One cliché that never gets old is
that you cannot keep a good something or someone down. It may be an individual,
a group, an ideal, or a sports league. If it is good, it is going to go forth.
And despite the long pause wrought by COVID-19 particularly in the “NCR Plus”
bubble of months past, the Philippine Basketball Association finally got to
kick off its 46th season into the latter half of 2021. It was a
simple opening ceremony that greeted the players at noon this Friday, which is
just as well. They have three games to play.
According to The Manila Bulletin, the 2021 PBA season 46 in the middle of the
day this Friday, July 16, at the Ynares Sports Complex in Pasig. The opening
ceremony, which started 11 AM, was expectedly sparse, no thanks to COVID
restrictions. But a brief intro is just right to get the league up to speed in
its regular season, by fitting three inaugural games one after the other
beginning just after lunchtime. The Alaska Aces took on the Blackwater Bossing
this 12:30 PM, the NLEX Road Warriors were matched against Rain or Shine
beginning 3 PM, and the Meralco Bolts have repeat business with NorthPort later
at 6 PM.
For the first game of Alaska vs.
Blackwater, the former would make good mileage out of their free agent Yousef
Taha, which would make up for ex-Aces guard Simon Enciso who would score long-range
baskets for the Bossing to make the first half a formidable contest. Alaska
head coach Jeff Cariaso was especially proud of how his squad weathered the
storm of their former teammate Enciso, who would score 23 points in his first
outing for Blackwater. Once he tired out however, the Aces would strike back at
second half.
With Taha doing 16 points and seven
rebounds as part of a foundation, Alaska would surge ahead in Q3 when Mike
DiGregorio contributed 20 points total, giving the Aces a lead that the Bossing
could not quite recover from. Ultimately Alaska would humble Blackwater with a
solid 103-77 finish, just the right tone to set for the inaugural game of PBA
season 2021. And two more matches would follow afterward. Game 2 on opening
day, NLEX vs. Rain or Shine, is especially noteworthy seeing as Kiefer Ravena
is a Road Warrior this season, after plans to have him play in a Japanese
league got canned.
Images courtesy of Inquirer.net
0 comments:
Post a Comment