Champions League, pitting best regional hoops teams, in the works

Champions League: The best teams of three regional basketball leagues — the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup will compete in the Champions League.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Filipino basketball fans have something big to look forward to in the coming years after sports patron and Chooks-to-Go top honcho Ronald Mascariñas officially announced the “Champions League” where the top teams from three regional leagues in the Philippines will vie for basketball supremacy.

Currently, Mascariñas’ Chooks-to-Go is sponsoring four major regional basketball tournaments, the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), the National Basketball League (NBL), the Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, and the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).

In a virtual press conference held earlier today, Saturday, June 12, 2021, Mascariñas said that they drew the “Champions League” inspiration from a basketball fan who dropped a comment in one of their social media posts. 

They also grabbed some ideas from the United States’ March Madness of the NCAA and the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) where it features top collegiate teams vying for basketball supremacy. 

“Unang una the idea of Champions League ay nanggaling sa isang basketball fan. So, itong post namin about this press conference, somebody commented na ganitong format nga. But kung paano natin gagawin ito, this has to be a collaborative effort, paguusapan namin. Kung paano ito mangyayari to serve the interest of all the leagues will have to come from them,” said Mascariñas.

(First, the idea of a Champions League came from a basketball fan. So somebody commented on a post about this press conference about having this format. But how to do this, it has to be a collaborative effort, and we still have to talk about it. On how this will happen to serve the interest of all the leagues will have to come from them.)

Mascariñas said that they would proceed on making the Champions League happen when the quarantine restrictions would be eased. 

The top three teams in each league, the MPBL, NBL, and the VisMin Super Cup, will compete to be named the “National Champion” and the “Pinakamatikas Na Manok Ng Bayan”. 

“We will keep our ears close to the ground to figure out what our fans want and will continue to innovate for them. After all, we are doing this primarily for the fans. Today, we stand together for Philippine basketball and the basketball fans,” said Mascariñas.

The concept of the Champions League was warmly welcomed by MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, NBL commissioner John Edward Aquino, and VisMin Super Cup COO Rocky Chan, who were all present during the virtual press conference. 

“It’s gonna be exciting One Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas ngayon ito na totoong magsasama-sama na ang mga basketball stakeholders regionally and doon natin makikita ang pinakamagaling na teams, players from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. So we’re very supportive of it 101 percent for the Chooks-to-Go PIlipinas basketball na magsasama sama NBL, WNBL, MPBL. Ito yung gusto natin eh,” said Chan.

(It’s gonna be an exciting Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas now that everyone — the basketball stakeholders have really joined together regionally and that is where we will see the best teams, players from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, so we are very supportive of it 101 percent for the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas basketball that we can all join together the NBL, WNBL, MPBL. This is what we want.)

RELATED STORIES

Vismin Super Cup Mindanao leg starts on June 22

GAB gives green light for VisMin Super Cup’s Mindanao leg

Kapatagan Buffalo Braves eager to make presence felt in VisMin Cup

Poligrates, Sara to lead Alza Alayon Zamboanga del Sur in VisMin Super Cup

Archangels bank on Iligan youth in VisMin Super Cup hoops campaign

Pagadian Explorers make hardcourt comeback in Mindanao Leg of VisMin Super Cup