Rebuilding Smart-Gilas

7 members of the Smart-Gilas will be joining the PBA Draft led by JV Casio. Casio along with fellow guard Marc Barroca, Fil-Foreigners Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz, Dylan Ababou, Jason Ballesteros, and Marc Baracael will soon be donning PBA jerseys instead of the national colors. The loss of this 7 players has a major impact on how we form a national team.


Who's left? We have Marcus Douhit, the naturalized player who is manning center. Chris Tiu, who decided to stick it out with Gilas.  Greg Slaughter and Aldrech Ramos who both are on leave from the Gilas due to the current UAAP season. Japeth Aguilar is still a question mark since he is actually signed with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. 


It will be recruitment time again for the Gilas. After years of developing chemistry and cohesion, it seems that the Philippines might reverting to the old practice of just getting PBA players to form a national team. A practice that has not won a major title in the Asian level. the current crop of Gilas has not won major title as well so I guess our basketball leaders are trying to formulate a new plan. 


If we look at the best teams in the world, they do not actually have a full-time national team. Countries allow their national team players to play in the NBA or the European leagues to develop their skills and be competitive all year round. I think for us to succeed, we should let our players play in the tougher leagues. We just cannot put them in the PBA in get that false sense of stardom. They might even think they are superstars yet when they play against the best of Asia, they usually come up short. The PBA is too small and it limits the development of some players. With a smaller pool of players, we will have limited choices for the national team. 


The SBP should start encouraging Filipinos to play in US NCAA.  They can develop a program that will send the best high school or college players to tryout in the US.  These players will provide a steady stream of talent for the national team. The UAAP and the other Philippine college leagues will still be breeding grounds but the best should be trained in tougher competitions earlier in their careers. 


The best of the Philippine islands cannot compete with the best of Asia anymore.  It is time for us to send our best abroad and become better players and world-beaters. ;)

To Sir Raffy: Do not be so pikon ;) (an unsolicited advice from a blogger)

The recent Aboitiz Run to Reduce was hit by a lot of criticism because how poorly it was disorganized like having too few water stations in the full marathon. A lot of people say that they were not happy with what happened and to the point that some suggested to boycott the future races.

Aboitiz Chief Reputation Officer Basti Lacson offered his apologies and promised that they will do better next time. Well, race organizer Raffy Uytiepo sings a different tune. He is blacklisting the names of the people who call for a boycott.  Being one of the busiest race directors, if he truly ban those people, those runners will miss out some interesting running events like Milo Marathon qualifiers, and the Warrior 50 Ultra-Marathon.

Oh boy, I do not know if he really meant what he said although it is in the newspaper and you can read it online.  It is hard to achieve perfection but with Cebu have organized runs every week; the avid runners cannot help but compare one run to another. Some people even compare who has the better looking singlets. A week after the controversial Run to Reduce was the University Run and a lot of people are raving about how well organized it was. Lahi ra gyud as they say. It is but normal to be hurt when your job is criticized and be compared other people's work. It is normal to feel slighted but to write stuff in a newspaper when you are emotional will lead to more controversial statements. A lot of people have reacted to his declaration and a lot of them certainly disagree. 

My only hope that boycotts and bans will not materialize. I join fun runs not much for the run but for the fun and if it is not fun anymore then why would someone pay 250 to be allowed to run. Many people join the run not to win the race but to win against themselves. If people criticize on how runs can be better then just take note and try to find solution to their complaints. I am sure that a race organizer will learn more from the criticisms rather the praise. ;) 

More power to the runners and to the organizers and may we have more great runs in Cebu in the near future. ;)

PBA Governor's Cup Finals: Petron vs. Talk 'N Text subplots

Tomorrow will be the Game 7 of the 2011 PBA Governor's Cup Finals between league giants Petron Blaze Boosters and the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters. It all ends of on a Sunday. Game 7, the last game of the season, what more can you ask for?

It is like the PBA follows a very good script. So many nice subplots:

MVP vs. SMC

The PBA is now dominated by 2 big conglomerates: The old SMB dynasty that includes Petron, Ginebra, and B-Meg and the upstart MVP teams Talk 'N Text, Meralco Bolts and Smart-Gilas.  The game 7 will be big in determining who is BIG BOSS of the league. If TNT wins then it's 3 in a row for MVP, a GRAND SLAM! If Petron wins then it's a big slap on the face of MVP. A symbol that being the richest does not guarantee a championship. Manny Pangilinan is set to own the PBA Grand Slam and he supports the best teams in college as well as the national team. Sa kanya na lang ba lahat? Not if Petron can do something about it.

CHOT vs. ATO

There has been some intrigue between the 2 players in the earlier games of the series and this game will be crucial in determining who is the better coach. Chot has won a lot of titles in the PBA and Ato who was a former league MVP has been successful in college basketball coaching. Will Chot join the list of legendary coaches?

Arwind vs. Jimmy

When we talk about stats, nobody can dispute that Arwind Santos probably is the best player in the league but the MVP this season though was Jimmy Alapag. For me, individual accolades is not as important as who will win this Game 7. Arwind can exact revenge by preventing Jimmy win a Grand Slam. While Jimmy can try to prove why he is a deserving MVP.

All questions can be answered in Game 7. All roads lead to Araneta. Looking back, at the earlier games of the series, I just hope that this game will not be rout.  The season should be decided by the final shot of this game. This should be a classic. The changing of the guard in the PBA is at hand and we could be witnesses the beginning of a new era. Or it could be just be more of the same thing.

It is nice to see that there are still games in the PBA that has some relevance and back story (It's been fewer and far in between in recent years, with the emergence of the UAAP).

Who is your bet???

POC expels Go Teng Kok

Outspoken PATAFA head Go Teng Kok was unanimously booted out of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) after an extraordinary meeting yesterday. According to POC spokesman Joey Romasanta, only Go is expelled and not the Philippine Track and Field Association (PATAFA).

Well, well, well... Philippine sports is embroiled in controversy again. Their is just so much politics in the handling of Philippine sports associations. The big associations had their share of controversy. Basketball had the Graham Lim issue. Football ousted Mari Martinez. Swimming had its problems. There were 2 cycling associations.Now, PATAFA has its longtime head ousted from the POC.

Where will this stop? We never won a gold medal in the Olympics and we had a share of dismal performances in international competitions. With political bickering in the leadership of sports, no wonder we lack world-class athletes. I am sure that Go will not go down without a tough fight. Hopefully this controversy will not affect the SEA games preparations of our athletes. It would be hard if the case will cause the Philippines to be suspended by the IOC. 

Speaking of PATAFA, gone are the days that we have world-level or even Asian-level athletes. We do not have a Lydia De Vega anymore or an Elma Muros. Our top track and field athletes are aging. We can still win a few golds in the SEA games but after that, nothing. I do not know where we should get our athletes. We might need US NCAA caliber athletes to bring in competition to our old guns. 

Reform is always the word that people use when they stage a coup de'tat. Well, a coup has been started at PATAFA, let's see if there will be reforms.

Gilas bow to Iran in Jones Cup semis

The Smart-Gils lost its semifinals match-up in the 33rd William Jones Cup against Middle Eastern power Iran, 59-78.  The Iranians totally dominated the inside and nobody in the Philippine line-up can contain NBA Veteran Hamad Haddadi who almost outscored the whole Philippine team at one point. He finished with 36 points.

Well, a different kind of Iranian team faced the Smart-Gilas this time. The Gilas were playing minus JV Casio who has been their main sniper in the tournament. His absence was visible and the replacements were ineffective. Douhit and the other big guys were having a hard time guarding Hadadi.

So, what does this mean? Not much, I guess. The real battle will be next month but the signs are not good. The lack of height and heft will really show in the big games. The Gilas will be eaten alive inside. Douhit is passable but after him? How can we improve in a month? Will Kelly Williams help? A little perhaps.

It is also annoying to see that players like Slaughter are getting ticky-tacky calls that will not be called in events like Fiba Asia. We have to toughen up our biggies as early as college. If the Philippines want to succeed, they have to discourage centers or power forwards who look like who is on a diet. Lanky dudes are good for modeling but for tough games, they should put a minimum playing weight for our guys. Hire people like Alex Ariza to teach speed with the added weight. I am sure we can create better big men in the future.

As for the 2012 Olympic Dreams, it is the time to show the world the power of prayers. ;)

UAAP 74: Are the refs rooting for the Blue Eagles?

The 2nd round of the UAAP Season 74 has started and Ateneo Blue Eagles just won its first match against the Far Eastern University Tamaraws. Ateneo was trailing the whole game and was on the verge of its first loss of the season. Momentum was on their side in the 4th quarter but FEU seems to have an answer with every rally they attempted. Suddenly, the referees seem to love blowing their whistle for Ateneo.  There was a time that Ravena was supposed to be fouled attempting a jump shot and when there was a replay even the announcer thought it should not have been called a foul.  Every time Greg Slaughter touches the ball, he seems to get fouled. Really soft fouls. Touch fouls but luckily Greg keeps on make 1 out of 2 only. Thanks to some FEU turnovers, the game went to overtime.

In overtime both teams did not score for a few possessions. In one crucial play, RR Garcia was supposedly blocked and the rebound to an Ateneo fast break. When the play was replayed in slow motion, Garcia's lay up was blocked after hitting the backboard. A tough no-call and it became a wicked 4-point swing. Ateneo eventually held on to win and become 8-0

Ateneo Blue Eagles are so strong and they do not need the referees help to be champs. The UAAP should make sure that games are not decided by referees. I know it is tough to call a game with Ateneo playing in Araneta but they should get used to it since Ateneo will mostly be going far this season. I root for our best players and I do not want them to get used to getting favorable calls because when they play in international games, they will not get those calls. Our best players should learn to toughen up even in the college level. We should never let them get that false sense of comfort of hiding in the whistles of the refs.

Pro boxers in 2016 Olympics??

The executive committee of the International Boxing Association (Aiba) has approved a new program that will allow professional boxers to compete in the 2016 Rio de Janiero Games... More on the story.

Well, AIBA will now have a professional division.  That would be cool for our country but what does it truly mean? I guess AIBA realized the marketing potential of their boxers. By having stars, they can probably help the boxers earn some good income but also give the organization some new lifeblood. I guess the dangerous Cubans will no longer defect just to be pro. Here some issues and questions:

1. Rules and Officiating.  I just do not what will be there rules? Are they still going to use to their controversial point system to a system used in the pros which can be more controversial?  Is it still going to be 4-rounders? I cannot imagine a fighter fight 10 rounders in 5 consecutive days.

2. Promotions. With AIBA going to compete with WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO, we are just adding another alphabet in the muddled world of pro-boxing. Under the AIBA Professional Boxing (APB), fighters are exclusively fighting for APB and they cannot challenge the other alphabet belts. It is definitely harder now to find the real champion. Who will promote the fight? AIBA? How will they pay for the boxers and what is the cut for the organization? Are boxers going to be paid the same?

3. Implications in the Philippines. Will ABAP will directly compete now with the big promoters for the services of our boxers? Will allowing pros be good for our quest for boxing gold? 

While it is good that the sport of boxing be unified under one umbrella like basketball's FIBA, we still do not know how the big personalities of the sport would react to change. How will WBC for example react with this development. If we really want to find who is the best then why would they limit the competition to one organization? It will be exciting to see what happens next but I am sure once it is implemented I will expect to see weekly boxing cards here in Cebu.

Jones Cup: Philippines fall to 3-2 after losing to South Korea

From Inquirer.net: Casio heriocs not enough

For the second time in 3 days, the well-funded Smart-Gilas lost a game in the 33rd William Jones Cup held in Taipei. First, they lost to Jordan and now to old nemesis, South Korea. I am sure a lot of people are asking if the country has what it takes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Is there hope? Probably, as the saying goes "bilog ang bola!".

Realistically though, our chance are very slim. Look at the progress of our Asian neighbors. The Middle Eastern teams have developed so fast that we have a hard time matching up with their size. The traditional powers like China and Korea are still there.  It is nice of MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan) to fund Gilas but I think he knows as well that we need a lot of prayers for our team to top the olympic qualifiers. Where do we lack?

1. Size- The acquisition of Marcus Douhit somehow made the problem less visible but once he gets into foul trouble like he usually does, we are screwed. Who else do we have? Asi? The old-reliable Asi is simply too old to be effective in more than 15 minutes intense basketball. Greg Slaughter is more of a developmental center for now.

2. Player availability - Well, Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams were supposed to be with the team. Where are they? They are in the PBA Finals. They are paid to win the PBA grand slam above the Jones Cup. How can they become comfortable with their teammates if they are not with the team? It was too ambitious for Gilas to aim for 2012 Olympics. 2016 perhaps would have been a better goal and they should have locked in those young players for another 4 years. Lo and behold, the Gilas youngsters are joining the PBA Draft. Who do we have left then? Even the players I guess are moving to the pros sensing that there will be no 2012 games for the Gilas. Will these players even give it all in September to risk injury and lucrative PBA careers? I hope they do but there are still no guarantees.

3. Shooting - The Gilas is not the tallest team out there and to counter we must have amazing speed or sniper-like outside shooting.  Gone are the days that the best shooter in Asia is from the Philippines (Caidic). JV Casio has potential but other than him, I cannot find someone really consistent in making those long range bombs. They have to make the opponents respect our shooting to open up the lanes. Maybe to encourage this, we should add new lines in our leagues and make the 3-point line into a 4 point line and the a feet or 2 below it will be the new 3 point line. Our young players are so fixated with dunks and fast breaks that they only realize how hard it is to dunk when facing world-class opposition. We can have the best screens in the game but without a reliable shooters, it will just be for naught. 

It is hard to see the Philippines be disappointed again in the basketball court. I do not like seeing them lose but they have lost a lot in recent years and the voices that are saying that we shift to football are getting louder. I cannot blame them but if we shift to football, it will take us decades to just match where we are in basketball right now. It would be a sorry day when the Philippines will be beaten by the Thais, Malaysians, or Vietnamese in the basketball court. Basketball has the infrastructure already that even our football leaders want to emulate in the country. We just can't say stop playing basketball and start kicking soccer balls. We invested so much already. Hopefully those billions of pesos will not go to waste. 

Philippine Dragon Boat dominate Worlds without Government Support

The Cobra-Philippine Dragon Boat Federation won 5 golds in the recent International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships in Tampa Bay, Florida. Click HERE for more about the story. 


Well, this team did not have any government support. They did not get a single cent from PSC. They were not even able to compete in the Asian Games because their federation was not recognized. Oh boy, what the heck is happening? Why do you think?


1. This sport maybe is not popular enough. The country is made up of over 7,000 islands and the Philippines is practically surrounded by sea but very few of its over 90 million population would want to be a rower. Ask a kid if he wants to be a rower when he grows up and I am sure you will even be surprised if they answered yes. Rowing is for fishermen and many of our fishermen even prefer to use an engine instead.


2. It's not a glamour sport. Look at the team. They are all Pinoys (pure-pinoys i mean) and most of them are  members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. No cute fil-brits or flamboyant Fil-ams or even controversial Fil-shams. I am not even sure of one of them owns a twitter account. Heck, if one of them suddenly tweets to Sam Pinto for a date, he would probably get a "who u?" answer.


3. I guess it's not an olympic sport. In the over a hundred year history of the olympics, the country has never bagged a gold medal. How come we never win an olympic gold? Since the olympic fever is rising,  I think the attention now is for our athletes to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Dragon Boat racing? It is NOT an olympic sport. It's like ultimate fris-bee, flag football, or arnis.  Maybe that is the reason why the POC cannot support it. Because if they support Dragon Boat, then they must support Sudoku, scrabble, flag football, rugby, and many other more. We have a limited budget in sports and with the strict mandate against corruption by the Aquino government, sports leaders can't afford to "waste" the limited budget.  Yeah, why can't they train olympic rowing instead?


I do not know what to do with the organization. With their victory, I know a lot of politicians and networks would try to milk some publicity out of them. Many would give them rewards, accolades, and exposure.  They are probably one of the hottest sports personalities behind the Azkals now. And the Azkals just lost recently. How meaningful would be the help of the people who offered to help? Are they going promote dragon boat race now in the grassroots level? If we pour millions to this federation, what are we going to expect? Are we gonna shift some of our young basketball players, swimmers, football players, runners into dragon boat rowers?


What do you think?