Defending PBA Philippine Cup champion Barangay Ginebra marked the start of its title defense for the 2021 Season by returning to scrimmages Thursday in Batangas City.
The Gin Kings, along with three other teams, finally restarted face-to-face practices in three venues made available by the local government unit down south, the league announced Thursday afternoon in an e-mail.
"At the moment, we are rotating times and days with other PBA teams at either Lyceum or Batangas Coliseum. The time slots will be determined by the PBA," Cone shared in a text message.
The two locations, as well as the Batangas State University gym, have been cleaned and disinfected Wednesday by city personnel for nine teams traveling under a closed-circuit format to the city. TNT, and Meralco set up camp in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, while NLEX trooped to Clark for its own practices.
Save for Aljon Mariano, who is still recuperating from an offseason surgery, all Ginebra players are on hand for Cone in Batangas.
"Only Aljon, who is still recovering from foot surgery, is not fit for practice yet. We're hoping for him to return sometime in June," the coach explained.
Also on board are rookies Ken Holmqvist and Brian Enriquez.
Holmqvist, a 6-foot-8 center from Norway, was drafted by Ginebra with the 12th overall pick in the 46th Season Draft. The 26-year-old center, who played for two seasons in the UAAP for Far Eastern University, reportedly wants to use his mother's maiden name Sagulo in the PBA.
Enriquez, on the other hand, played NAIA basketball in the U.S., saw action for William Woods University, and de-committed for the University of the East in the UAAP before getting selected at No. 13 in the recent draft.
"We are in the midst of signing our two rookies, Ken Sagulo (Holmqvist) and Brian Enriquez. We expect them to sign shortly," Cone said.
Joe Devance will also take part in Ginebra's practices after contracting COVID-19 last month.
"Yes, he's fine. He had COVID in early April," Cone bared.
The priorities during the Batangas build-up are simple for the Gin Kings, who want to shake off the rust while integrating the two freshmen players and new offseason acquisition Christian Standhardinger to the system.
"Getting into the proper shape after a five-month layoff will be crucial, and then [we'll also focus on] getting the vets refreshed into the system and getting the necessary reps for the rookies," said Cone.
Like Ginebra, NorthPort on Thursday also practiced at the Batangas City Sports Center, according to the PBA. Terrafirma and Magnolia, meanwhile, headed to the Lyceum International Maritime Academy Gymnasium for their respective scrimmage sessions.
Five other ballclubs - Rain or Shine, Alaska, Blackwater, San Miguel and Phoenix - are also slated to practice in Batangas. Meralco and TNT, on the other hand, began workouts at the Centennial Arena in Laoag.