PBA draft set Dec. 8

MANILA, Philippines — PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said yesterday the league has scheduled the annual draft on Sunday, Dec. 8, while the Governors Cup is on break to give way to the SEA Games, giving an opportunity for graduating collegiate players to join since the UAAP and NCAA will have completed their basketball seasons by then.

The ongoing Commissioner’s Cup will end on Aug. 21, assuming every playoff series goes the distance, including the best-of-seven finals. The schedule was structured to allow for a break during the FIBA World Cup in China on Aug. 31-Sept. 15.

Gilas head coach Yeng Guiao is expected to name the players in the national pool this month. The plan is to conduct once-a-week practice starting in July, escalating to twice-a-week before the team travels to Europe, possibly Spain, for an intensive training camp.

After the World Cup, the PBA will launch its third conference, the Governors Cup, on Sept. 20. If every playoff series up to the semifinals extends to the full route, the pre-finals schedule will end on Dec. 22. The best-of-seven finals will start in January the next year with the PBA taking a holiday break.

PBA operations and technical director Eric Castro said the league recently approved the reduction of the minimum requirement to play in the D-League for Fil-foreigners applying for the draft from 14 to nine games. The minimum requirement for locals remains seven games. Exemptions will be made for Gilas veterans and players who are 27 and over. The minimum age for local draft applicants is 21 but if a player has graduated from college, is a Gilas veteran and played at least seven games in the D-League, he will be eligible even if less than 21.

Castro said improving the quality of officiating remains a high priority. The season opened with 22 referees and now the list is down to 20, including Bing Oliva who was recently slapped a 10-playing game day suspension and will be reactivated on June 22. Oliva was the referee who made the “basic” review gesture when R. R. Pogoy tripped by himself and missed Terrence Jones’ strike below Calvin Abueva’s belt during the tumultuous TNT-Phoenix game last Sunday.

Castro said the D-League has a roster of 12  referees, down from 16 at the start of the year. “Our goal is to bring up two to three D-League referees to the PBA but that depends on performance,” he said. “We’re employing the big brother system in the D-League playoffs where a PBA referee is the crew chief working with two D-League referees.” Castro said the PBA will call for nationwide tryouts for referees in October.

“We’re coordinating closely with SBP special assistant to the president Ryan Gregorio who’s in charge of SBP’s referees development,” said Castro. “We’re hoping SBP could also provide referees for the PBA in the future.”

Castro said one of the most difficult calls to make is to determine a block or a charge. An example was in Game 7 of the recent Philippine Cup Finals where in a crucial play down the stretch, Magnolia’s Mark Barroca was called for a block against San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo. “Some people felt it was a charge but if you review the film closely, you’ll notice June Mar didn’t dip his shoulder and made a normal basketball move spinning to take a shot while Mark moved his right foot forward,” he said. “The key is to determine if the defender established position before the contact. If the defender moves even a little bit, it’s a block. We are constantly reviewing film with our referees so we can learn and improve from experience.”