The PBA on Wednesday finally released the schedule for Season 50’s Philippine Cup, which will fittingly start off with another installment of the famed Manila Clasico. Yes, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will take on Magnolia in the first-ever PBA game of the league’s golden season, and it’s the first of five must-watch games this October.
October 5, Sunday: Manila Clasico Gets PBA Going as Magnolia Takes on Ginebra (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
Fans are in for a treat to start off PBA Season 50 as the first game of this golden season will be Barangay Ginebra San Miguel taking on Magnolia Hotshots in another Manila Clasico. Over the years, Manila Clasico has delivered its fair share of thrills, but this one will be a bit more special because both Ginebra and Magnolia are arguably title favorites this season. What’s more, former ka-Barangay LA Tenorio is now calling the shots for the Hotshots, and he’ll be making his PBA coaching debut in Manila Clasico no less.
October 11, Sunday: Rain or Shine Goes Up Against Meralco (Ynares Montalban)
Yeng Guiao has high hopes for his Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and they’re up for an early-season test when they make their PBA debut opposite the Meralco Bolts. It will be a classic offense vs. defense clash of attrition in this one, with Rain or Shine’s gung-ho, fast-paced system testing Meralco’s tenacious, suffocating defense. This game will also mark the Rain or Shine debut of Stanley Pringle and the possible comeback of lottery pick Luis Villegas.
October 15, Wednesday: TNT Battles Ginebra (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
There’s no better rivalry in recent years than that of the TNT Tropang 5G and Ginebra. They’ll renew that rivalry 10 days after Season 50 with an early clash that’ll surely fill up the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Now, there aren’t any juicy storylines for this one. It’s just a showdown between two elite teams with title aspirations—or, in the case of TNT, Grand Slam ambitions.
October 19, Friday: Converge Tests Mettle vs. TNT (Ynares Antipolo)
No team improved more this offseason than the Converge FiberXers, and they’ll get to see right away where they are in the hierarchy when they take on TNT just two weeks after Manila Clasico opens Season 50. Aside from being potentially a battle of two title contenders, this TNT vs. Converge matchup will also see Jordan Heading play against his former team, who unfortunately got nothing out of that trade after failing to sign Mikey Williams.
October 26, Sunday: San Miguel, Ginebra Duel in Dubai
The PBA will take league action to foreign lands a lot more in its golden season, and it will fittingly bring two of the country’s most popular teams to Dubai for its first foreign play date. The “sister” teams met twice in the semis in Season 49, with Ginebra besting San Miguel in the Governors’ Cup in five games and the latter getting back at the former in seven games in the Philippine Cup. They’ll feel the heat of the action again in Abu Dhabi a few weeks from now.
