Derrick Rose, MVP-form, Is Back!

I've always been a Derrick Rose fan and it gives me great joy to announce that the real DRose, the one of the blazing speed, the impossible cuts, the incredible elevation, and the magical touch around the rim, is back.

It has been a hard road for the former MVP. Injury after injury to his knees kept him off the court for entire seasons, robbed him of his confidence, planted not just seeds but entire plantations of doubt in coaches' minds...and DRose worked his butt off to prove everyone wrong.

Tonight is just the exclamation point to what has been an extraordinary journey back to the NBA stratosphere.

Same-old, same-old In The West.

The NBA season starts tomorrow and while it seems to be shaping up as an exciting season, there really isn't anything new out West.

The power players are still the same and the cellar-dwellers, well, there doesn't seem to be any breakout teams among the West's few truly mediocre teams.

In fact, the top two teams in the West remain the same, but I have a surprise pick for the third. Without further ado, the three teams to watch out for in the Wstern Conference.

Golden State Warriors - Whaaaaaaat? You mean after a second championship, they're still the favorites? The loss of the likes of Javale McGee and David West has been totally negated by the signing of DeMarcus Cousins. Yes, he's still injured but the Warriors without a traditional center is actually more dangerous than the Warriors with one.

So the Warriors will hum along, with the same Fab Four outgunning everyone else. And when Cousins finally joins them, the Warriors may just be the most unbeatable team in the NBA's history.

The Shift Of Power In The East

We are about one week away from the start of the NBA season so we'll give you guys a quick rundown on hot topics, predictions, and things to watch out for.

First, we take a look at the Eastern Conference where the departure of Lebron James has created a seismic shift in which team will now reign supreme.

Here are the new "Beasts of the East":

The Boston Celtics. Last year, they didn't have Gordon Hayward for basically the entire season and Kyrie Irving for the latter part of the season, including their playoff series against the Cavs and they still looked like a juggernaut. Giving Brad Stevens an entire year to work with a starting five of Irving, Jaylen Brown, Hayward, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford should scare everyone in the Eastern conference. There is no better coach nor is there a better starting five than that Celtics lineup.

And then you get the likes of Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, Daniel Theis, Aron Baynes, Semi Ojeleye, and Guerschon Yabusele on your bench and that is just staaaaaacked. They're basically a superteam, except no one seems to have realized it yet.

Gilas Fashions Epic Comeback Win Against Qatar, 92-81.

For two long quarters, it seemed like our worst nightmares had come true.

We went 1-15 from 3 while Qatar went 4-4 from three and 4-8 from 2. They went up bug 17 points and no one could get anything going.

We finally pruned it down to a 13 point lead by halftime (52-39) and hoped Coach Yeng Guiao and the Gilas boys had some fight left in them.

And then big Beau Belga, scrappy Scottie Thompson, and hyper Japeth Aguilar decided to put Gilas on their collective backs and tow them back into the game.

The Gilas Lineup Vs Qatar: An Update

So here's the final 12 for Gilas against Qatar:

Aguilar, Japeth

Belga, Beau

Cabagnot, Alex

Dalistan, Paul

Erram, JP

Lassiter, Marcio

Norwood, Gabe

Pringle, Stan

Sangalang, Ian

Taulava, Asi

Thompson, Scottie

Wright, Matthew

Left out are:

Almazan, Raymond

Malicsi, Allein

Slaughter, Greg

Standhardinger, Christian

Here's my take:

We already knew Standhardinger was probably not going to play against Qatar so that's no surprise. Besides, I'm pretty stoked to see Stanley Pringle play. So this is pretty okay.

Gilas Vs. Qatar: Who Should Make The Lineup

Tomorrow, Gilas goes up against Qatar in a closed door match, as per the sanctions levied by FIBA for the now infamous Bulacan Brawl.

Qatar is one of the relative lightweights in the group, ranking last in points scored and assists, and  14th (out of 16th) in total rebounds.

Tanguy Ngombo will likely lead the team but they're going to need more than just his 14points and 8 rebounds. Qatar is a good team but they're nowhere near Gilas' level, if Gilas plays to their potential.

Gilas Vs Iran: Grades

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

We're giving out grades for Gilas' 73-81 loss to Iran last night, taking into consideration the player's impact and contribution versus expectations and potential.

Players will be graded from 1-10, 10 bring the highest, 1 being the suckiest, 6 as the passing grade, and incomplete for those who didn't get a fair chance to show their stuff.

The Starters:
Asi Taulava - Incomplete. The Ageless One played 5 minutes and had 3 points on 1/3 shooting from 3. But with Haddadi unexpectedly out, there was really no need for Asi's heft or experience.

Iran Downs Gilas 81-73. Three Thoughts On the Game.

It was a well played game by Gilas but Iran's considerable size on the wings as well as its late barrage of threes proved to be the big difference today.

Here are three thoughts on the game:

Thought #1 Standhardinger is the best big man Gilas has.

Yes he is. I know some people will continue to tout JuneMar Fajardo as our premier big man but I dare anybody to look at their body of work for Gilas and still say that Fajardo is the better Gilas player. 

Gilas vs Iran: The Matchups

It's game day and you know what that means.

Means we get to guess what will make or break this game for Gilas.

So here are three match ups that will be crucial for us.

Match up #1: Hamed Haddadi vs the Gilas Frontline
There is no Asian big man who poses a bigger threat that Iran's hamed Haddadi. The former NBA player is big, mobile, skilled, and a fierce competitor. With no Andray Blatche to pull him out of the shaded lane or make him work extra hard on defense, Haddadi will have lots of energy on the offensive end of things...which means our smaller-than-expected frontline will have to a harder time keeping him in check.

Gilas vs Iran: The Lineup

We finally know who the final 12 Gilas players will be for the Iran game. While the lineup features a good combination of size, speed, and shooting, you get the feeling that it still isn't the best lineup we could feature.

Some notable absentees are the Gilas players who have been meted out suspensions by FIBA, including Matthew Wright and Japeth Aguilar, both of whom are with the team in Iran.

Given all these, here are the three things to watch out for in the Gilas Vs Iran game:

Thing # 1 The New Blood
Scottie Thompson, Ian Sangalang, and Alex Cabagnot are making their Gilas debuts in the Iran game with a hell of a lot of expectations.

Alex Cabagnot had long been one of the premier guards in the PBA and had always been mentioned as a potential Gilas player. For some odd reason (cough, cough, politics), he never made it to any of the earlier Gilas teams, so this is a long overdue call up.

Ian Sangalang is a weird case, because Gilas has been trying to get him on the team for the last three years and Sangalang has never shown any interest in doing so. The myriad of injuries that always seemed to pop up whenever Gilas called was just too...fortuitous (cough, cough, politics).

Scottie Thompson earned this call up with his MVP-worthy performance in the last PBA conference. He had always been the more exciting prospect, compared to Baser Amer and Kevin Alas but given that he played for Baranggay Ginebra (cough, cough, politics) and the other two played for MVP-owned teams, he was never as viable an option.

Stan Vs Stan: The Battle Between Hardcourt Superstars

Christian Standhardinger. Stanley Pringle.

These two stars, along with NBA superstar Jordan Clarkson, shone the brightest for Team Pilipinas in the last Asian Games, where the team placed 5th, 2 places higher than in 2014.

As we now move on to the fourth FIBA qualifying window, Gilas will fall victim to harsher eligibility rules that impact mainly Fil-foreign players like Pringle, Standhardinger, and even Greg Slaughter.

Ian Lariba: Gone Too Soon

Photo courtesy of Ian Lariba's Twitter @supersaiYAAAN ‏

This morning, the Philippine sports scene was rocked on its heels with the news that table tennis phenom Ian "Yanyan" Lariba has passed away due to leukemia.

It was shocking, though not a surprise, because of so many reasons:

She was young, just 23 years old, not even at the prime of her life yet, and yet had accomplished so many things most of us would never be able even dream of.

She was an Olympian, a world class athlete in a sport we are not known to be very adept at, a trailblazer, a flagbearer.

She was not just an athlete but was an UNDEAFEATED three time champion as well as a three time MVP.

She was a college graduate, a friend, an inspiration.

May you rest in peace, Ian Lariba. Thank you for your service to the nation.

The South Korea Curse, As Explained In NBA Terms

So yes, it has happened again. South Korea has once again broken the hearts of the Philippine national basketball team, as well as its millions of rabid followers.

It has happened so often and so painfully to us that, in every basketball tournament we play, we live in fear of the Korea Curse.

But much like any curse, there is a logical and rational explanation behind it. We just need to understand it. So here's my take on the Korea Curse, as explained through the NBA landscape.

One, South Korea is International Golden State.
You have to admit, the always-a-green-light, freeflowing, three-point shot hoisting, pinpoint passing, long range bombing system of Korea is reminiscent of the Golden State Warriors' system...except Korea's been doing it since the 60s.

Asian Games 2018: Gilas Vs South Korea

Tomorrow, we get to face the basketball team that has been responsible for so many heartbreaks for Pinoy fans: South Korea. It's a match up that's been hyped up so much the past few days that it's hard to find an angle to discuss that hasn't been discussed yet.

And yet here I am. For this article, we'll look at key match ups to look out for in tomorrow game:

Key Match Up #1 Jordan Clarkson/Stanley Pringle vs Kim Sun-hyung/Lee Jung-hyun/Heo Ung
The Gilas starting backcourt is some kinda amazing and should dominate their South Korean counterparts, who are all solid but not spectacular.  Clarkson/Pringle are deadly on both sides of the floor and will pose the biggest problems for South Korea.

Pinay Power Fuels Asian Games Medal Flurry

What do Hidilyn Diaz, Pauline Lopez, Agatha Wong, Divine Wally, Juvenile Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto, and Janna Oliva all have in common?

They are all Pinay medal winners in the 2018 Asian Games...and are repsonible for 5 of our 6 medals to date (August 24, 2018).

Olympian weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, of course, gave us our first (but hopefully, not our last) gold medal while the rest gave us bronze medals in taekwondo and wushu.

Not to say, of course, that our men's teams have not been doing well. In fact,  our men's poomsae team composed of Dustin Mella, Jeordan Dominguez and Rodolfo Reyes, Jr are also on the board with a bronze medal but for the most part, it is our Pinay athletes who have fared better in the competitions.

We still have more chances at medals courtesy of our ladies as Meggie Ochoa and Kaila Napolis (jiu jit su) for podium finishes this afternoon. Let's wish our ladies luck and hope that the power Pinays keep shining golden!

The 2018 Asian Games (Day 3): Three Bronzes

It's only the third day (officially) of the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta and Team Pilipinas already has 3 bronze medals, courtesy of taekwondo (poomsae) and wushu.

The Philippine men's team composed of Dustin Mella, Jeordan Dominguez, and Rodolfo Reyes, Jr. fell to China in the semifinal round while the women's team made up of Faye Crisostomo, Rinna Babanto, and Janna Oliva were bumped of by a very cohesive United Korea team.

Wushu's Agatha Wong copped the third bronze for the Philippines with a scintillating performance in women's all-round taijiquan/taijijian event.

Impression: The Philippines is a darkhorse in most of the event in these disciplines. We're good enough to hang with the big boys of the sport but maybe not yet good enough to beat them But it's also a good indication of the development of both taekwondo and wushu in the country, as we've consistently been able to show good performances here. I expect a couple more medals to come from wushu and taekwondo. 

Klutch Kai Rescues Batang Gilas, Tows Them To 67-52 Win!

At halftime, it seemed like Batang Gilas' worst nightmares were about to become a reality, as they trailed Bahrain 26-34.

The Bahrainis were persistent, speedy, confident, and utterly fearless so, despite trailing 24-11 at the end of the 1st quarter, they had managed to wrest the lead away from Batang Gilas. Only AJ Edu could get anything going against Bahrain and it looked like it wouldn't be enough.

So, at the beginning of the second half, Batang Gilas found themselves a little bit lost and searching for answers. Kai Sotto decided to BE the answer. He demanded for the ball, despite Edu being in the game with him. He crashed the boards for putbacks. He waited patiently for drop passes and entry passes into the post, instead of being frustrated by the physicality his smaller opponents got away with.

FIBA U18 Quarterfinals Predictions

Action heats up in the quarterfinal round of the FIBA Asia quarterfinal round.

Here are my picks.

IRAN vs NEW ZEALAND

Pretty even match up but I'm picking New Zealand to win over Iran, 70-66. James William Moors and Kruz Perrott-Hunt will be too much for Iran.

PHILIPPINES vs BAHRAIN

Batang Gilas has, on paper, the easiest matchup. They should win 80-60, courtesy of double-double machine AJ Edu, with help from Kai Sotto, Dave Ildefonso, and Dalph Panopio.

AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN

Love Japan but Australia is on a different class, not just compared to Japan but to everyone else in the competitions. Australia should win 100-70, led by tournament stud Sam Froling.

CHINA vs KOREA

Now this should be the most exciting matchup of the day. Conventional wisdom says China should win but I'm picking Korea to go through, 70-65. Batang Gilas has shown how teams can neutralize China (even with Guo Haowen running amuck) and Korea is disciplined enough to run the Chinese defense to the ground.

Now let the games begin!

The Importance of the Batang Gilas vs Bahrain Game

This, in my humble opinion, is the most important game for the U18 Batang Gilas team.

Why? Win this and you go to the FIBA U19 World Championships. Lose this and no one will remember you beat China in the group stages.

Here are three things to look out for:

Thing #1 Batang Gilas Dominance, Stat-wise
Batang Gilas leads Bahrain in most categories,  averaging waaaay more points (80-66.8), rebounds (58-38), blocks (6-3) and assists (17-8) per game, as well as shooting better from the three point line (30% - 27.5%) and the free throw line (72%-54%)

If we look only at those stats, then Batang Gilas should be able to handle the Bahrainis easily.

What Gilas U18 Upsetting China 73-63 Means

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Coming into last night's Batang Gilas game versus China, realists (such as myself) were hoping for a win but knew that history wasn't on our side. After all, China has beaten the Philippines on the last three U18 games they've played by an average margin of 33 points.

Still, that's why you play the game and we still all hoped for a victory or, at the very least, a good showing.

And then Batang Gilas showed us exactly how great they already are. They went ahead to upset tournament favorites China,73-63, and they did it with style, substance, and poise.

After all, the final score doesn't do justice to the thumping the Batang Gilas boys gave the Chinese. At one point, Batang Gilas actually led by 18. As China made their final run, the boys kept their calm and won by making crucial defensive stops and then hitting their free throw.

Here are three things this game eatblished about this Batang Gilas team:

Hail The World Champions from Tanauan! Wait, who?

It really is a sad world when a senior league girls softball team from Tanauan makes history by being the first Asian team (yep, not just the first Filipino team or Southeast Asian team but first ASIAN team) to win the world championship...and no one in the Philippines notices.

So let's get to rectifying that.

The seniors league girls team from Tanauan represented Asia Pacific in the 2018 Senior League Softball World Championship Series and made it all the way to the finals, where they absolutely demolished Texas by a score of 7-0.

Royevel Palma was superb on the mound and ably supported at the plate with multiple hits by Marika Manaig, April Rosita, and Joyce Rasco.

Here's the offical writeup from the Little League site.

Here's the only clip of the girls left on Youtube. (Other clips were removed by Youtube)

For a country desperate for any sort of international achievement, anything we could be proud of, we are doing a darned good job ignoring world class perfromances like this one.

Good job, girls. And thank you for bring honor and glory to the Philippines.

Initial Thoughts On The Asiad Gilas Team

In the latest episode of the nation's most gut-wrenching basketball drama, the SBP once again changed their minds and are now sending a team to the Asian Games in Indonesia.

They are now going back to their original plan, which is to send the core group of the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters and to augment that with a few key additions from other teams.

Here's the final lineup:
Maverick Ahanmisi (RoS)
Raymond Almazan (RoS)
Beau Belga (RoS)
Gabe Norwood (RoS)
Chris Tiu (RoS)
James Yap (RoS)
Stanley Pringle (Globalport)
Christian Standhardinger (San Miguel)
Paul Lee (Magnolia)
JP Erram (Blackwater)
Don Trollano (Talk 'N Text)
Asi Taulava (NLEX)
Kobe Paras (Cadets)
Ricci Rivero (Cadets)

Batang Gilas U18 Wins Against Lebanon, 75-53.

It was the result we expected, with some very unexpected revelations.

The Batang Gilas U18 team was touted to be the best we've sent to this event...ever. And this was its first ever game, with young behemoths Kai Sotto and AJ Edu finally teaming up together. The Lebanese, on the other hand, weren't as well known nor did they have high expectations.

So when Dave Ildefonso started out on fire, scoring 11 of Batang Gilas' first 21 points, outscoring the entire Lebanon team by himself (they had 9 at this point), it seemed like a game that would be amusing but not exciting.

Enough With Gilas, More With Batang Gilas.

Yes, I am one of the many who are disappointed with the decision of the SBP to withdraw from the Asian Games.

Yes, their decision makes sense in certain POVs (like if our goal was to finish at the podium). But there are other goals (player development, regional goodwill, etc...) and this decision does not help those at all.

But there is nothing more to be done about that so let's just move on to a team that has consistently given us something to cheer about and none to be ashamed of: Batang Gilas.

By next week, our young guns will bring honor to the country once again, as they compete at the FIBA Asia U-18 tournament. Led by promising youngsters Kai Sotto, AJ Edu, Raven Cortez, Gerry Abadiano, and Dalph Panopio, Batang Gilas hopes to cement their reputation as one of the most talented teams in Asia.

Here are three things to watch out for.

Batang GIlas U-18 Team: What To Watch Out For

In less than two weeks, we will once again be treated to a display of basketball prowess from some of the finest players in Asia, this time in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

This is the 25th staging of the FIBA Asia Under-18 Junior Men's Championship and Batang Gilas  are out to solidify their newfound hold at the top of the rankings.

Here are three story arcs to watch out for:

Story #1 The Next Big Things
Wunderkind Kai Sotto has just come from putting on a display at the FIBA Under-17 World Championships and dominating the FIBA Asia Under-16 competitions. He now takes on players about 2 years his senior (a significant amount of time, in basketball terms) with the hopes of proving that he belongs with the big boys.

Breaking News: Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green to Raptors for DeMar Derozan, Jakob Poeltl and Protected 1st

Well, that happened quickly.

Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green are headed to the North for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a first round pick (protected from 1-20).

This is perplexing on several fronts. Here are my three quick thoughts:

Thought #1 Spurs could have gotten more.

DeRozan is an amazing player but Leonard is on a very short list of two-way impact players (Lebron James, Giannis Antetokunmpo, Anthony Davis) and the Spurs could have definitely gotten more for Leonard and Green.

Flashes of Brilliance Vs Game-Long Consistency: The World Cup Finals

It was the most exciting World Cup Finals match in a looong, loooong time and both teams showed the world why they deserved a chance to bring the Cup home.

That being said, here are three thoughts about that match:

Thought #1 Croatia played a better game.
I have just fallen in love with Croatian football. It's everything I remember Argentinean and Brazilian football to be. The intricate passing, the llightning quick runs, the pinpoint volleys, the intense passion.

In my honest opinion, for about 86 minutes of the game, Croatia played better football than France. I guess that's why there's a lot of angst about Croatia's loss (not just among Croatians), because they were the better team today but the better team did not win today.

And The New Best Player In The Eastern Conference is...

With Lebron James taking his talents to LA, there is now a void which the remaining players in the Eastern Conference must filll...and that is the position of best player in the East.

It's a task easier discussed than decided on, given that no one seems to be clearly the best player. But here are my top four candidates for that position.

Candidate #1 Kyrie Irving
Lebron's former teammate in Cleveland averaged 24.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in his lone, cut-way-too-short season in Boston. He's a dynamic scorer, very dangerous in the open court, and starting to learn how to be a playmaker for others.

His defense is suspect though and his athleticism may have taken a hit with this season's knee injury. Until he comes back and shows he is the same player he was in his days in Cleveland plus improve his defense and playmaking, I'd hesitate to crown him as the East's best player.

Batang Gilas Crushes New Zealand 73-51, Places 13th.

In a game between somewhat familiar rivals, Batang Gilas showed just how much they've improved in the span of half a year.

Led by Kai Sotto's 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks, the young Gilas team defeated New Zealand 73-52, in a game that was never in doubt. In fact, the young Pinoys won every quarter (16-12, 19-12, 19-12, 19-15)

Don't make any mistake, this was an upset, given our history with Oceania basketball.

Just a few short months ago, we faced this same team at the FIBA Asia Under 16 Tournament and lost to them by 16 points, 76-60. They were led by promising youngsters Marvin Williams-Dunn (17points on 50% shooting), Mitchell Dance (16pts on 38% shooting, 7 rebounds), and Jake McKinlay (10pts on 33% shooting).

Batang Gilas Falls to Canada, As Expected, 62-102.

Well, we knew it was coming. In a tune up game just a week ago, our young guns lost to the same side by 35 points. Today, when it counted, we lost by 40.

Here are three thoughts on today's game.

Thought #1 We need better guardplay.
Our point guard rotation of Terence Fortea (3.5 TOs) and Rence Padrigao (3.3 TOs) are averaging a whopping 6.8 turnovers between the two of them. Compare that to our point guard rotation from the severely undersized U17 team from 2014, Jolo Go (1.7 TOs) and Jolo Mendoza (.4 TOs), who averaged a measly 2.1 turnovers between them.

And that's with Go (12.4) and Mendoza (12.6) leading the team in scoring too. Fortea is currently averaging 7.8 pts while Padrigao is averaging 1.5 pts per game.

RP National Team: "The Others" Edition

Yesterday, I came up with a list of who would make the national team roster if we could only get players who were A) from the SMC bloc and B) weren't in danger of being suspended by FIBA. If you haven't read it yet, click this link

Today, let's explore what the roster would look like if we could pick from the players from the PBA teams not affiliated to either PLDT or SMC. So the teams in play would be the Alaska Aces, Blackwater Elite, Columbian Dyip, Globalport Batang Pier, Phoenix Fuel Masters and Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters.

Starters: JP Erram, Raymond Almazan, Gabe Norwood, Mac Belo, JVee Casio
It's depressing that this is the best starting five we can go with. Almazan and Erram are young bigs with lots of potential but aren't skilled or experienced enough yet to be the main guys against international bigs. Gabe Norwood will always be solid but he's a glue-guy, the man who fills in the gaps as opposed to being the main man. Mac Belo is still recovering from injuries and JVee Casio just isn't on the same level as Castro, Romeo, or Ravena.

RP National Team: SMC Edition

Let's face it. There's a reason why most Gilas teams have a lot of players from the PLDT bloc and barely any from the SMC group,  so I'm not going to expound on that here.

Instead, I set upon pondering a different problem. With the looming FIBA sanctions, given the "Brawl In  Bocaue", there is a big chance that most of the players from that Gilas team won't make it to the next version.

So what if the PLDT group hands off the reins of the national team (which I'm sure won't be named "Gilas" nor would it have the battlecry "puso") to their rivals? What would that roster look like?

Here's my guess:
Starters: JuneMar Fajardo, Ian Sangalang, Marcio Lassiter, Paul Lee, LA Tenorio.

This is an extremely versatile starting five, with heady guardplay, tough perimeter defense, and long range sniping. The biggest problem of this lineup is interior defense, as Sangalang just doesn't have the length or heft to battle internaitonal PFs, and Fajardo has many strengths but defense isn't one of them.

Gilas Vs Boomers: The Aftermath Part 1

It's been less than 24 hours after the "Brawl In Bocaue" (aka Gilas Vs Boomers), and the aftermath of of the incident has proven to be as vicious as the brawl itself.

Here are the first three things to watch out for:

Thing #1 Racism.
It's alive and kicking (hard). I've never seen so many racist tweets and posts bombard my feed in so short a time. The Aussie contingent (as well as several other nationalities like Lebanese, American, Singaporeans etc...) on Twitter and Facebook have been pretty vicious with their comments, with "monkey" and "dog" the most prevalent ones.

The Filipino netizens have hit back as well, but most of their racist taunts have centered on Autralia's historical status as a former penal colony. It's pretty darned bad too.

Thing #2 Consequences.
We already know that FIBA has launched their investigation on the incident. I expect FIBA to come down hard on Gilas, especially Pogoy, Abueva, Cruz, Jalalon, Blatche, and most unfortunately, Castro.

On the Aussie side, Kickert might be the only one in any real danger of being punished, although Goulding might get a warning.

On an aisde, Goulding's representatives have been making noises that, if they deem the FIBA sanctions too light, they might file legal cases against the Gilas players for the brawl. I'm not sure how far that would prosper but that's certainly cause for concern for our players.

And then, there's our 2023 hosting gig. I do think there's a realistic chance that it gets pulled out. It's the strongest statement FIBA can make and I think there is a chance they make it. If that happens, that would be just awful.

Thing #3 PBA Politics.
To be clear, I do not in any way or form condone or support the brawl. I do find it distateful, though, that several players of a rival congolomerate have publicly disparaged their fellow players. In my opinion, a little professional courtesy would have been nice. But obviously, the politics of the PBA take precedence. Which might actually work in the PBA's favor. I'm guessing Castro, Romeo, Cruz, Abueva, et al will all have a little bit more motivation when they face these players.

That being said, 24 hours ago, I said it was a great time to be a Filipino sportsfan. My position on that is now the complete opposite.

How Australia Masterplanned The Implosion of Gilas

First, let us get one thing out of the way. The brawl should never have happened. The fans and staff throwing stuff at the Australian players should be barred from all playing venues from this day forth (maybe even prosecuted). The Gilas players should have kept their cool and kept each other out of harm's way.

Because this was exactly how the Australian basketball team wanted things to go. They planned for our team to beat ourselves.

And it all started with the decals. The mind games started early, with the Aussie staff unpeeling the decals off our floor. They've never done that before, so why start now? Because they needed to. They needed to get into the heads of our players, to find a way to ignite the infamous Pinoy temper.

Three Quick Thoughts on the Lebron Signing

So. Lebron James has signed a 4 year, 154 million dollar deal with the LA Lakers.

Here are three quick thoughts about it.

Thought #1 Happiest about it:Sixers and the Celtics.
You'd think that the Raptors would be the happiest about it because they'll think they may now actually have a chance of making the NBA Finals. But the Sixers and the Celtics would be happier because now, they KNOW that one of them will go to the Finals.

Thought #2 Saddest about it: Kevin Love.
He left Minnesota because he wanted to be in a team good enough to not only go to the playoffs but also have a realitic chance of winning a title. Now, he's on a team that's even worse than the team he left behind. Seriously, would you rather be on a team with Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, and George Hill than a team with Ricky Rubio, JJ Barea, Corey Brewer, Gorgui Dieng, and Nikola Pekovic?

Thought #3 Basketball is a Business.
And business is good. Until Jordan came along, basketball was a passion and a profession. Michael Jordan turned it into an enterprise. And now, Lebron James has elevated it into a global conglomerate. James has approached everything from the business standpoint and he has done it tremendously well. The era of the sportsman-magnate is firmly in place.

Gilas Thoughts On the Chinese Taipei Win and the Croatia Loss

It was a wild weekend for Gilas fans, as the  senior Gilas team won resoundingly against Chinese Taipei (93-71) while the Gilas Under-17 team lost just as resoundingly to Croatia (97-75).

Here are three thoughts on the contrating fortunes of our national teams.

Thought #1 The New Gilas.
Who would have thought that the Gilas teams would finally be anchored on skilled big men, instead of talented guards? While past Philippine teams have had its share of outstanding big men, Gilas team shave almost always been undersized, and relied more on the speed and shooting ability of its guards and wings to offset our opponents' size advantage.

Lionel Messi, A Coward?

I think not!

Wonderful video from aranFE.

Thoughts on The Gilas 12 Vs Chinese-Taipei

The twelve men who will play for Gilas Pilipinas versus Chinese-Taipei has just been revealed.

Coach Chot Reyes has named Jayson Castro, Andray Blatche, JuneMar Fajardo, Terence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, Matthew Wright, Gabe Norwood, Roger Pogoy, Jio Jalalon, and Allein Malicsi to our twelve man lineup.

Left out of the lineup are Baser Amer, Carl Bryan Cruz and Gilas Cadet Troy Rike.

Here are three thoughts on our lineup:

Thought #1 No surprises here.
The twelve named were the most obvious choices. Baser Amer is still new to the program and has not proven he should be picked over Jalalon (who wouldn't have been picked either had Kiefer Ravena been available), Carl Bryan Cruz is basically Matthew Wright-light, and Troy Rike is only with the team to further expedite his entry to future Gilas lineups.

The NBA Awards: Three Thoughts

Early this week, the NBA revealed their awardees for the 2017-2018. Here's an abbreviated list featuring several high profile categories:

Most Valuable Player: James Harden
Rookie of the Year: Ben Simmons
Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert
Most Improved Player: Victor Oladipo
Sixth Man of the Year: Lou Williams
Coach of the Year: Dwayne Casey

Here are my three thoughts to ponder on:

Thought #1 There were no surprises.
Everyone who won were the same players whom most people thought would win. Case in point: James Harden. Everyone was of the opinion at the beginning of this year that he would be the 2018 MVP. And he won despite the fact that Russell Westbrook made history again by being the ONLY player to average a triple-double (25.4pts, 10.1 reb, 10.3 assists) for two seasons (and back-to-back seasons too!). Lebron James also had better overall stats than James Harden but still, being the favorite for most of the year seemed to work  out for James Harden.

The Tragedy That Is Argentina Football.

Stale offense. A passive midfield. A disinterested defensive line.
Who are these guys? One thing is for sure...this is NOT Argentina football.

But maybe we shouldn't be so surprised. After all, this is the same team that won a ticket to the World Cup on the last day of qualifications and they needed a superhuman effort from superstar Lionel Messi to book that.

So what exactly is going wrong for Argentina? Here are three things to consider:

Thing #1 Capable Goalkeeping.
Everyone is missing Sergio Romero right now. Goalkeepers are normally the most confident (bordering on arrogant) players on the field. They need to be, given the importance of the position.

What To Expect From The FIBA U-17 World Championships

In a week's time, our gallant Batang Gilas U-17 team will be battling some of the world's best young basketball players in Argentina.

It's a pretty tough draw for the young mean of Gilas, given that they have fallen into a veritable Group of Death, with European powerhouses France and Croatia, as well as host and arguably the top South American team, Argentina.

Here are three things to watch out for in the tournament:

Thing #1 World, Meet Kai.
Kai Sotto is literally the biggest thing to happen to Philippine youth basketball. And make no mistake, Sotto is not a lumbering, unskilled big man getting by on his size. He's a mobile young man who has developed a couple of sweet post moves, is active on the boards, and a willing (if not yet very dominant) rim protector.

Three Takes from The First Four Days of the World Cup

It has been a whirlwind four days in the 2018 Russia World Cup and it has been beyond exciting.

Here are my three takes so far:

Take #1: The unexpected is taking centerstage.
Sure, Russia is the host nation and thus, expected to have some kind of homefield advantage but a 5-0 result against a normally solid Saudi Arabian squad? And it was a relatively easy 5-0 win too, as the Russians threatened all game long. And then there was the Mexico's famous victory over Gemany, Cristiano Ronaldo's hat trick for Portugal, and Lionel Messi's missed penalty kick to drop Argentina to a draw against Iceland, all of which are sentences we never thought were going to be said in this lifetime.

Three Takes From The National Women's Volleyball Team Selection

So, the list has finally come out. Here are the fourteen women tasked to lift Philippine women's volleyball to the next level:

Aby Marano (Team Captain), Alyssa Valdes, Jaja Santiago, Dawn Macandili, Kim Fajardo, Jia Morado, Ces Molina, Majoy Baron, Kim Dy, Mika Reyes, Cha Cruz, Dindin Manabat, with Denden Lazaro and Rhea Dimaculangan on the reserve list.

Here are my three takes from this list:
Take #1: Isn't the team a bit...uhm, unbalanced? I look at the inital 12-person lineup and I see so many middle blockers but just 1 libero. Are we then banking on dominating the aerial battle at the net, rather than the trench warfare on the floor? Also, heavens forbid that Dawn Macandili have a bad day at the office (or worse, gets injured) because we may then have to test Cha Cruz-Behag's on-court versatility.

Janine Pontejos Makes FIBA 3x3 History for Philippines.

In the end, the best man left standing was a Filipina.

Yes, the smallest of the snipers, Janine Pontejos, stood tallest when the chips were down by scoring 14 points in 41.86 seconds to finally give them Philippines its first gold medal in the senior division* of the FIBA 3x3 tournament.

Here are three things that helped Pontejos win the shootout:

1) Homecourt advantage - There's nothing like playing at home and Pontejos definitely felt the love from the home crowd, which helped prop up her confidence.

Philippine Women's 3X3 Team: When Puso Isn't Enough But It Still Is.

Afril Bernardino. Jack Animam. Gemma Miranda. Janine Pontejos.

Remember those names. Today, they showed the fabled Pinoy "puso" on the court and made every Filipino proud.

This was a Filipina team that was lacking in a lot of things: height, experience, monetary support, an easy draw. But what they didn't lack was the determination of the Pinoy baller to overcome all those challenges.

The Significance Of Game Three

Game Three is going to be very important. So important that it will dictate whether Lebron James leaves the Cavs this summer or not.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think the Cavs will win the series. The Warriors are just too darned good. But if the Cavs can win Game 3, then they make the series respectable. Win Game Four and we'll have a proper series.

The Unfortunate Thing About Game One...

Do you know what's quite sad about Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers?

That its biggest talking point isn't Lebron James' singular dominance, scoring 51 points, grabbing 8 rebounds and 8 assists in an almost triple-double effort, while playing 48 minutes.

Cavs Vs. Warriors: Predicting the Sorta Predictable

So, here we are, exactly where we thought we'd be at the start of the season.

Here are some of my predictions for the series.

Game 1 Winner: Like Lebron said, Game 1 is about feeling things out. He's going to use Game 1 to try to gauge just how high he needs to go for them to win the series. Does he need to go Boston series-mode? Or just Raptors series-mode? Either way, don't expect 48minutes of hell from Lebron just yet.

Rockets Fall Back To Earth, Warriors March On

We always knew that Rockets needed to be near perfect to beat the Warriors. And when Chris Paul went down with that hamstring injury near the end of Game 5, that window for perfection just went from small to infinitesimal.

Add to that a flurry of unexpected areas of momentary incompetence that helped sink that (Rocket) ship, including:

I'm Not Going To Say I Told You So...

But I told you so.

Game 7 Lebron James is real...and he's unreal. And the best way to avoid that juggernaut is to not let the Cavs get to Game 7.

Tonight, Lebron's numbers may not be as gaudy compared to other games (35 points on 50% shooting, 15 rebounds, 9 assists) but he was definitely everything the Cavs needed him to be.

Lebron Is Human (And That's Just Fine)

So the Celtics won at home 96-83. Not a shocker. They showed a lot of poise when the Cavs whittled down a 16 point lead to an 8 point lead in 3 minutes flat during the second quarter and eventually built and even larger lead. Nor surprising at all. Marcus Morris got a tech, definitely not unexpected. Jayson Tatum is already a star. Okay, that's a bit surprising but not shocking.   

What was unexpected was Lebron James showing signs of fatigue during the game. James was sloppy (6 turnovers), off target (1-6 from 3pt land) and worse, lacked his usual energy on defense (1 steal, 0 blocks)

Rockets Hang Tough, Proves Point.

Until Game 4, the Rockets haven't really proven that they can win against the Warriors when the going gets tough.

But why is that so important?

It goes to that great intangible mental toughness. It speaks to the ability to shut out the screaming crowd, the score, the fatigue, the person guarding you and make that shot you'd make 10 times out of 10 during practice.

It May Be 2-2 But Cavs Have The Edge Now

Before we get all huffy-puffy, let me just say that this Boston team is scary. With their two best players (Irving, Hayward) sidelined, they have proven themselves to be more worthy rivals to the Cavs than the Raptors ever were.

And yes, I remember that Boston beat Cleveland in Game 1 by 25 points, and in Game 2 by 13 points. It isn't about that, or about the Cavs returning the favor by beating the Celtics by 30 points in Game 3 and by 9 just today. (That's +1 for the Cavs by the way.)