By Adrian Stewart Co
Six Western Visayas (WV)-based basketball players will suit up in the inaugural edition of the Filbasket tournament, which will open today at Subic Bay Gymnasium.
Burlington EOG Sports will have two Negros Occidental-based cagers in its lineup in Silay City-native John Byron Villarias and Kabankalan City-native Jhan Nermal.
Davao Occidental Tigers, meanwhile, also has two Region 6 players in its roster in Estancia, Iloilo-native Billy Ray Robles and Silay City-native Robbie Celiz.
FSD Makati Army, on the other hand, has Bacolod City-native Lance Jomalesa, while Iloilo City-native Ken Bono will banner MTrans Buracai De Laiya BCTA.
Apart from the four, other participating teams are 7A Primus, AICC Manila Basketball Team, Medical Depot, Muntinlupa Defenders, Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors, Nueva Ecija Bespren, and San Juan Knights-Go For Gold.
Among the games scheduled for today are San Juan and 7A Primus at 3:30 p.m., Burlington and Nueva Ecija at 5:40 p.m., and Davao Occidental and AICC at 7:50 p.m.
Filbasket, the newly created amateur league founded by Jai Reyes, will run from October 28 to November 22, and it will follow a single-round robin format, quarterfinals, knockout semifinals, and a best-of-three finals.
“We’re doing this to help the players because they’ve been doing nothing for almost two years,” said Reyes. “It’s just a 26-day tournament and only allowances are going to be given to the players from the teams.”
“Going to our future plans, if indeed we do grow into a league that is worthy to fit the description of a pro league, then we have no problem in complying with the GAB,” he added.
Games will be shown live on Filbasket’s official Facebook page, YouTube channel, and TikTok account./ASC, WDJ