THE PBA Developmental League gets underway today as the Aspirants Cup comes off the wraps with a double-header at the Arena in San Juan City.
New squad Informatics is bent on making a name for itself as it tangles with the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns in the opener at 2 p.m. following the opening ceremonies set at 1 p.m. The main offing will see the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems taking on the Boracay Rum Waves at 4 p.m.
Informatics Icons head coach Buds Reyes has set a lofty goal for the squad in this tournament as he hopes his team will make the Final Four.
They withdrew from competing in the National Athletic Association of State Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) to prepare for the D-League.
Other teams seeing action in the league’s season opening conference are three-time champion NLEX, Big Chill, Blackwater Sports, Café France, Erase Exfoliant and newcomers Jose Rizal University and Fruitas.
The elimination round will be a single round robin with the top two teams clinching outright semi-final berths. The next four teams will advance to the quarterfinals with the no. 3 and 4 seeds earning a twice-to-beat advantage. The bottom four teams get eliminated. The semifinals and finals will be a best-of-three series. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio