The Jordanian National team – known popularly as Al Nashama – showed enough character, courage, conviction and most importantly capabilities to live true to its nickname and carved out a 75-61 win against Philippines that put the WABA team in its first ever FIBA Asia Championship final.

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“This is the biggest moment of my life,” gushed Rasheim Wright, a catalyst for Jordan’s success in the last couple of years, who led the team’s scoring for the night with a 22-point game.

Sam Daghles and Zaid Abbas, as popular among the Chinese fans as they would be in Amman, exploded into cracker performance in the fourth quarter to take the game away completely from a Filipino outfit that looked far from the enthusiastic combination they had been in the tournament so far.

Simply out, Jordan had just outwitted, outsmarted, outplayed and outscored the Philippines.

Daghles scored 10 of his 16 points for the game and Abbas accounted for half his 14 points, in the fourth quarter to propel Jordan forward.

The two combined together – three times from the perimeter along with Abbas’ fast-break lay-up – to effect a 11-0 run just after the midway mark of the fourth quarter that sealed the issue in Tab Baldwin’s favor.

“There are no words to describe our feelings,” said Wright. “Two years ago, we came very close to making the final, but couldn’t had to be content with the bronze. This time around we have proven to the world the stuff we are made of,” the naturalized American said.

“I’ve never been more excited in my entire coaching career,” said Baldwin. “To me, Philippines and Iran posed similar challenges. We had to take their big guy (Marcus Douhtit) out like how we did with Haddadi. And we stopped their guards well,” Baldwin said.

“We shot miserably,” rued Philippines coach Rajko Toroman. “Jordan were the better team on the floor and they deserved to win,” he added.

“We’ll fight to win a medal now.”

Read the original article at FIBAasia.net.

The 2011 William Jones Cup tournament is a basketball tournament held in Asia every year.

Discuss the 2011 William Jones Cup in our forum.

This year’s cup is being hosted in Taiwan from August 06-14th.  This is the 33rd annual tournament and is taking place at Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Teams participating in this year’s tournament are Korea, The Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Malasia, and the United Arab Emitrates.

Check out the official website for the 2011 William Jones Cup.

Mahram Tehran opened their title defense with a strong 86-59 win over Al Jala’a (Syria), while hosts Smart Gilas (Philippines) easily defeated Al Ittihad (Saudi Araban) 101-69 on the opening day of the tournament.

(Follow the Asia Champions Cup in our forum)

The competition is being held in Manila, Philippines.

Asia Champions Cup champions Mahram, who won the title the last two years, scored the first eight points of the game before Jala’a got their rhythm and kept the game close through the first quarter and a half.

But the club from Tehran, Iran displayed why they have won the title the last two years as they pulled away late in the second period and pushed their lead up rest of the way.

Afterwards, Al Jala’a had nothing but good things to say about Mahram.

“To me, Mahram is the best team in Asia. And today they just proved that,” said Mensur Bajramovic, Jala’a coach. “Maybe we could have got it closer if we had got a little higher in our percentages, but overall we lost to a quality opposition.”

Former NBA player Samaki Walker, who had a team-high 16 points in the losing effort added: “(Mahram’s) confidence and class just showed. Really our bad luck that we had to start against them. It’s not that we are bad, but they were better,”

Harder than it looked
Mahram coach Mehran Shahintab, however, called for caution.

“It looked a lot easier than it actually was,” he said. “We are just coming off a long and tiring season in Iran.

“Add it to the travel and differing conditions, I am really happy to start with a win.” said Shahintab, who was the coach of the Saba Battery team that won back-to-back titles in FIBA Asia Champions Cup in 2007 and 2008 before Mostafa Hashemi coached Mahram for the triumphs in 2009 and 2010.

Import Chris Williams led all scorers for the game with 34 points, on a blazing 15 of 17 from the field and Senegalese Samb Cheikh added 12.

Meanwhile, Smart Gilas Pilipinas gave the partisan crowd at the PhilSports Arena a lot to cheer about as they pulled ahead in the second quarter of their game against Al Ittihad and never looked back.

Much like Al Jala’a, Al Ittihad fought tooth and nail for the first quarter and a half, but naturalised American Marcus Douthit marked his debut in FIBA Asia competitions with a 10-point burst for the home side in the latter part of the second quarter, to give them a 45-31 advantage at the break.

The 2.10m center finished with 18 points, but it was his burst that tilted the scales firmly in Smart Gilas’ favour.

Japeth Aguilar led the scoring for Smart Gilas, and the game, with a 20-point haul that included some sparkling dunks which brought the crowd to its feet. The 6-foot-9 Aguilar converted 10 of his 11 attempts from the field.

“After all we are here to show some quality basketball to our own fans along with winning,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The 22-8 run to close the first half perched Smart Gilas firmly in control and they played for time in the second half.

“We didn’t have enough time to prepare for the competition, since our participation itself happened much late,” said Ittihad coach Ninad Krazdic.

“And they (Smart Gilas) are together for more than three years. The difference showed on the court,” he said.

In the day’s other games, Al Riyadi Beirut used a 15-0 run in the first quarter of their game against Al Shabab of the United Arab Emirates to blow the game wide open and register a 109-90 win.

Lebanon‘s Fadi El Khatib and Ismail Ahmad played together in an official game for the first in almost three years and worked together to great effect, scoring four points each in the early run that put them in the driver’s seat.

El Khatib had 29 points and seven rebounds while Ahmad added 17 to go with nine assists and Jean Abdel Nour could not miss, hitting 10 of 12 field goal attempts.

Shabab coach Ahmad Omer cited inexperience and the opposition as reasons for the defeat.

“We are playing in this competition for the first time. And straight away we were up against one of the biggest names. All that worked against us,” he said.

American Courtney Fiels scored a game-high 39 points as a consolation for Shabab.

The day’s opening game saw last year’s semi-finalists Applied Sciences University (ASU) of Jordan come from behind to beat Iraq’s Duhok 74-66.

Up 41-33 at halftime, ASU went cold in the third quarter, getting outscored 17-8 but they bounced back in the final frame thanks to the scoring punch of import Jameel Watkins who had 12 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter.

“I think we did alright playing the first game of the competition. The important thing is we won,” said ASU coach Fredrick Oniga.”

Read the original article at FIBA.com.

BANGKOK (Asean Basketball League Season 2) – Chang Thailand Slammers booked their place in the ABL Season 2 Finals beating the Singapore Slingers 73-62 at home on Sunday in the third and decisive game of their best-of-three semi-finals series.

Discuss the 2nd season of the ASEAN Basketball League in our forum.

The Slammers had won Game 1 81-76 at home before losing the away game 90-76.

The Slammers will now host defending ABL champions Philippine Patriots in the first game of the Finals series on 13 February. The Patriots had entered the Finals beating Westports KL Dragons 2-0 (88-83 and 95-92) in their semi-finals.

For the Slingers, their playoff journey came to an end at the same stage for the second successive year having lost to Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma in last year’s semi-finals.

Piyapong Piroon opened the scoring with a three-pointer and the Slammers took charge of the proceedings, maintaining control to take a 35-30 lead at halftime.

However, Piroon limped off the court moments before the end of the first half and never returned.

That probably left the Slammers a little rattled at the start of the third quarter.

Slingers capitalised and scored six unanswered points to edge in front 36-35 – the only time they led in the game – but the Slammers proved they had enough in reserve to recover and regained control.

An 8-0 run put them back in the driving seat and they went on close the third quarter with a 12-2 run that effectively sealed the issue.

American Jason Dixon led the Slammers with 17 points, 13 of them coming after the break. Ardy Larong also had 17 points filling in for Piroon.

Leo Avenido had a game-high 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Slingers, all in a losing cause.

Marcus Skinner had 18 points and seven rebounds, but he also accounted for nine of Slingers’ 19 turnovers.

Read the article at FIBA.com.

Kobe Bryant and Donyell Marshall hold the NBA record for more three-pointers hit in one NBA game.

Both Bryant and Marshall recorded 12 three pointers in a single NBA game. Bryant accomplished the feat when the Lakers played Seattle on January 7, 2003.

Marshall did it even more recently, when his Toronto Raptors took on Philadelphia, on March 13, 2005.

Hitting 12 three-pointers in one game is amazing, but the basketball world record more than doubles the NBA record for threes in a single game.

Back in 1986, Yugoslavian forward Zdenko Babić scored an eye-opening, jaw-dropping 144 points vs. APOEL of Cyprus. What was just as amazing as his point total was the fact that he also hit 28 three-point field goals in that game.

Babic, playing for KK Zadar, outscored his opponents single-handedly, 144-116. The final score?  192-116.

Interbasket forum member Donmar Pineda recently compiled a list of professional players that have made the most three-pointers in a single game – “The list will only include records made by basketball players in a professional basketball league. I don’t care if you know someone who scored 25 or 30 three points shots in game. If the player did it in college or high school then its not meant to be on this list.”

28 three-pointers made in one game:

• Zdenko Babić (October 6, 1985): The Yugoslavian forward scored 28 three-points field goals made in a single game for the KK Zadar (Croatia) in a 192-116 victory over the Apoelo of Cyprus in the Korac Cup  (144 points: 44 FG, 28 triples, 26 FT)

• Josip Mihaljevic (November 21, 1998): Mihaljevic scored 28 three-points field goals made in a single game for the KK Troglav Livno in a 144-68 victory over the KK Vitez in Professional League of Bosnia-Herzegovina (Croatian Division- Liga Herceg-Bosne)  (105 points: 32/40 FG, 28/36 triples, 13/13 FT) [This record has been purported as a hoax]
  

17 three-pointers in one game:

• Allan Caidic (November 21, 1991): The Filipino lefty scored 17 three-points field goals made in a single game for the Presto Tivoli in a 162-149 victory over the Ginebra San Miguel in the Philippine Basketball Association (79 points: 29 FG, 17/27 triples, 4/4 FT)

• Chris Lofton (April 25, 2009): This former Tennessee star recorded 17 three-points field goals for the Mersin BSB in a 116-70 victory over the Casa TED Kolejiler in the Turkish Basketball League (61 points: 21/28 FG, 17/22 triples, 2/2 FT)

16 three-pointers in one game:

• Marcelinho Machado (March 7, 2010): The Brazilian superstar hit 16 three-points field goals made in a single game for the Flamengo in a 101-80 victory over the São José in the Novo Basquete Brasil (63 points: 16/21 triples) watch video

15 three-pointers in one game:

• Allan Caidic (November 2, 1989): Caidic is the only player to appear on this list twice. The Filipino star scored 15 three-points field goals for the Presto Tivoli in a 175-159 OT victory over the Alaska Milkmen in the Philippine Basketball Association (68 points: 15 triples)

• Daryl Dorsey (September 9, 2006): Dorsey hit 15 three-points field goals for the Mayas de Yucatan in a 89-83 victory over the Santos Reales in Mexico’s Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Professional (LNBP) (47 points: 15 triples)

• Fred Vinson (June 22, 2007): Vinson scored 15 three-points field goals in a single game for the Santa Barbara Breakers in a 133-117 victory over the Vancouver Volcanoes in the International Basketball League – A league in Western Canada and Western USA  (46 points: 15 triples)

• Leon Rodgers (March 11, 2009): Rodgers, who had a stint with the Memphis Grizzlies recorded 15 three-pointers for the Jilin Northeast Tigers in a 124-110 victory over the Shanxi Zhongyu in the Chinese Basketball Association (66 points: 24/43 FG, 15/26 triples)

• Leonardo Gutiérrez (December 3, 2010): Argentinian power forward Gutierrez hit 15 flat-footed three-points field goals for the Peñarol de Mar del Plata in a 120-76 victory over the Boca Juniors in Argentina’s Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (LNB) on  (48 points: 15/20 triples, 3/5 FT) watch video

The following players will be added to the list as soon as I find a reliable source (or someone from Croatia and Iceland) that will confirm the Croatian A2 League and Iceland’s D1 League as Professional Basketball Leagues:

• Matej Kuna (20, February 11, 2006): scored 20 three-points field goals made in a single game for the BC Belisce in a 159-77 victory over the Pozega in the Croatian A2 League East  (111 points: 20-26 triples)

• Frank Booker (15, January 17, 1991): scored 15 three-points field goals made in a single game for the ÍR in an 88-93 loss to Snæfell in the Iceland’s D1 League  (60 points: 18/39 FG, 15/29 triples, 9/11 FT)

To see the original thread, check out Top 10 Record Holders for the Most Three-Points Shots in a Single Professional Game

It is rare to find 6’9″ and above players in the Philippines.

In the last decade, probably only a handful have come up and ended up as basketball players in college. Rarer still, is a Filipino 6’9″ player who can actually play basketball well. Hence imagine the impact that fired up the imagination of most Filipino Basketball fans, when such a player finally came into the local basketball scene. And that player, is Junmar “The Kraken” Fajardo.

‘The Kraken’
Some of the Interbasket forumers have given the nickname, “The Kraken” to Junmar, thanks in part to the popularity of the 2009 Hollywood movie, “Clash of the Titans”.

In that movie, the Kraken was Zeus’ ultimate weapon, a legendary monster of the sea of enormous, size capable of destroying anything in its path.

(Discuss Philippines basketball in our forum)

From a basketball point of view, Junmar does seem like the Kraken of Cebu basketball. He is currently the tallest and biggest player there, and similar to the Kraken, his combination of size and skill can lay waste to any basketball opposition in that area. In fact, Junmar is the main reason that the UC Webmasters have been able to win the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) crown this year, its very first in the league.

Fajardo was first noticed a couple of years ago when he started dominating some of the semi-commercial, pre-season tournaments in Cebu that the University of Cebu (UC) was playing in. More impressive still, was the fact that in some of these tournaments, even as a freshman, he was able to hold his own against the main Cebuano veteran big man then, the 6’5″ Rino Berame.

At that time, he was already described as 6’7″, but now he has reportedly grown to 6’10″. Over the years, he has mainly been playing in Cebu, and basketball fans naturally wonder how he would fare against teams based in Manila. Although he did get to play against various Manila college and professional teams in exhibition games, in my opinion, such exhibition matches do not really reflect true competition for him, as teams and opposing players tend to play it lightly in such games.

‘PCCL Competition’
A true competition for Junmar, would be when he is ranged to play against good teams with good players, in a serious tournament. Such a tournament is the Philippine Collegiate Championship League (PCCL), which gathers the best basketball college schools in the Philippines to play against one another in a short tournament format. So far, Junmar as a UC Webmaster has played in three PCCL tournaments, against four National Collegiate Association (NCAA) and University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) teams.

The first was in 2008, against NCAA team Letran University Knights. Letran, an NCAA Final Four team that year, then had some good big men in 6’3″ Dino Daa, and 6’5″ John Foronda. In that game, Junmar played well, scoring 24 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and blocking 9 shots. Fajardo though was overshadowed in terms of scoring output by Dino Daa, who scored 27 points.

The next was in 2009, this time against UAAP powerhouse the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors. The Red Warriors, a UAAP title finalist that year, had a couple of good, big men in the highly athletic, 6’3″ Elmer Espiritu, and not flashy but effective 6’4″ Pari Llagas. Against such a frontline, Junmar again gave a good performance, scoring 24 points. Elmer and Pari, though, also played well against Fajardo’s defense, scoring 14 and 17 points respectively.

’2010 PCCL Competition’
But the coming out event for Junmar would probably be the 2010 PCCL tournament, wherein he went against the top UAAP teams in the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU) Blue Eagles, and the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers.

The Blue Eagles were the reigning UAAP champions, with quality big men like 6’5″ Justin Chua, 6’5″ Jumbo Escueta and 6’7″ J.P. Erram. Against such a rotating frontline, Fajardo managed to score 30 points and grab 15 rebounds, while shooting an impressive 60% field goal percentage (making 12 out of 20 attempts). In the meantime, the Chua-Escueta-Erram trio was held to a combined output of only 14 points.

Two days later, it was the Green Archer’s Center rotation of the 6’6″ Yutien Andrada, fellow southener 6’5″ Papot Paredes, and veteran 6’5″ Indonesian Ferdinand to have a go at “The Kraken”. The result? 16 points, 21 rebounds and 5 shotblocks, against the combined output of 19 points for the three Centers.

All in all, during the last three PCCL seasons, Junmar has averaged 23.5 points per game against the top NCAA and UAAP teams.

One could say that Junmar is the focus of the offense for UC, and thus gets a lot of attempts, and it is therefore natural for him to score a lot of points. But one could also argue that he is also the focus of the defense of the opposing team. The most telling stat for me, was his 60% shooting clip against the Blue Eagles. Here he is, double, or triple-teamed by some of the best big men in the UAAP, and he still is able to hit six out of ten attempts. Any lesser talented player would’ve likely have his shooting percentages go down against such defense.

The same could be said about his rebounding. With the opposing trying to move heaven and hell to box and push him out of the paint using multiple players, the fact that he could still get to them in bunches is a clear indication of his ability as a Center.

‘Parting Shot’
What’s next for Junmar? He’s still quite young, reportedly 21 years old, but already the sky is the limit for this young man as far as Philippine basketball is concerned, whether it is with Smart Gilas (where his height and skills are sorely needed by the National Team), or the PBA. Since he is relatively young, he might even have a shot at a US NCAA Division 1 school.

Nevertheless, every PBA team would be willing to hire him right now if they can. No less than legendary player and coach Norman Black said quoted as saying that Junmar is already PBA-Material. For the PBA, the Age of the Kraken is about to commence …

Sources:

- Falcons edge Blue Eagles, Grab lead in PCCL title series by Jasmine W. Payo, December 3, 2010, http://www.inquirer.net/sports/articles/Falcons-edge-Blue-Eagles.html

- Ateneo, Adamson forge title duel by Jonas Terrado, November 30, 2010, http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/290276/ateneo-adamson-forge-title-duel

- Lee explodes with Triple-double as Warriors conquer Webmasters by Anton Roxas, Saturday, 28 November 2009, http://www.inboundpass.com/2009/11/28/lee-explodes-with-a-triple-double-as-warriors-conquer-webmasters/

- Alas wants to face the Red Lions in the Sweet 16 round by Ronnie Roa, Wednesday, 12 November 2008, http://www.inboundpass.com/2008/11/12/alas-wants-to-face-the-red-lions-in-the-sweet-16-round/

First of all, we need to be reminded on why the Smart Gilas program was established in the first place. Essentially, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was starting to get tired of lending its players to the National Team, and not getting consistent, good results (i.e., medal standing finishes). The Samahang Basketbolista ng Pilipinas or SBP therefore offered an alternative, and it is the Smart Gilas program.

(Discuss Philippines basketball in our forum)

The program aims to form a national team mainly of players outside of the PBA, and keep it for a relatively long time. It will have good funding, good training programs, good exposure in international competitions, and have the best available coaches possible.

The pool of Smart Gilas players ended up composed mostly of the best players from local colleges, and so called Fil-Foreigners (players with mixed foreign and Filipino blood) from schools abroad. Some of these Fil-Foreigners have excellent credentials, coming from US NCAA Division 1 schools.

In terms of execution, I think the program has done very well so far. It has been able to get most of the best college players in the country, and has been able to discover Fil-Foreign talent as well. It has been able to expose these players in various international competitions all over the world. It has the best coaches available to it, and funding (or money) is almost never a problem.

‘Retrogression’
In hindsight, though, it would seem to me that the progam is in fact, a RETROGRESSION for the Philippines. This program reminds me of the USA’s policy before of sending its best college players to compete in major international tournaments. It worked for awhile, but when the world started to catch up to the US in basketball starting around the 1990s, it ended up being a disaster, in that the US National Team was being beaten by other countries, shutting it out of the medal race.

Nowadays, the US’ National Basketball Association (NBA) is allowing its best players to play in major international tournaments, as long as the player is willing to play. And here we are, generally keeping our pros from playing in international competitions, and getting college players instead.

‘Experience, and Survival of the Fittest’
The US College Players failed for a number of reasons, first of which was the fact that they were boys playing against men. You had players in their late teens and early twenties playing against players who were in their mid twenties to early thirties, or players who easily have a five or ten year advantage in terms of experience.

Another, more important factor, is the fact that the colleger players were not the best in the country. They were the best in college, but not in the whole country. They therefore were not sorted out from a selection of the best the country can offer.

Its the same with Smart Gilas: JV Casio and Chris Tiu were the best in college in recent years. However, compare them against the likes of Jimmy Alapag, or James Yap, who are the best in the country, and personally I would say there is a gap between the individual talent of Casio/Tiu and Alapag/Yap.

Casio and Tiu are great players, but it is still a big question if they can approximate Alapag and Yap in the PBA consistently, if they had played in the PBA.

The selection process, is “Survival of the fittest … among college players”, but not the survival of the fittest among the best in the country.

‘Hard Choices’
The Philippines basically in a bind right now: Sending the best players in the country is no guarantee of a shot at the medal race, as was the case with PBA All-Star teams in 2007 and 2009.

However, sending anything less, like the Smart Gilas, risks of ending up with much worst.

The availability of an “import”, or naturalized player in the person of Douthit will improve the chances of Gilas. However, Douthit is only one player, and he can be contained, or get into foul trouble. In the end, basketball is pretty much a team sport, needing team effort to win tournaments, not just games.

Team cohesion is important, but so is talent. One cannot hope to win tournaments based on either qualities alone: It has to have both talent, and cohesion.

A long term Gilas program will likely have cohesion, but not talent. A PBA All-Star team will have the talent, but not the cohesion. Ideally, the best program we could produce right now, would be to keep the core of the 2009 National Team for a long time, plus Douthit. And by the “core”, that means including the Coach.

‘Parting Shot’
I think the PBA was hoping to wash its hands clean of the National Team by leaving it all to the Smart Gilas program. It saves them from spending a lot of money; From the embarassment of being out of the medal race; And from the inconvenience of losing its best players during PBA games, and possibly losing them from injuries also.

Currently, there are really no other viable alternative progams out there. Personally, I am not optimistic of the team’s chances in the future, even with an import around. However, it is the only worthwhile program out there, outside of the PBA. And therefore deserving of our support.

There has been some talk lately by some PBA personalities about again allowing its players to play in major international tournaments. I hope it is all not just talk, and that action will follow allowing an all-star PBA team, with Douthit, and a long term coach to go through a long-term basketball program.

One of the highlights of in Basketball in the next season of the Universities and Athletics Association of the Philippines (its 74th season), would be the battle of the rookie big men between perennial University rivals Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) and De La Salle University (DLSU).

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On one side, in the blue corner, wearing blue and white uniform, standing 6’11″, weighing 240 lbs … playing for the AdMU Blue Eagles … Grrrreeeeeeg Slaaaauuuuu … TER!!!

On the other side, in the green corner, wearing green and white uniform … standing 6’9″, weighing 230 lbs … playing for the DLSU Green Archers … Arrrrrnold … Vaaaaan Ops-STAAAAALLLLL!!!

While players of such heights are common in collegiate leagues in taller countries, not so in the Philippines. Its is relatively rare to find players of such height, not to mention skill, to be in one university or collegiate league at the same time.

In fact, the last time such a pair of tall players ended up in the UAAP, was in the late 80s, with 6’9″ Marlou Aquino playing for the Adamson Falcons, and 6’11″ EJ Feihl playing for the University of Santo Tomas (then known as) Glowing Goldies.

‘The Match Up’

Between the two, Greg Slaughter is older, and much more experienced as a player. Greg has played three seasons for the University of Visayas Lancers. He has also played against much better competition, playing against UAAP and NCAA team in the Philippine Collegiate League.

Not to mention his stint with Smart Gilas, where he has played, and lately played well against international competitions in the US, Europe, and Asia. All in all, his experience over the years has molded Greg into a pretty good player, at least as far as Philippine Collegiate league standards is concerned. Greg is also slightly taller, and heavier than Arnold Van Opstal (AVO).

AVO, on the other hand, has only played in the UAAP’s Junior (or High School) league. His performance, while pretty good, has been far from impressive. Playing against much shorter opponents (mostly 6’2″-6’3″ Centers and Forwards), he has not really gone out and lorded it over everybody else as you would expect from a player with his height advantage.

However, he is young, and reportedly athletic, and with good coordination. Couple that with the quality training and competition he will be getting with the Green Archers, he could pull of a surprise in his matchup with Slaughter.

At this point, though, I would give the advantage to Greg. AVO might be the next important big man a couple of years down the line, but at the moment, he seems a bit too green to upstage Greg in their matchup.

I have been “weaning” myself away from basketball, but still knew enough to be shocked by the news when Air21 picked Nonoy Baclao over Rabeh Al-Husseini as the number one pick overall in the 2010 PBA Rookie Draft.

(Discuss Philippines basketball in our forum)

I have nothing against Nonoy, I think he is a good player, and will have a long, storied career in the PBA.

Baclao reminds me a lot of a younger, taller, more talented version of Freddie Abuda, because he is a player who gets things done in the frontline by virtue of hard work, determination, and heart.

However, in terms of awards (Season MVP versus Finals MVP), and statistics in college, there is no doubt that Rabeh has a clear advantage over Nonoy. So why would Air21 intentionally pick Nonoy over Rabeh as the number one pick?

I don’t agree with Air21′s assertion that it didn’t matter because they had three first picks in the draft. A number one pick automatically puts you in the PBA history books, and carries a lot of prestige with it, so it does matter.

As to why, I can only hazard these guesses:

*  Air21 Sees More Potential in Baclao Than Rabeh, and Thus Considers Him as More of a Priority

• Despite Rabeh’s better accomplishments and statistics, maybe they saw something in Nonoy that made them think he is the more promising player than Rabeh. They are, of course entitled to their own opinions, but right now, it is just that: Subjective Opinions, as opposed to hard facts and statistics.

• Besides, even if they think Nonoy has more “potential”, the word “potential” means it MAY, or MAY NOT happen. Then again, they are the experts. However, even experts should not be ignoring hard, quantifiable facts. To do so is quite risky, even for them.

* Air21 Picked Nonoy Over Rabeh as a Negotiation Ploy

• Being picked number one in the PBA Draft does not only come with prestige and a place in the PBA history books, it also helps in negotiations for the contracts of the players. The agents will say, “hey, you picked my kid number one overall, he should get more extras and bonuses”. Rabeh was highly regarded, and expected to be the number one draft, and putting him at number two would sort of deflate the expectations and position of Rabeh during the negotiation phase.

• Then again, whatever “savings” they thought they could get from Rabeh is offset by the fact that Nonoy might ask more than he expected to since he was picked number one.

* Air21 Picked Nonoy Over Rabeh Because of Influence

• It could be that the people around Nonoy is closer, or has more influence than the people around Rabeh on the Air21 management. And since Air21 has the first three picks in the draft, some pushing on the part of Nonoy’s people could’ve resulted in the situation, where Nonoy got a little more prestige than Rabeh.

* Air21 Picked Nonoy Over Rabeh to Motivate Rabeh

• Rabeh’s first two years with the Blue Eagles were not very impressive. Part of it was because better big men were around, but I do remember reading in the Gameface Forums observations from the ADMU alumni that Rabeh needed to be constantly motivated, positively, or negatively, to give his best game in, and game out.

• However, this could backfire on the Air21 team, if not sooner, than later. The fact that Rabeh lost out on the history books will always be on the back of his mind, and when the time comes that he has made a name for himself, and his contract expires, he could say he doesn’t owe Air21 anything more than needed, and could go and search for a better pasture. The feeling of “loyalty” will not be there. This can be the case when it comes to repercussions of “Tough Love”.

* Air21 Picked Nonoy Over Rabeh as a Publicity Stunt

• In showbiz, and the PBA is getting closer to “entertainment”, any kind of publicity is almost always good, even negative, or controversial publicity. That’s because that will get people to talk about you. And that is certainly what happened in this case, as it got the local basketball scene talking about the whole incident. More publicity, could mean more sales.

• Then again, it could cause behavioral, or administrative problems later on for the team, and that could end up in a situation wherein the gains are much less than the losses.

Conclusion
It could be one of the above, or a combination of the above items. We will likely never know for sure. At any rate, the latest news items says that Rabeh has so far taken the whole thing positively, and thus will be motivated to do better in the PBA.

That is good, and time will tell, and people will be closely watching also how both Nonoy, and Rabeh will be playing in the PBA. Will Nonoy overshadow Rabeh in the pro league, or will Rabeh, as expected, be a more dominant big man than Nonoy? ‘Abangan!’

For only the third time in the history of the PBA’s Philippines Cup, the playoff finals were totally dominated by one team.

(Discuss the PBA, Philippines Basketball)

The Purefoods Tender Juicy Giant, owned by the San Miguel-Purefoods Company, Inc., left Alaska Aces winless in the series and claimed the trophy in the fourth game played on Wednesday.

The successors of Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters defeated Alaska 86 to 76 and have now five titles in the competition.

James Yap, named MVP of the Cup finals (not a cup in the traditional sense, but an all-Filipino championship), scored 18 points for the winners, with Roger Yap adding 16, nine rebounds and six assists and Kerby Raymundo and Rico Maierhofer (both with six boards) 13 and 12 points, respectively.

For Alaska the best on court was Joachim Toss with a double-double (19 points and 12 rebounds), followed by Willie Miller, who netted 17 points and grabbed six rebounds, and L.A. Tenorio with 11 points, six assists and five boards.

Read original article at Basket-Spot.

Game four of the playoff semi-finals of PBA’s Philippine Cup (actually a championship with just Filipino players, part of a two-competition league) played yesterday lasted only less than a period.

(Discuss Talk N’ Text’s Playoff Walkout)

The reason was simple: one of the teams, Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, abandoned the game.

Everything started with a flagrant foul called on forward Ranidel de Ocampo, to which another followed after a collision with Barangay Ginebra Kings’ Ronald Tubid. According to the rules of the PBA, the player must be ejected and so it happened. But he did not leave the court alone, as unhappy with the decision, “the last straw” in the world of coach Chot Reyes, Talk ‘N Text followed Ocampo out of the stadium in protest.

Ginebra Kings was awarded the win and now the series is tied to two with the deciding game to be played today, although it’s still not known if Talk ‘N Text will show up.

This was the third time in the history of the league that a team left a court without finishing a game. PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios already made known Talk ‘N Text will be severely sanctioned for the act, the minimum fine being 500 thousand pesos (approximately 8000 euros).

See the original article at Basket-Spot.

Two smaller professional basketball leagues in the Philippines, the PBL and Liga Philippines, are in talks to combine their leagues according to reports.

(Talk the league mergers and Philippines Basketball in our forum)

“We’re looking at the relevance of the merger in the Philippine basketball landscape,” said PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad. “If the two leagues become one, will it become more vibrant? It does not follow that if the merger becomes a reality, it will indeed be stronger. So we’re carefully looking at the rationale behind the merger.”

“We think that the two leagues can work together,” Trinidad added after his initial talks with representatives of the PBA and Liga Pilipinas yesterday.

“Liga will retain its personality as a regional league, while the PBL will also retain its own personality as a developmental league,” added Trinidad. “Even the PBA stands to benefit (from the merger).”

“We complement each other,” said Alvarez. “We can have some PBA teams adopt PBL and Liga teams. We can lend some of our assistant coaches or even our excess players, for them to have a decent exposure.”

The two leagues are not to be confused with the PBA, which is the most-recognized league in the Philippines. The PBA is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia, boasting 11 teams and most all the players from the Filipino National Team.

At 5-6 and 135lbs, Manny Pacquiao isn’t an intimidating figure initially, but the diminuative Filipino may be, pound-for-pound, the toughest boxer on the face of the planet.

Slam Magazine recently interviewed the street-tough fighter about his other passion- basketball. Here’s an excerpt of the interview:

SLAM: Tell us how you got into basketball
Pacquaio: It’s a very popular sport in the Philippines. It’s actually our national sport; we’re just to short to play professionally [laughs].

(Discuss Philippines Basketball in our forum)

SLAM: What position do you play?
Pacquaio: I’m a point guard who scores a lot. I like to shoot three-pointers and drive to the hole. Except sometimes they won’t let me [go to the basket] because I have an upcoming fight.

SLAM: Do you worry about getting hurt when you play basketball?
Pacquaio: No, it’s like when I get in the ring: If I worry about getting hurt, that’s how i’ll end up getting hurt.

SLAM: Which [NBA] players are you friend with
Pacquaio: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Trevor Ariza used to come to the gym in L.A., and Ron Artest was at the gym yesterday.

SLAM: You think any of those guys could box?
Pacquaio: Yes, I think Paul Pierce and Ron Artest could fight. Ron is a big guy!

SLAM: When you retire, are you going to play ball?
Pacquaio: Yes, of course. I’m goint to play basketball ’til I am 50 or 60 years old. It’s my first love — more than boxing — I’m just very, very short.

See a version of the full interview at Slam Online (Pac-man Vs.) or grab the latest issue of Slam Magazine, no. 134 (February 2010).

In a game between Smart Gilas and Burger King of the Philippines Basketball Association, one of the Burger King players goes after a fan in the stands and begins to kick and punch the fan.

(Discuss Philippines Basketball in our forum)

Smart Gilas is participating in the PBA for the first time.

It is now more than two days since massive flooding swept the Philippines.

Typhoon Ondoy hit Manila, the nation’s capital and neighboring provinces, leaving a total of 140 dead victims and displacing ~435 000 more.

Major networks reported that a month’s worth of rain fell in just six hours, flooding 80% of the capital Manila which is still submerged.

Pictures and videos of this tragedy which were transmitted and published by news networks, websites and individuals via social networks are shocking and show a state of total destruction, and their people in desperate need of help.

Using Basketball and the Internet in Support
This is where we, namely Interbasket and TalkBasket, as basketball communities, felt the need to unite and to step up and make a plea for help.

As most of you know, Philippines are one of the most basketball-crazed nations of the planet and we feel it is our duty to make assisting our fellow Filipinos as simple as we can. We are all citizens of the world and most importantly we are all citizens of basketball.

If you are interested and looking for ways to assist, please retweet @interbasket to get the information out, and then see below how to help out:

World wide:

Via RedCross: Direct your donations to RedCross Philippine
http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/Default.aspx?S=48&SS=972
(Choose “Typhoon Ondoy”)

Ayala Foundation:
https://www.myayala.com/ayalafoundation/ayalafoundation.asp

World Food Program:
https://www.wfp.org/donate/ondoy

TXTPower: Donate via PayPal
http://www.txtpower.org/2009/09/philippines-help-typhoon-victims-in-luzon-philippines/

In Philippines:

Department of Social Welfare and Development donations drop-off points:

1. National Resource Operations Center, Chapel Road, Pasay City
Contact: Mrs. Francon Favian

2. Quezon City Area Disaster Resource Operations Monitoring and Info Center: (DROMIC) DSWD Central Office. Contact Rey Martija or Imee Rose Castillo, Tel Nos. 951-7119, 951-2435 or Assistant Secretary Vilma Cabrera Tel No. 0918-934-5625

3. Manila Area (DSWD-NCR)
San Rafael corner Legarda Streets, Quiapo, Manila
Contact: Dir. Thelsa P. Biolna, Dir. Delia Bauan Tel Nos. 734-8622, 734-8642

In USA:
ANCOP Foundation USA
http://www.ancopusa.org

You may also donate through the American and Canadian RedCross 1-800-435-7669

In UK:
Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/phil…oods/index.php

More ways to donate (via Google)
http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html

ANY FILIPINOS AFFECTED BY THE FLOOD CAN FIND A LIST OF SHELTERS AND/OR RELIEF CENTERS AND HOTLINES HERE:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/173288/update-list-of-verified-relief-centers-for-ondoy-victims

And also we have a thread dedicated to the flooding. Use this thread for support, to connect and report, ask for help, suggestions, and anything else that may help out your situation.

Not surprisingly, the Philippines is using the power of basketball to help the flood victims and to keep the national spirit positive when Smart Gilas and Powerade Five have a basketball benefit on the court.

We extend our genuine sympathy and prayers to everyone in Philippines wishing all the best and a quick return to everyday normal life for all those affected by the Ondoy Typhoon.