Due to the major adjustments in the league calendar, the start of the league's 44th season was set to January 13, 2019. This was the first time since 2003 that the league opened their season in January or February. The PBA Leo Awards will be held during the opening ceremonies of the 2019 season while the 2018 PBA draft is set on December 16.[1] The schedule is also affected by the Philippine national team's participation in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Southeast Asian Games.[2]
The 2019 PBA All-Star Game was played from March 29 to 31, 2019 at Calasiao, Pangasinan.
Like several Metro Manila-centric leagues, most games are held at arenas within Metro Manila, either the Smart Araneta Coliseum or the Mall of Asia Arena, and sometimes, in the Ynares Center in Antipolo. Games outside this area are called "out-of-town" games, and are usually played on Saturdays. Provincial arenas usually host one game, rarely two; these arenas typically host only once per season, but a league may return within a season if the turnout is satisfactory.
Typically, all playoff games are held in Metro Manila arenas, although playoff and Finals games have been seldom played in the provinces.
The PBA competition committee approved the rule changes for implementation starting in the Philippine Cup games:[11]
Rule changes (effective for the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup)
Goaltending violations will be subject for review for the duration of a match.
The FIBA rule for traveling violations (also known as the 0-step rule) will be adopted. (a player who catches the ball while he is progressing, or upon completion of a dribble, may take two steps in coming to a stop, passing, or shooting the ball.)
Coaches are now allowed to call timeouts verbally. The old rule requires coaches to make the "time-out" sign before the timeout request will be granted.
Notable events
The PBA Board of Governors decided to retain Ricky Vargas of TNT KaTropa as the Board Chairman. Subsequently, Dickie Bachmann of Alaska and Raymond Zorilla of Phoenix were retained as Vice-Chairman and Treasurer respectively.[12]
March 1: The 2019 season schedule will be modified to accommodate the preparations of the Philippine men's basketball team for the FIBA Basketball World Cup to be held in September and the Southeast Asian Games on December. The season may be extended up to January 2020.[13]
April 9: PBA referee Guillermo "Emy" Tangkion died after collapsing during their referee's workout at the JSCGO Gymnasium. A moment of silence was observed the following day before the start of the quarterfinals match between the San Miguel Beermen and the TNT KaTropa.[14]
Commissioner's Cup
May 16: A rule change was made to be implemented starting the Commissioner's Cup that will allow a video review if a shot was made before or after the expiration of the 24-second shotclock throughout the game. Before the rule change, a video review is only possible if the shot was made in the last two minutes of the game. The rule change was made in light of the controversial shot made by Magnolia'sRome dela Rosa during Game 7 of their best-of-seven semifinals series against Rain or Shine, at the 3:30 mark of the 4th quarter. The referees counted his three-point basket even though replays showed that the ball was still in his hands when the shotclock expired.[15]
May 19: The PBA began using the Molten BG5000 basketball as their official tournament ball. The same ball will be used during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.[16]
June 4:Calvin Abueva of the Phoenix Pulse Fuel Masters was indefinitely suspended by PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial after he was involved in two on-court incidents during Phoenix's games against Blackwater Elite and TNT KaTropa. On May 31, Abueva was involved in a verbal altercation against Ray Parks' girlfriend Maika Rivera and did lewd gestures to her after their win against Blackwater. On June 2, he clotheslined TNT's import Terrence Jones. Abueva was also fined a total of P70,000 for both incidents.[17]
August 14: During the second quarter of game five of the PBA Commissioner's Cup, Arwind Santos made "monkey gestures" at the San Miguel bench addressing Jones after the latter committed a foul. Initially he refused to apologize stating "I’m going to apologize? No. It depends on him. If he was annoyed, he’s a real monkey."[18][Note 1] PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial summoned Santos the following day and was fined P200,000, 100 hours of community services. Santos will also undergo counseling on equality and racial discrimination.[19] Santos later posted a public apology through his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Source: PBA.ph Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head-to-head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss[25] Notes:
^ abcHead-to-head quotient: Barangay Ginebra 1.02, TNT 1.00, San Miguel 0.98
Source: PBA.ph Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head-to-head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss[26] Notes:
Source: PBA.ph Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head to head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss[27] Notes:
^Translated from the Filipino language: "..."Sorry ako? Hindi. Depende ’yun sa kanya. Kung mapipikon siya, totoong monkey siya. Kung di ka mapipikon, di ka monkey.".
.svg)
