header on October 31 with Blackwater versus Terrafirma, Meralco versus TnT and Rain or Shine versus Phoenix.
The eliminations end on November 11, or a month after the Filipino conference began.
The playoffs and finals are set in December and the league seeks to conclude the shortened season on December 15.
