Philippine College Basketball: Winning is Everything!

The stakes are so high now in Philippine college basketball. More and more Filipino millionaires and billionaires are supporting college teams. Manny Pangilinan, the Philippine's sports Godfather is Ateneo's chief backer. The National University is now supported by Henry Sy of SM. The UAAP is becoming the battleground of the rich. Winning is becoming the main goal for teams. Nothing is wrong with that but taken to the extreme it might have a detrimental in Philippine basketball in general. Here are some observations about the goings on of the Philippine College Basketball:

1. Collegiate Imports - Foreigners are starting to invade the Phlippine college scene. We see a lot of Africans, Americans, and other nationalities in Philippine college teams. I do not know what they came here for? Maybe they love our quality education. A lot of them can definitely play hoops. It's funny that even the State University has an African import in the team. Southwestern University in Cebu has one too. So is FEU, Adamson, UST, and NU. Are they paid mercenaries to capture collegiate championships? If left unchecked, we might have an uncontrolled influx of foreign that would mean less scholarships for Pinoy baskebtall players.

2. Billionaire backers - the war chest of some college teams could rival PBA teams. The main difference here is that there is no salary cap in running a college team here in the Philippines. Unlike in the US NCAA where benefits and perks are strictly monitored, here in the country there is no way to check. NU even lured Ray Parks from a Division I career. It might not be a dubious decision since he is Filipino but what could stop rich Philippine schools from recruiting blue chip American players to the Philippines. There is not much restrictions here. The level of competition will definitely improve but only for those teams who can afford.

3. Talent Disparity - No.2 is a big factor of this. Many teams are now hoarding the best talents in basketball. One prime example is Ateneo, for this year's war they were able to add Greg Slaughter (Cesafi MVP and champ at UV), Kiefer Ravena, and Von Pessumal (3-time UAAP Jrs. Champ with Ateneo HS), and supposed to be Mark Jayven Tallo (Cesafi Jrs. MVP and TNT MVP ng Bayan- decided to leave ADMU before the season started). Next year they might have Chris Newsome (NCAA Div. II), Kris Porter (Ateneo Eaglets), and comebacking Ryan Buenafe. Other teams like UP are fighting for "scraps". The UAAP is starting to look like the PBA where only few teams can contend for a championship and if they continue the trend then it will become boring. How can we continue rivalries when one team is way superior than its rival. Hopefully the strong schools will not be so greedy that they will allow some of their good recruits to play for other schools instead of staying in Team B or ride the bench. 

I do not blame teams for doing everything to be the champion. It is just not good if we do not have rules. With millions of money pouring in the basketball programs, the leagues should at least have a way to make sure that these players are truly amateurs and not acting like a semi-pro team. A level playing field might not be possible but there should be a way to at least let the lowly teams to equalize in talent level just like the luxury tax threshold in MLB. If a team overspends to a certain level, they must "subsidize" for scholarships of other teams. 

There must be a way to control this or else college leagues will become 2 or 3 team leagues and we will fail to develop better basketball talents for the national team and the pros.

FIBA Asia Championships: the good things about 4th place

News: Korea beats the Philippines

The 2012 Olympic dream for the Smart-Gilas is over and the 4th place finish is actually one of our best finishes in recent years. Here is some good things that I think of after the loss.

1. Manny V. Pangilinan or MVP will be able to save up some money for other sports and charity. If the Gilas won then he would have to bankroll the Gilas' campaign in a tougher Olympic qualifier. He can use the money to pay for the boxers and the taekwondo jins who could have better shot of an olympic medal than the basketball team. He can even use the money to buy an NBA team. ;)

2. We lost to a familiar foe. Korea and the Philippines are evenly matched but it seems that we are cursed against those Koreans. We seem to lose in the final minutes of the game. At least, there was nothing new about the game. I was at the edge of my seat watching the 3rd place battle on TV with Olsen "Crying" Racela being the color commentator. Of all the people that they chose, why him? I'm sure Olsen was crushed watching a heartbreaker do over.

3. It is gonna be an exciting PBA season. The Gilas draftees will surely crowd the PBA rookie of the Year race (if they are considered rookies).

4. Respect. Somehow we got the respect of our Asian neighbors now. They cannot take us lightly once we learn how to win in crunchtime then they better be ready to bow to the future brown kings of Asian basketball soon.

5. National team formula. Our system is working and coach Toroman has elevated our standards. I hope that the Iranians will not try to snatch him back. We probably have the best center in Asia performance-wise. We just need to surround him with a mix of pros and trainee amateurs. Slaughter, Ravena, and Parks should be integrated to Gilas as early as next year. We need to have a new Alapag (a fast PG who is a dead-eye in the 3 point region). If only Alapag was 3 inches taller..hehehe.

It is sad but basketball is still the No.1 team sport in the country. No offense to football but we are No.4 in Asia in this sport. We just can't give up this slot for a sport where we are just No.4 in Southeast-Asia.  The future of Philippine basketball might not be as rosy but the Gilas program should be continued and we should stop the habit of rebuilding often. We have to add on to the Gilas and hopefully the PBA and MVP's rival San Miguel will help.

Jordan ends Gilas' dream run

News: Jordan beats Gilas in the FIBA Asia Semis

The winning streak of the Pilipinas Smart-Gilas 5 in the FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Wuhan, China ends at 5. The Philippines missed a chance to be in the finals after it crashed against a very experienced Jordanian team. A lot of people had high hopes for a breakthrough for the Pinoy ballers as Jordan eliminated the seemingly unbeatable Iran. Jordan fell to the Gilas in their first meeting in the 2nd round. It was not meant to be.

The Olympic dream might never be over though as they can still qualify for the final Olympic qualifiers if they win the bronze medal in Wuhan. There is still hope but historically, the Gilas do not fare well in 3rd place matches. They also seem to lose to a team that they beat in previous rounds (another example was in the Jones Cup against Iran). I hope that they can get out of the emotional rut and win the battle for 3rd place. The Gilas has shown that they can compete with the best of Asia.

If they lose tomorrow, will there still be a Gilas program? With the core going pro, what happens to the team? Our past performances in Asian level competition has been badly affected by the constant rebuilding of teams. Instead of continuously improving, we prefer to start from scratch often. Once the PBA starts, a lot of basketball leaders forget about the national team. They always say that there are new players waiting on the wings but these players need to develop chemistry and learn the system. The system of coach Toroman somehow works and we got a gem with Marcus Douthit. It is just sad that Lassiter and company will be donning different colors as early as next week.

Is the Olympic dream really over? We will surely find out sooner than later. ;)

May the Gilas win 3rd place so that there will be a flicker of hope for the program to continue.

Related Links:
Gilas stuns Japan (sportsreaktor)
Rebuilding the Gilas (past article)

26th FIBA Asia Championship: GIlas playing sans Lassiter, Lutz

NEWS: Gilas plays without Lutz, Lassiter

The Pilipinas Smart-Gilas played its first 3 games in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Wuhan, China without wingmen Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter. The result? A 2-1 record. The Gilas beat UAE and Bahrain but fell to the taller Chinese basketball team.

It is quite sad that eligibility issues were only addressed on the eve of the competitions. The Philippines along with middle-eastern power Qatar were most affected. Qatar had 5 players ruled ineligible. Some quarters think that these developments were politically motivated. The one handling the issue is from Lebanon, one of the teams that expect to figure well in this year's tourney.

Some people say that Lebanon is scared to face the Philippines and Qatar. Maybe. It is not nice to see that games are decided in the boardroom rather than in the basketball court. The Philippines is probably a top 6 team with the 2 "barred" players. Without them, the semifinal hopes can be dim.

I know that the SBP leadership will exhaust all means to make them eligible in the next rounds of the championships. Hopefully, they will succeed. If not, then it will have a bigger impact on the recruitment process for the future national teams. A lot of our prized recruits are half-Filipinos. If the issues are not clarified, then the Gilas program will be left in shambles.

Let see what happens in the next few days...

World Cup of Pool: Philippines Teams Eliminated in the Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal Results of the 2011 World Cup of Pool

As the host country of the 2011 PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool, the Philippines had the privilege to field 2 teams in the tournament. The rest of the countries have 1 representative. The Philippine Team A was composed of World No.1 Dennis Orcollo and former World 9-ball Champ Ronato Alcano. The second Philippine team is made of the legendary Efren "Bata" Reyes and Francisco "Django" Bustamante.

The 2 teams won their first two matches and they ended up in the quarterfinals. Reyes and Bustamante were paired against Germany's Souquet-Hohmann pairing while The Orcollo-Alcano team faced the Ko brothers of Chinese Taipei.

The German team easily disposed of the Philippine Team B, 9-1 while Taiwan won the hill-hill battle against the Philippine Team A.

It was tough to see that our teams lost in the last 8 as we expected at least one of them to make it in the finals. I am sure many people went home from SM North disappointed with the results. It has been a sad day for Philippine sports. Aside from the losses at the billiard table, Ateneo lost against Adamson and the Putra Cup campaign was disappointing.

I am sure so many Pinoy sports fan are sad tonight like billiard fanatics, Ateneans, and golf enthusiasts. I do not want even to read the news tomorrow if I am ultra-avid fan of those who lost. Well, life must go on.  There are more tournaments to come. Dream endings usually happen in dreams only. The loss in billiards cannot erase the fact that the Philippines is indeed the billiards capital in the world. The loss of Ateneo means more meaningful Final 4 games. For the loss of our golfers, well, they are young and who knows they will be in the LPGA in 2-3 years. 

Disappointments may come in life but what is important is that we learn from our defeats. Failure to do so is the biggest mistake one can make. One can have a bad day, bad week, bad year , or a bad decade but all things will pass and hope springs eternal. ;)

Pacquiao for VP in 2016????

News: Pacman to run for VP

Well, it's 2011 and Manny Pacquiao is set to face Juan Manuel Marquez this November but it did not stop the "Pambansang Kamao" to plot his political career this early. Manny knows that he will be around less than 5 fights before hanging up his gloves and it is just right for him to plan for his future. I guess after winning the House seat of Sarangani, Cong. Pacquiao is starting to love politics.

Here is what he is supposed to be planning: 2013 run for Sarangani governor then 2016 run for VP. My reaction? Well, no matter how people discount the abilities of athlete as a politician there are many factors and precedents that are favoring Manny. One is popularity. No matter how we look at it, elections are clearly popularity contests. It is rarely about principles, advocacy, and competence. It is really hard to beat a really popular candidate. Noli, Erap, Jawo, Bong Revilla, and Lito Lapid has shown that popular candidates can win. Second is the dole out culture. Manny has show now that gives people houses, money, and other things. People love givers and having thatkind of reputation can really bring a lot of political mileage.

While there are extremely strong factors that will augur well to his dreams, there are also some factors that could thwart his plans. As early as his plans were revealed, COMELEC reacted that he might not be qualified to run for VP in 2016. Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said that the Philippine Constitution set the minium age for VP is 40 years old. Pacquiao will only be 38 in 2016. 

I guess his plan for VP will be moved to 2022. ;) Well, he still has many options. Senator at 2016 will be a perfect launch pad for a VP or presidential run in the future. The last 3 presidents spent time as senators so it is not remote that the Sarangani congressman can be the gentleman from Mindanao in the senate.

Will the Filipino people vote for him? He is definitely more sellable than Lito Lapid. In a list of 12, he can surely sneak in and I am sure some politicos would try to ride on his popularity. In a few years time, it is remote that will see that the "People's Champ is the People's Senator".

Preview of 2013 and 2016??? (Photo from: http://celebrities.wikinut.com/)

Links:

Manny Pacquiao charts his political future
Manny eyes vice-presidency

Pacquiao and his websites

If Manny Pacquiao were a thing, he would have a been a rope. It seems to me that a lot of people loves to play tug of war for him. Take for example his promotions, Manny Pacquiao became the subject of the tug of war between Top Rank's Bob Arum and Golden Boy's De la Hoya. There even came a point that the case went to the courts. In the end, Pacquiao stayed with Arum.

The second incident is between local networks. Pacquiao was and is still being coveted by ABS-CBN and the Philippine's largest network almost had Pacquiao. Manny remained with Solar Sports and his fights are televised at GMA network.

There was also an instance that he was rumored to be falling for a girl and wife Jinky was so jealous about it. Well, the wife won this rumored one-sided "tug of war".

It is not surprising to see that Manny Pacquiao is now the subject of another virtual tug of war. Now, it is in the cyberspace. Years before when Manny was not as famous as he is now, a boxing fanatic named Dong Secuya launched a website that showcases the exploits of Filipino boxers. The website had a nickname of Pacland, short Pacman's land. This site was where fans from around the globe converge and learn more about their boxing hero and interact with each other. Dong Secuya worked so hard to make the site relevant and interesting not only to Pinoy fight fans but also fans from other countries. The site's popularity grew as fast as Manny Pacquiao's ascent to super stardom.

Fast forward 2011, Manny Pacquiao is now a congressman, an 8-division champ, and a businessman with various interests. He now has countless of consultants and advisers. He became a top endorsers of products and itself a very sellable product. Pacquiao became a commodity. Eventually his team realized that it is time to make an official Manny Pacquiao website. The in-charge of this project is Timothy Sladeck. Sladeck launched a site mpboxing.com which was eventually renamed as mp8.ph. It has practically the same goals as Pacland. Since it was the site endorsed by Manny himself, mp8.ph has exclusive footages and articles about the Pinoy boxing hero.

At first Pacland and Sladeck's site co-existed. Until one day, the sites were supposed to be consolidated as Secuya's mannypacquiao.ph becomes the official web domain of Pacquiao. The merge was not harmonious and it prompted Secuya to drop the old domain and create a new one in pinoygreats.com. 

As this development happened, the fans were also divided on their stand about the issue. I can see in the forum that an annoying word war is happening. People try to put down the other side. It is quite sad to see how a site like Pacland disintegrated into a virtual war zone.

In a different light, it is quite funny to see people taking this issue seriously. Maybe there are so many feelings that were hurt along the way that wounds are deeper than I thought. It is even odd that some are even waiting for Manny to settle this problem.  I do not know but I think Pacquiao is not a good referee. He hates to see people hurt and I do not like that idea of him wasting his energies trying to appease some people. 

Let Manny do what he does best, which is fight in the ring. For the business side, let the advisers handle it.  It's too much of a headache and it probably hurts more than an uppercut to the chin by a heavy weight. Pacquiao is not a rope, and it is time to let go.  ;)

Tim Cone leaves Alaska

It's a sad day for the fans of the Alaska Aces in the PBA as Tim Cone his 22-year tenure in the Uytengsu franchise. I remember the days that I hate Alaska because they were so good. I remember the days that they battle my favorite team then the Ginebra San Miguel.

Great Pinoy players like Jojo Lastimosa, Johnny Abbarientos, Bong Hawkins, Poch Juinio, Jeffrey Cariaso, Ali Peek, Tony De la Cruz, and LA Tenorio have donned that the Alaska jersey under Coach Tim Cone. The 22 years resulted to 13 titles and countless finals appearances. They even won a grand slam in 1996.

Coach Tim has been a fixture in the PBA. He popularized the triangle offense in the Philippines and his emotional coaching style is a joy to watch. I wonder, where will he coach next. It would be exciting to see a coach of his caliber develop the next batch of Smart-Gilas. I think he can give Philippine National cager a basketball identity. It will also be surprising to see him in a rival PBA team but anything can happen.

To Coach Tim, good luck!

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?