THE revival of the Batang PBA will feature a unique rule in which zone defense will not be allowed across the two age-group divisions of the youth league.
PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro told his audience during the coaches meeting recently that the rule was implemented to allow the young players to get used to playing man-to-man defense.
READ: This Batang PBA team is quite stacked
Zone defense is allowed in all Fiba-sanctioned tournaments, including in the NBA and the PBA which for a time adopted the 'illegal defense' rule to discourage the zone and see more free-wheeling one-on-one basketball.
Magnolia Chicken Timplados assistant coach Juno Sauler served as a guest speaker in the coaches’ meeting, being one of the proponents of discouraging youth players from playing zone in order to teach them the proper defensive techniques.
The Batang PBA will open on May 7 where 20 teams will see action in the 14-under and the 12-under division respectively.
PBA tournament director Joey Guanio also discussed the format where the teams will be grouped into four with the top two teams advancing to the crossover quarterfinals to start the knockout phase of the tournament.
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