PBA 3x3 to apply FIBA rules

Two guest teams will participate in the PBA’s 3x3 tournament this season and they’re putting up an investment of more than P6 million to participate. Pioneer Epoxy and Frontrow will join the PBA’s 12 existing franchises to play 3x3 in each of the league’s three conferences. The inaugural 3x3 joust starts April 12.

There’s a significant implication to the Philippines’ involvement with FIBA in the PBA’s 3x3. FIBA employs a world ranking system for 3x3 and the countries high up the ladder are given priority to compete in the Olympics as direct qualifiers if in the top three or through a qualifying tournament if in the top 24. This year, 3x3 will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo with eight teams in the men’s division and eight in the women’s.

The Philippines was ranked No. 60 by FIBA at the start of last year then inched its way to No. 20, making the cut for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT). Under FIBA’s eligibility rules, the national 3x3 team must be composed of at least two players in the country’s top 10 rankings and a limit of two unranked or random players. Two reserves must also be in the top 10. Because the PBA wasn’t actively involved in 3x3 last year, the national team playing in the OQT listed pros C. J. Perez and Mo Tautuaa as random players and SBP’s No. 1 Joshua Munzon and No. 2 Alvin Pasaol. The reserves will come from the list of other players in the top 10. In the recent SEA Games, there were no ranking restrictions so the national team was composed of pros Perez, Tautuaa, Jason Perkins and Chris Newsome.

With the PBA backing up SBP’s 3x3 drive, pros will now be able to climb the ranking ladder. The PBA 3x3 will automatically be a FIBA 3x3 endorsed tournament under the “olive” color code for “open” category competitions. In a memorandum from the office of PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, it’s stated that “all eligible players will be given an official FIBA 3x3 player profile…since the PBA 3x3 is a FIBA 3x3 endorsed tournament, all players who are successfully registered as a participant in the 3x3 event will be able to gain points as part of the FIBA 3x3 individual work ranking…more ranking points will be earned if the same roster of players will be played every game and throughout the conference…individual ranking of players will be consolidated at the end of the conference…points will vary on the level of the event…the PBA 3x3 shall be governed by FIBA playing rules for 3x3 tournaments.”

Marcial said the PBA’s 3x3 program is a collaborative effort with SBP. “The PBA, with SBP, aims to provide more opportunities for talented basketball players to play in the Olympics and FIBA-sanctioned tournaments to prepare them for a future professional career in basketball,” he said. “The PBA 3x3 also actively serves as a vehicle for promoting the products and services of participating teams through the platforms made available to it.”

PBA 3x3 rules stipulate a fine of P1,000 for every technical foul, P5,000 for every flagrant foul and P10,000 for every flagrant foul two. In FIBA 3x3, there are no coaches. Any team that fails to appear in a scheduled game or fails to field three players during a contest shall pay a fine of P300,000 for each outing.