The Philippines Basketball Association is staging two games in Dubai on Thursday and Friday night. Here are the details.
*Matches begin at 7.30pm both nights at Al Shabab Sports Club’s basketball arena in the Al Waheda area of Dubai. A map can be found at the bottom of this page. Fans are advised to call 04-552-1614 for questions about tickets.
The teams
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, the premier tough-luck club of the Philippines, will play both nights. They have finished runners-up in four of the past eight cups, including the just-completed Commissioner’s Cup, with three 11-game round-robin tournaments followed by play-offs constituting a season.
Their last title was the 2012 Governor’s Cup. They play GlobalPort Batang Pier on Thursday, a team established in 2012/13, and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Friday night, a team whose last title came in 2008.
Star studded
Barangay Ginebra boast Orlando Johnson, who played parts of two NBA seasons, as their star import player.
They also have two Philippines national team players (LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar) who were part of the 2013 Fiba Asia Championships silver medal-winning team.
Star-studded Barangay can also claim 2008/09 MVP JayJay Helterbrand and 2011/12 MVP Mark Caguioa.
Other names
Rain or Shine can claim three members of the national team, Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood and Jeffrei Chan, although Chan is injured. GlobalPort are led by Terrence Romeo, a 2013/14 all-rookie pick who made the all-star team this year in his second season, as well as Stanley Pringle, an American who was the top pick in the 2014 PBA draft.
Happy to be here
“I’m very happy, it’s my first time to play here in Dubai. I’m excited and happy the PBA is in Dubai,” Tenorio said. “Third time back here, always looking forward to playing here in Dubai,” said Caguioa.
“Everyone comes out and greets you, you guys are so nice out here, we’re happy we’re here.”
What it is all about
“These are official games,” said PBA commissioner Chito Salud. “You will see and you will get the taste of what competitive basketball in the PBA really is.”
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @NatSportUAE
