Climax in Cebu

CEBU CITY — All good things must come to an end and so, too, will the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) All-Star Week.

The festivities come to a climactic close at the Cebu Coliseum tonight. And the curtains will fall in a dramatic finish capped by the much-awaited All-Star Game. That’s not all. The program starts off with the Slam Dunk Contest featuring titleholder Brandon Cablay up against a slew of hungry challengers–two-time king Joey Mente, Marc Pingris, Sonny Thoss, Bitoy Omolon, Ronald Tubid, Cyrus Baguio, Asi Taulava, Sunday Salvacion, Reynel Hugnatan and Peter June Simon.

Cebu will never be the same again after the show.

PBA commissioner Noli Eala couldn’t have come up with a more brilliant concept for an All-Star Week. He successfully brought the PBA straight to the Visayan doorstep in a goodwill tour that has reestablished the league’s intimacy with the bustling Queen City of the South.

The PBA no longer belongs to just imperial Manila. It now belongs to Cebu and increasingly, to the other key cities of the country. In the coming First Conference, Eala has scheduled even more provincial games than ever before and three overseas outings to reach out to Filipino overseas workers in Guam, Jakarta and Hong Kong.

The bold approach of broadening the PBA’s markets is an offshoot of Eala’s vision to assure a long-term existence for the league. No doubt, the PBA is here to stay and Eala has guaranteed it.

Like the National Basketball Association (NBA) that has adopted a policy of globalization, the PBA is breaching borders and extending its reach to markets that were previously untapped.

Of course, the Southern tour wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Patrick Gregorio, chairman of the Cebu Visitors and Convention Bureau. Turning the All-Star Week into a huge attraction is a testament to Gregorio’s expertise as a tourism practitioner.

"The concept is to promote tourism packages revolving around a sporting event," said Gregorio, a Tourism Management cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines and the first Ten Outstanding Young Men awardee for tourism in the 45-year history of the prestigious Jaycees search. "There are 82 million Filipinos and we want them all to see the beauty of the Philippines. Sports tourism is a major component of this effort."

Gregorio pointed out that the world’s biggest tourism events are anchored on sports competitions like Formula I racing, the World Cup of soccer, the Olympics, Wimbledon and the Grand Slam competitions. No one will argue that the Thrilla in Manila in 1975 put the Philippines firmly into global consciousness.

The PBA All-Star Week is a prime example of sports tourism at work.

PBA media bureau chief Willie Marcial said fans from all over the Visayas and Mindanao are converging for the double-barreled climax tonight. The problem is how to accommodate the legions trooping to the coliseum. A sell-out is a foregone conclusion. What’s causing Marcial a giant migraine is the unbelievable demand for tickets and fans who traveled long distances to show up aren’t taking no for an answer.

As for the All-Star Game, it should be a humdinger.

Coach Joel Banal, subbing for the honeymooning Siot Tanquingcen, will call the shots for the South squad whose starters are Taulava, Kenneth Duremdes, Jimmy Alapag, James Yap and Eric Menk. Duremdes took Danny Siegle’s spot in the starting cast. The reserves are Dondon Hontiveros, Dale Singson, Junthy Valenzuela, Tubid, John Ferriols, Jun Limpot and Thoss.

Mentoring the North squad is Red Bull’s Yeng Guiao. The North starters are four-time All-Star Game MVP Vergel Meneses, Romel Adducul, Olsen Racela, Paul Artadi and Rich Alvarez who replaced injured Danny Ildefonso. The relievers are Don Allado (for Rudy Hatfield), Tony de la Cruz (for Jeffrey Cariaso), Enrico Villanueva (for Dennis Espino), DaVonn Harp, Ali Peek, Mark Caguioa and Willie Miller.

On paper, the South has the edge because of the familiarity factor. Banal has the luxury of playing his Talk N’ Text point guard–Alapag–and center–Taulava–together. It’s no secret that the key to winning an All-Star Game is chemistry.

The North’s star-studded backcourt is the ace up Guiao’s sleeve but it could also be his Achilles heel. Racela and Artadi as starters are redundant. So are Caguioa and Miller as shock troopers. But if Guiao is able to harness his resources to generate a team effort, the South will be hard pressed to match the North’s collective skills.

Who will be the MVP is an intriguing mystery. Surely, Taulava will be a prime candidate. But expect Allado, Villanueva, Harp and Peek to slow him down. On the North side, Caguioa is a darkhorse bet coming off a spectacular all-around performance (26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) in the title-clinching Game 4 of the Fiesta Conference Finals.

You can be sure the PBA All-Star Week will be talked about for a long, long time to come.