Basketball leagues stage charity games for 'Ondoy' victims

by Joel Orellana, Business Mirror | 09/28/2009 11:25 PM

MANILA - The basketball community is lending a helping hand to the victims of Typhoon Ondoy by staging two charity games involving the country’s major leagues, dubbed “Pinoy Basketball, Kakampi Ninyo,” on October 5 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) executive director Noli Eala made the announcement on Monday after meeting with representatives of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Philippine Basketball League (PBL), Liga Pilipinas, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The first game will feature a selection of UAAP and NCAA players against a selection from the PBL and Liga Pilipinas.

The highlight match will be the duel between the PBA-backed Team Pilipinas and the Smart Gilas of the SBP under Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.

“Araneta has agreed to give the venue for free. We will donate all the proceeds from the tickets,” said Eala.

“We are also asking all the leagues to donate rubber shoes or rubber slippers and we all decided to give the donation to ABS-CBN Foundation,” he added.

Details of the charity games, including ticket prices, are still being discussed.

The participation of players from Ateneo and University of the East, which are disputing the UAAP crown on Thursday, however, remains doubtful, as well as players from NCAA teams vying in the Final Four seedings.

The centerpiece match offers a major side event - Japeth Aguilar who up to now refuses to sign up with Burger King. The PBA banned Aguilar from the Philippine Cup, where Smart Gilas is a guest team.

The PBA-backed Team Pilipinas finished eighth in the Tianjin (China) Asian championship and failed to qualify for the world championship in Turkey in 2010. Smart Gilas, on the other hand, is a developmental team that will vie in the 2011 Asians for a possible slot in the 2012 London Olympics.

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