Rizal Memorial Coliseum, which served as the hub of the 1973 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship and as an alternate venue of the Philippine Basketball Association during its early years, will be used by Asia’s pioneering professional basketball league as one of the venues this season.
The league made its announcement on Tuesday.
The Rizal Memorial Coliseum was the site of the gold medal match between the Philippines and Korea in a game won by the Filipinos in 1973, allowing the country’s cagers to qualify for the World Basketball Championship in Puerto Rico held the following year.
In 1975, the PBA, the first professional basketball league in the region, was created, and since then, it served as an alternate venue in case the Araneta Coliseum won’t be available until the 1982 season.
The PBA returns to Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Saturday when Blackwater and Terrafirma clash at 3 p.m. and Magnolia makes its debut game in the Philippine Cup against Converge at 6:15 p.m.
Earlier, the PBA has also named the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, which was built in the same compound being operated by the government sports agency, Philippine Sports Commission, and the Caloocan Sports Complex, were also named as alternate venues in the metropolis.
The Philippine Cup resumes on Wednesday at the Philsports Arena with Blackwater looking to extend its winning streak and face NLEX in the first game at 4:30 p.m. while Phoenix and Terrafirma battle it out in the main game at 7:30 p.m.
Blackwater is the surprised leader in the Philippine Cup, winning its first three games to move up to solo lead.
The Bossing are looking good since acquiring two-time Most Valuable Player James Yap and Rey Nambatac from Rain or Shine prior to the start of the conference, and head coach Jeff Cariaso will try to build on that momentum against the Road Warriors, who are coming off back-to-back victories.
