PBA releases schedule for 2012-13 Philippine Cup

The PBA released their tentative schedule for the 2012-13 Philippine Cup on Thursday on their Facebook page. The league is set to open on September 30 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with a clash between crowd favorites Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and their newest team, the Globalport Batang Pier, following a short ceremony. The Philippine Cup, as its name would suggest, sees the 10 PBA franchises field all-Filipino line-ups, with no imports allowed. Teams are divided into two groups, based on their 2012 draft order, though without taking into account trades. Group 1 has the Air21 Express, the Meralco Bolts, the Petron Blaze Boosters, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and the San Mig Coffee Mixers, formerly known as the B-MEG Llamados. Group 2 meanwhile has the Alaska Aces, the Barako Bull Energy Cola, Globalport Batang Pier, which used to be the Powerade Tigers, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. Each team plays their groupmates once, and the squads from the opposing group twice, for a total of 14 games per side. The Smart Araneta Coliseum continues to be the tourney's main venue, but seven playdates have been tentatively scheduled at the newly-constructed SM Mall of Asia Arena as well. The PBA has also scheduled six provincial games, at Digos City (Davao del Sur), Victorias City (Negros Occidental), Lapu-Lapu City (Cebu), Tubod (Lanao Del Norte), Puerto Princesa/Iloilo, and Dipolog City (Zamboanga del Norte). The entire scheduled may be viewed on the PBA's Facebook page.  - AMD, GMA News