THE Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is all set to complete its shuttered Lakan Cup season on Wednesday with do-or-die national finals matches that will be played inside a bubble at the Subic Bay Freeport gymnasium.
MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes said all systems are go for the regional basketball league whose playoffs was halted in March 12 last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The four remaining teams are raring to restart their championship campaigns but they have to do it under an environment totally different from the past and without fans.
“The MPBL is ready 100 percent, but again all of this is new for us, even for the players,” said Duremdes straight from his quarantine room in Subic on Tuesday in the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.
“We know that we are ready, but we are facing a lot of challenges,” he said.
The South Division Finals between Basilan Steel and Davao Occidental Tigers kick off hostilities at 4 p.m., followed by the San Juan Knights-Makati Super Crunch Northern Division showdown at 7 p.m. The first game will be shown live on A2Z, while the second game will be aired on Facebook live.
Both best-of-three series are tied at 1-1 before the season was suspended.
“Both games are do-or-die, you lose, you go home,” stressed Duremdes in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Go For Gold, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
“Imagine, after all those sacrifices from the players and team owners and the difficult process to resume the season, and one miss you’re gone,” he added.
There is no confirmation that MPBL founder and benefactor Manny Pacquiao will watch the games in person.
Game 1 of the best-of-five title series will start on March 12.
All teams and league personnel were quarantined after undergoing swab tests. The MPBL delegation entered Subic in batches, with defending champion San Juan and Davao checking in last Friday and the rest coming in last Monday, including Makati and Basilan.
All 22 members per team were allowed in the bubble, while people inside the gym will be limited to a hundred.