MOA Arena Or Smart-Araneta Coliseum For NCAA Opening?

The brand-new Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena will open its doors to basketball next month. If the NCAA decides to hold its season opener at the P3.6 Billion facility on June 23, then the collegiate league will gain the historic distinction of being the first to stage a game on the Robbins maplewood court with NBA-standard Spalding goals, an eight-sided center-hung LED Daktronics scoreboard and two-sided shot clocks.

The NCAA will make a decision any day now on whether to hold the inaugurals at the MOA Arena or the Smart Araneta Coliseum which is reportedly the preferred choice of the TV coveror for practical logistical reasons.

If the NCAA decides on the Big Dome, then the first basketball game to be played at the MOA Arena will pit the PBA selection coached by Tim Cone against Yao Ming’s visiting Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese pro league on June 28. Another game involving the Sharks is being arranged against coach Chot Reyes’ Smart Gilas on June 30, also at the MOA Arena. For sure, the UAAP will launch its new season at the MOA Arena on July 14 with National University (NU) as host. 

SM Prime Holdings president and NU chairman Hans Sy said he estimates about 50 percent of the UAAP and NCAA games will be played at the MOA Arena. He noted that from June 1 until the end of the year, only 13 days are left unbooked in the MOA Arena’s calendar. August, for instance, has been reserved for Cirque du Soleil.

“We’re ready for basketball,” said Sy who masterminded the two-year construction of the five-level building. “It takes only three hours to lay out the hardcourt. We’ve incorporated certain things I observed in the Orlando stadium during the last NBA All-Star Game and I think our arena is truly state-of-the-art. Lady Gaga’s director told me that of all the Asian stadiums they’ve performed in, we’re second-best behind only Japan which has a capacity of 30,000.”

The Daktronics 46-ton octagon scoreboard was installed three weeks ago and during the two recent Lady Gaga concerts, was clamped close to the ceiling. It will be lowered for eye-level view during basketball games. American technicians from Daktronics of South Dakota arrived to supervise the hoisting of the scoreboard, employing a 120-ton crane and 24 men.

source: Philstar