And then there were four . . .

Brackets were almost right to a T, but it wasn't easy for these two No. 1's and two No. 2's. Do we have a repeat? Dunno, but it will be hard to bet against them.

THE Commissioner bids adieu

Emilio 'Jun' Bernardino Jr. always looked approachable and never was intimidating. After all, he had a segment for the PBA basketball telecast called 'man on the ball' where he would often be at courtside speaking to the different basketball personalities. I was surprised that he was named commish since he never really looked the part and his demeanor was anything but 'bossy'. But, boy, was he on top of things and for the good of the league. He sure was a hard act to follow. More than than, I bet he was a good, human being. His passing, while attending a party he helped organize for a friend, came as a shock to everyone. This is sad news.

NBA Scout 101

When former US NCAA basketball Coach Mike Jarvis issued a challenge to press the mute in my remote, I did and it opened my eyes to the nuances of the game. Now here's another interesting article courtesy of Blazers Edge. I'm getting schooled and I'm grateful for it!

True Wizard

I still cannot help equating the Wizards with MJ and Kwame even after all these years. But one Agent is helping me get over that. It really is a Takeover (and the best part is that he does seem like most of us except he's getting it done in the NBA). Although, I thought the Sonics deserved to win this one but won't mind getting a '0' jersey.

PBA Hall of Fame Inductees

Congratulations! Coach Ron is in and so is Mr. Dante Silverio and 8 other Philippine basketball personalities. Read more about the second batch of inductees.

Better do scouting or Nigeria, here he comes

My guess is Mr. Mikee Romero of Harbour Center really loves his basketball or he wouldn't mind going to Nigeria and learn more about the team that participated in the Fiba championships. Anyway, I just hope his crew has done its work on the other participating teams or it would be quite an exile. Anybody has report on who the reinforcements will be for the other teams? At no other time has basketball been more emphasized as a team sport. Good to know that they don't expect this to be a walk in the park.

The Pistol 'Pete Maravich'

Since we're celebrating March Madness ( sorry Dukies), allow me to segue to the brilliance and tragedy of a basketball player and a person that is Pete Maravich - one of, if not, the greatest player to play college basketball.

More than an athlete, Pete was a tortured soul. There are plenty of great athletes but more than the beauty, it's the labour, both physically and mentally, that draws people to shake their heads and wonder how life is such a mystery after all the applause has died down. People like reading about achievements but it is the struggle which ultimately draws the connections with humankind - to remind everyone what it is to be human.

So please, if you've some money to spend and would like a great read on basketball, not just a sport but as an interesting story about a remarkable man, pick Maravich (and if you're through, send them to me). Fon now, I can only read Bill. And I could always wish for some more.
To think I had been pondering over setting up multiple kiddie hoop goals - but now resolve to delay teaching my daughter about basketball, not until she has been toilet-trained.

The NBA Send-off!

The NCAA tournament starts in a few hours and America will be glued to their box sets henceforth. Yet, the NBA isn't just about to roll over and succumb in envy to the hoopla. So, what do we get. It's Phoenix and Dallas in a memorable game. Pity to every fan who missed this one (just like Dirk missing those free throws that could've changed the outcome). The crowd was on its feet (and so was I at home). Plenty of highlights, skills-wise. Nash, Dirk, Jason, Dampier, Marion, Stackhouse, Howard, Bell, Barbosa played brilliantly but game ball belongs to Amare - not to the refs! MVP if awarded today? Nahhh. sshhh.... It may be different come April 1? Who knows?

Great prelude to the March Madness, don't you think! The NBA sends its regards, in exchange for a 2 freshmen playing for Texas and for Ohio State. Fair enough?

Add Gian to my future RP Team

From what I've read, his size was the only exceptional thing one would notice at the junior varsity tournaments when he played here. His numbers weren't that noteworthy but look at what training and determination can accomplish. And he's got brains, too! Go, Gian!

Ron Jacobs leads Phil Pro League Hall of Fame nominees

Sure, there maybe other noteworthy Filipino players that should be included in our Hall of Fame but lets leave that to the experts and historians for now. In terms of giving a lot of effort to national hoops' cause (notwithstanding the hefty salary from San Miguel Corp top honcho Danding Cojuangco), I rank Coach Ron near the top of the list. No doubt that even with his quirks, he brought a different perspective and revolutionized basketball play here.

It has been 2 decades but he, along with Chip Engelland, Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic and Hector Calma represented the 'team' Philippines as never been done before. Winning the Jones Cup in 85 against a US Team coached by Gene Keady, participating in Europe where they emerged crowd darlings because of skills displayed despite lack of height were truly notable moments in my basketball memory (aside from watching in an old, beat up box of a TV set). Coach Ron was passionate yet scientific. Chip (now with the Spurs) was sure deadly as a shooter. Allan, Chip's protege, was to become the best outside shooter not just here but in Asia for years to come. Samboy was our MJ (except that Samboy's competitiveness was outshone by his almost saintly humility). And Hector Calma, a true point guard who was different at that time because he played heads-up at 5'8", fundamentally sound basics (even against the great Drazen Petrovic who guarded him), the most similar of which to describe him would be Chris Paul and no one else. I could go on and on . . .

So to Coach Ron. Hang in there and congratulations!

(To Wikipedia and its contributors, a big, big thanks)

NCAA Tournament Predictions

Sleepers and busts - check out college teams that are likely to win it all during the March Madness. Comes handy especially if you're the betting-type. UNC. Kansas. Florida or Kansas or UCLA. or Greg Oden's Ohio State. Me, clueless as ever. I'm rooting for the underdogs.

Another future star of RP basketball

I guess the future of basketball in the Philippines is quite secure. There's Ray Parks Jr and Justin Chua. Paging Coach Chot. This maybe old news but it certainly reeks of freshness and promise. He will also be the first Filipino to play in a US Division 1 college basketball program after sitting out the 2006-07 season due to transfer rules? Want to find out who? And this Hilltopper has got some hops, too!

Philippines is basketball crazy! Want proof?

Ever heard of Google Trends? With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics (or more specifically, it shows users' propensity to search for that topic). It displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often. See for yourself. Type 'basketball' in the Search Trend box and see what region ranks the highest. So what? Nothing worth your dollar except that we like to type 'basketball' and search that in Google. Thanks to Hoopaddict.com for pointing this one out.

Big Dance

Sure, there'll be proms a plenty this month of March but that isn't what I meant by Big Dance. It maybe thousands of miles away from where we live (thank God for cable TV) but for every hoops fan, it may well be the best hoops tournament there is in terms of spilling guts on the hardwood and towel-draped, future millionaire-hopefuls shedding tears - win or lose. Want to read why the coming NBA draft is worth looking forward to, read now and go to ESPN Page 2 or CNNSI. Click away!

Think we better RUN!

Now that the Team has started training, Coach Chot Reyes may learn a thing or two on how to beat a Chinese team with Yao Ming. It won't be easy but this may give us a clue . Anybody here has evidence that Leandro Barbossa may have Filipino blood. He'll be a shoo-in to the team.

"For flag and country"

Our Team had its first official training yesterday. No Hatfield (wedding), Reavis (shoulder repair) nor the fast and furious tandem of Ginebra, Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa (still in the US but will play). Fortunately, it didn't dampen the commish's spirit one bit.

Team snub for reigning MVP wasn't personal

Coach Chot recently answered why James Yap wasn't included in the Team. Personally, I think Coach Chot and the advisers made the right choice although the Yap's recent on-air squabble certainly made things easier. Honest.

Oh no! Love got in the way this time

One player I was really pinning my hopes to elevate his performance and make a defensive impact for our Philippine Team is Rudy Hatfield. He is quite a burly pest for opposing teams with his game-long defensive pressure and would've been the starting small/power forward for our team. Alas, again luck (or lack of it) would rear its ugly head! Only this time, love is the culprit! Thanks to Mr. Nelson Beltran of Philstar for the scoop. Anyway, congratulations to Rudy and his bride!

Jim Kelly, Raptors chief scout was in Manila

They said he was trying to look for first Filipino to play in NBA but so far, no go. I've read how he was slammed for a lot of draft busts for the Raptors particularly Araujo (same 2004 draft where they missed Iguodala and Al Jefferson! Tsk.) and the following year taking big men Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham over Danny Granger, David Lee and maybe Gerald Green. Hope they've learned their lessons though and got the best pick on the previous draft in the person of Andrea Barganani. Some animated discussion here on Jim's visit and the lack of NBA material a.k.a. height in the Philippines.

Watch out for Justin Chua

Another scoop courtesy of Gameface via Ms. Celis . Looks like Justin Chua is a future PBA No. 1 pick - not Greg Oden-big but tall for our standards and he's only 15. Guess, I will have to start watching more high school and college hoops to better see how RP basketball will be for years to come.

Future PBA star (or NBA pick) - Ray Parks Jr.

With all the Fil-Ams lording it over the PBA Pro-league, isn't it about time we have another part Filipino, part American talent worth salivating about? Basketball diva, Beth Celis, wrote some interesting tidbit about Mr. Bobby Parks' son by his Filipina wife. I guess, Ray (or Reyrey) was born here but now studying in Parks' homestate of Tennessee. I tried to dig other stories about this kid and here's one that I got!

Trivia: Did you know Bobby Parks had an NCAA Basketball Final Four appearance with the Memphis State (now Memphis) Tigers then was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA. Here is something about the impressive and adopted Filipino from an article by Mr. Jason Smith.

Our P Team (RP Team!)

Mighty bit too late but I have to start somewhere and I see nothing better than this one.

I don't know about other Filipinos but I admit I still have high hopes for RP basketball. Now that the FIBA suspension has been lifted (see how politics tend to improve everything it touches), it is time we start working to get that Olympic slot and make good on that 'Astig' motto.

Remember the 1996 Centenial team back then. I thought we had a formidable line-up capable of at least going to the Asian Games finals. But then the fates intervened. On a tune-up against the visiting Qataris (look how they fared in the recent Asian Games held in their own turf), Danny 'high-flying' Seigle landed badly and had a serious ankle sprain. But it didn't end there because in the semis, a prayer of a three by the dreaded Koreans, virtually sank the entire nation on its knees and left us out of gold medal contention. Anyway, I guess we still do have the skills to mix it up even if without the height.

So, do we have the best players on our new team? I think we have a crack team skills-wise but I would sleep better if these players would be able to play and jell as a team should in time for the Olympic qualifying in Japan. Do I hear doubters and naysayers? So what does Coach Chot Reyes has to say:

“We wanted to make sure that the team we picked is the best team, not necessarily the best players or the best talents, because in the end, the only way we’re going to win is if we have superior teamwork and if we have a lot of players willing to sacrifice their individual goals and interests for the good of the team.”

Is he a genius or what (score points for PR though)?! Read more about the entire line-up here .

Last question: I had to do a double take but did I miss James Yap's name on the list?! I admit I haven't seen how he played the last conference but wasn't he just the previous year's MVP? Uhhm, does his recent troubles with the missus have anything to do with this? I just HOPE everything turns out fine for them especially with their baby expected this April.

Go, Philippines!