As Salud leaves huge task awaits next commissioner

(MENAFN- Arab News) The Philippine Basketball Association will have a new commissioner next season this after Chito Salud a lawyer by profession announced last week that he would step down after the Governors' Cup sometime in July.

Everyone was taken by surprise when Salud bid his staff goodbye last Friday an announcement that came without an early warning more so because the PBA has been harping the success it has gained in Salud's fourplus years at the helm.

Part of Salud's contribution to the PBA was that he was in charge when two expansion teams came in making for an alltime high number of 12 teams in the roster.

It was also under Salud's watch that Meralco came in when it bought the Sta. Lucia franchise in 2010. NLEX also entered the league before the start of this season after buying Air21 out of the league.

'I feel that this is the right time for me to step down' Salud had said in a press conference last Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena the entire board of governors standing behind him and chair Pato Gregorio seated to his right.

'It's time (for another man) with fresh ideas to come in' he also said.

Salud's term also includes the boxoffice year of 2012 when the league raked in more than P200 million in live gate income.

But like any other commissioner before him at least in the recent past Salud wasn't able to completely kill the perception of teams making onesided trades.

Fans are still clamoring for the good old times when trades were made because both teams were going to benefit and that transactions weren't done for the benefit of just one.

We really don't know what goes on in the minds of team owners when they let players go.

Being successful businessmen who can afford to maintain multimillion peso teams they may have better foresight than most of us do that's why some of them give up marquee names for struggling players that make strong teams even stronger.

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The next commissioner will have a huge task ahead of him.

Gregorio said that the board will meet on Feb. 26 to discuss the criteria they will use to select the man who will replace Salud.

Until that time we cannot really speculate on who is in the running and who is out of it because without the criteria there's no use in doing that.

There are a number of names who are being mentioned this early those of Ramon Fernandez Robert Jaworski Chito Loyzaga and even former team executives Joaqui Trillo Andy Jao and former deputy commissioner Tommy Manotoc.

But my guess is that the next man in charge will be coming from outside of the known circle of basketball personalities someone who has a good legal background and at the same time experience in running a business.

Another thing is that whoever comes in will surely divide the house so to speak with the San Miguel Corp. and PLDT groups sure to back different candidates.

Rain or Shine and Alaska stand as the swing votes for the next boss and it is likely that whoever they choose will get a huge lift when the deliberation comes.

Blackwater and KIA Motors will surely find the quest for the next commissioner as an interesting one with fellow teams sure to give them insights on who to vote for.

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On another subject KIA Motors on Wednesday night scored a 9584 victory over defending champion Purefoods in the Commissioner's Cup eliminations which put the Carnival in the hunt for a playoff berth.

Manny Pacquiao also scored his first PBA point when he was sent to the line by Allein Maliksi because of a 'light touch' while going for an awkward drive early in the second quarter.

Pacquiao scores a point; KIA scores a win. Double victory for their faithful.

But minutes after all of those happened Daniel Orton the Purefoods import who struggled to shoot just six points and grab three rebounds before fouling out with 1:31 left gave his assessment of the Filipino boxing icon.

He spoke of what he feels after seeing Pacquiao in the flesh and gave an honest assessment that will clearly label him as a hater.

'Pacquiao is a joke' Orton said while being interviewed by website writers outside of the Purefoods dugout. 'There's no question that he is a great boxer but in this game that I love he's a joke.'

Orton also took jabs at the officiating and has been summoned by Salud to his offices for Friday to shed light on the matter not on his statement on Pacquiao because he is entitled to his opinion on the eightdivision world champion.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Pacquiao clearly has no place in the PBA as a player or coach.

I stick to the things I said before. If KIA wants to just gain publicity with having the 'Pacman' in the team management should make him team manager of something because he is taking the glory away from those who truly deserve it.

After the win Pacquiao was the one who appeared before sportswriters because he is the one listed as the official head coach.

Assistant Chito Victolero was seated beside him but uttered very few words though it is clear that it was Victolero who did the substitutions called the timeouts mapped out the plays and did the game plan coming in against Purefoods.

The recognition being denied Victolero by Pacquiao is pretty much the same of the distinction the boxer denied someone when he had himself drafted in the first round11th overalland he has just one point to show.

The worst thing is that basketball comes last in Pacquiao's priorities because of his duties as one of the most bankable prizefighters in the world being a congressman and a husband and father.

With Orton speaking out I don't think it would be long before others follow suit.

Maybe then Pacquiao will realize that there is one thing that his fans don't want him to do.