Regional Ball: NBC & MVBA
Bleacher Talk
Sept 17, 2006
Regional Ball: NBC & MVBA
Just when you thought you already had enough of basketball, the scene is shifting to high gear. The UAAP, NCAA, Cebu’s CESAFI and most of the collegiate leagues are entering the crucial playoff stage of it respective tournaments. The PBA is set to kick off in October and this will be followed by the PBL most likely also around October.
But do you know what other leagues are going to keep the country busy with basketball action, especially in the south? Amidst all the mumbo-jumbo of alphabet leagues scattered nationwide, we in the Vismin welcome the regional / commercial basketball leagues: the National Basketball Conference (NBC) and the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA). The NBC kicked off its National Cup yesterday, while the MVBA refuses to be left behind as it launches its second conference on September 23.
One can’t help but ask why there have to be two regional inter-city based leagues. Are the two leagues rivals of each other? If these are separate leagues, does it mean that these have different visions, missions and goals? Does it also mean that the members of both leagues don’t see eye to eye and can’t work together if made to unite as a league? Are these leagues attached to either side of the basketball brouhaha? BAP and Pilipinas Basketball? Or both? Now that both sides are uniting to establish a new mother organization for basketball, will the NBC and MVBA follow suit? Hmmm.
Enough of the questions and let’s look at the good news. For starters, the presence of the NBC and MVBA is a good sign that regional/local basketball is very much alive especially in the Vismin. My latest count coming out of the sports pages indicates that we could be seeing a total of 19 teams/cities are involved in both leagues. And this figure could change as the leagues continue to expand.
Cebu alone is contributing five teams. Arthro-Skygo and Cebu Osmeña will carry Cebu’s colors in the NBC while ML Kwarta Padala Cebu City, Mantawi Traders (Mandaue) and Toledo (are they still existing?) will play in the MVBA. The rest of the Visayas will showcase one Iloilo team each in both leagues. Bacolod has a team in the MVBA.
But we must take our hats off to our neighbor Mindanao that will have 11 teams. The NBC has Ozamis, Pagadian, Iligan, North Cotabato, and Valencia. On the other hand, the MVBA will parade Digos (Montaña Pawnshop), Davao-Duterte, Misamis Oriental, Iligan, MP-GenSan and Lanao del Norte.
When asking why and how two leagues can co-exist, the answer can be seen in the support for basketball (in general and not for any particular league) coming from both the fans and the team owners. Games of both leagues are well-attended because these are the competitive games that local fans have been looking for since they don’t get to see commercial or pro-level ball being played except on TV. And as the saying goes, there’s nothing like the real thing. There’s nothing like watching an actual game up close (and personal), even if it’s not the PBA. Moreover, the presence of local talents playing for their hometowns is like an added bonus on top of the hardcourt action.
Another highlight that I’d like to believe is a result of a combination of the competitive level of play and the abundance of players is the fact that some relatively popular names are now “coming home” from the big leagues. The likes of Stephen Padilla, Bruce Dacia and Gilbert Demape are now in the south where they started playing ball. Other notables (to a lesser degree) include Tata Fernandez, Tonyboy Espinosa, Peter Naron and Bong Marata. And should the PBL be filled with more collegiate and other younger players, you can also expect an invasion of “Tagalogs” playing for Vismin teams. To get a glimpse of veterans who are available to play in the NBC and MVBA, a look at the teams of the Danny Espiritu Cup in Manila should be a coach’s recruiting delight. This tournament featured a mix of PBA free agents and PBL veterans who may not have been re-signed by their former teams. Better players means better competition and more exciting action.
In the end, even if both leagues will compete with each other and people may tend to side with one league, the real winner of all these is us, the Vismin basketball fans. Never before have we been exposed to so much basketball in our lives. And for this, we say thank you to you NBC and MVBA.
Let the games begin!
***
Time-out: Happy birthday to Jude Fantillo, the pride of Miag-ao, Iloilo! >>> For comments, you can reach us at bleachertalk@yahoo.com or http://bleachertalk.blogspot.com.
Sept 17, 2006
Regional Ball: NBC & MVBA
Just when you thought you already had enough of basketball, the scene is shifting to high gear. The UAAP, NCAA, Cebu’s CESAFI and most of the collegiate leagues are entering the crucial playoff stage of it respective tournaments. The PBA is set to kick off in October and this will be followed by the PBL most likely also around October.
But do you know what other leagues are going to keep the country busy with basketball action, especially in the south? Amidst all the mumbo-jumbo of alphabet leagues scattered nationwide, we in the Vismin welcome the regional / commercial basketball leagues: the National Basketball Conference (NBC) and the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA). The NBC kicked off its National Cup yesterday, while the MVBA refuses to be left behind as it launches its second conference on September 23.
One can’t help but ask why there have to be two regional inter-city based leagues. Are the two leagues rivals of each other? If these are separate leagues, does it mean that these have different visions, missions and goals? Does it also mean that the members of both leagues don’t see eye to eye and can’t work together if made to unite as a league? Are these leagues attached to either side of the basketball brouhaha? BAP and Pilipinas Basketball? Or both? Now that both sides are uniting to establish a new mother organization for basketball, will the NBC and MVBA follow suit? Hmmm.
Enough of the questions and let’s look at the good news. For starters, the presence of the NBC and MVBA is a good sign that regional/local basketball is very much alive especially in the Vismin. My latest count coming out of the sports pages indicates that we could be seeing a total of 19 teams/cities are involved in both leagues. And this figure could change as the leagues continue to expand.
Cebu alone is contributing five teams. Arthro-Skygo and Cebu Osmeña will carry Cebu’s colors in the NBC while ML Kwarta Padala Cebu City, Mantawi Traders (Mandaue) and Toledo (are they still existing?) will play in the MVBA. The rest of the Visayas will showcase one Iloilo team each in both leagues. Bacolod has a team in the MVBA.
But we must take our hats off to our neighbor Mindanao that will have 11 teams. The NBC has Ozamis, Pagadian, Iligan, North Cotabato, and Valencia. On the other hand, the MVBA will parade Digos (Montaña Pawnshop), Davao-Duterte, Misamis Oriental, Iligan, MP-GenSan and Lanao del Norte.
When asking why and how two leagues can co-exist, the answer can be seen in the support for basketball (in general and not for any particular league) coming from both the fans and the team owners. Games of both leagues are well-attended because these are the competitive games that local fans have been looking for since they don’t get to see commercial or pro-level ball being played except on TV. And as the saying goes, there’s nothing like the real thing. There’s nothing like watching an actual game up close (and personal), even if it’s not the PBA. Moreover, the presence of local talents playing for their hometowns is like an added bonus on top of the hardcourt action.
Another highlight that I’d like to believe is a result of a combination of the competitive level of play and the abundance of players is the fact that some relatively popular names are now “coming home” from the big leagues. The likes of Stephen Padilla, Bruce Dacia and Gilbert Demape are now in the south where they started playing ball. Other notables (to a lesser degree) include Tata Fernandez, Tonyboy Espinosa, Peter Naron and Bong Marata. And should the PBL be filled with more collegiate and other younger players, you can also expect an invasion of “Tagalogs” playing for Vismin teams. To get a glimpse of veterans who are available to play in the NBC and MVBA, a look at the teams of the Danny Espiritu Cup in Manila should be a coach’s recruiting delight. This tournament featured a mix of PBA free agents and PBL veterans who may not have been re-signed by their former teams. Better players means better competition and more exciting action.
In the end, even if both leagues will compete with each other and people may tend to side with one league, the real winner of all these is us, the Vismin basketball fans. Never before have we been exposed to so much basketball in our lives. And for this, we say thank you to you NBC and MVBA.
Let the games begin!
***
Time-out: Happy birthday to Jude Fantillo, the pride of Miag-ao, Iloilo! >>> For comments, you can reach us at bleachertalk@yahoo.com or http://bleachertalk.blogspot.com.
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