IT’S Sunday night at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Angeles City, Pampanga. NLEX is playing Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the second of two games kicking off the restart of the Philippine Cup in the shortened 45th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
You don’t hear the defeaning roar of rabid Ginebra fans because except for team members, officials, staff, TV crew and a few media, no one else is allowed inside the gym.
But you hear one familiar holler that stands out and reverberates through the gym walls and into the parking lot.
You guessed it right, that raging voice could be from NLEX Head Coach Yeng Guiao.
“I guess without the crowd [they’re playing Ginebra], my voice will stand out,” Guiao told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I guess my voice will be even louder because it won’t be drowned out by the crowd’s noise.”
But Guiao said with or without the crowd, the game remains the same—although hinting things could get physical because without anyone in the venue, players tend to become more emotional.
“Like a simple tune-up game,” Guiao said. “It looks like that you are playing in a closed-door gym where everything is at stake, and of course that becomes a competitive game for sure.”
Guiao said the bubble doesn’t offer any deep effect in his team’s system, much so on his coaching style.
“I don’t think it will change my coaching ways because there’s no crowd and the venue is so silent,” he said. “I have been coaching for 30 years and I don’t think you are going to change because of your environment.”
Guiao could be feeling the comforts of home the most among those in the PBA entourage while inside the bubble. He hails from Magalang town and was Pampanga’s former vice governor.
But he says he’s not.
“You can’t still go out so you can’t see your friends and family, so it’s useless and there’s no advantage even if you’re in your hometown,” he said. “The only advantage is if you know someone who is working in the hotel or the playing venue, you can talk with each other in Kapampangan.”
The NLEX-Ginebra game on Sunday is set at 6:45 p.m., right after TnT Tropang Giga plays Alaska in the 4 p.m. curtain raiser. NLEX will play without veterans Larry Fonacier (family reasons) and Cyrus Baguio.
A total of 66 games will be played in the eliminations capped by a rare triple header on October 31 featuring Blackwater against Terrafirma, Meralco opposite TnT and Rain or Shine versus Phoenix.
The eliminations end on November 11 or a month since the all-Filipino conference started.
The playoffs and Finals are set in December with the league looking to wrap up the abbreviated season on December 15.