CEBU City basketball fans will have something to look forward to as the Casino Active became the only team from Cebu to beat the deadline that was set forth by the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
Casino Active will be carrying the flag of Cebu City in the upcoming second season of the country’s fastest-rising professional basketball league.
A number of companies was said to be interested in joining the league founded by boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, including long-time Cebu basketball pillars Cebu Landmasters and M. Lhuillier.
However, in the end, it was only Casino Active, which is a brand owned by International Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, that managed to officially confirm its participation, becoming the fourth expansion team from the south after the Davao Occidental Tigers, the Zamboanga Valientes and the General Santos Warriors.
In a talk with team spokesperson Jerome Calatrava, Casino Active will move quickly to form its team and would be staging tryouts starting this Monday, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., at the Capitol Parish Gym along Escario Street. The tryouts will be held until Friday.
“We’re already in talks with several ex-pros but nothing is definite yet. That is why we’re holding the tryouts and see what our coaches can come up with,” said Calatrava.
The team is being coached by former pro, Gilbert Castillo, while the team manager is Mark Castillo.
The team is initially being called the Niños but that remains a tentative moniker as it was last used by the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala in the defunct Liga Pilipinas tournament.
Casino Active officials would also be meeting with Cebu City officials to talk about their collaboration and the team moniker would also be one of the subjects of that said meeting.
Calatrava mentioned that the team has already set lofty goals for its maiden season in the MPBL.
“We’ve set our eyes on making it to the semifinals. That’s it. That’s the first goal of this team,” Calatrava said.
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