Ball Points (9-26-09)

• The Stags' record finally has a blemish. The Letran Knights just handed them their first loss of the season yesterday and they did with conviction with an 80-63 victory over the NCAA's no. 1 seed. The Stags struggled with the physicality of the Knights all game long and Knights might just have found the Stag's Achilles' Heel. The two lone representatives of the NCAA in the Gilas program, Jazul and Guevarra, were impressive in this one as they scored 27 points a piece. This might be a blessing in disguise for SSC-R as this loss will give Ato his first chance of preparing for a game right after a loss. It's not going to be easy though as they are set to face the rampaging JRU Heavy Bombers next Monday. JRU is also looking to bounce bask after barely beating AUF 85-81 last Wednesday. It's going to be interesting to see how this Stags will react right after a defeat.
• Smart - Gilas defeated the Singapore Slingers 70-67 last Wednesday. As I said before the result of this game hardly matters. The goal of SBP is to expose these guys to the international game to prepare them for the 2011 Fiba -Asia tournament (qualifier for the 2012 Olympics). JV looked very impressive in orchestrating the offense. I think he's much more comfortable when he's not appointed as the main man of the team. He's going to have less pressure on himself with guys like Ababou, Barroca and Aguilar on the team. A lot of CJ Giles in this one. He provided the team with a reliable option in their half court sets and a lot of highlights (Check out the 0:55 mark of this video). The team also needs to run a little bit more and refrain from depending on CJ to produce in the half court. Japeth was also impressive in this game. He seems to be comfortable with Gilas. (maybe because he's the star of the team. haha) Barroca ended up with only 6 points because he missed a couple of shots he usually makes. He is coming off a lot of drama and maybe he still needs some time. This team is still incomplete as the collegiate tournaments are not yet done. The 2 Fil- Australians were non-factors in the game as expected. This team still has a lot of potential and I'm hoping that they'll be the answer to our woeful showings in past international tournaments.
• Stephen Jackson and Carlos Boozer are still with their teams as training camp approaches. It looks like Jack will still be a Warrior this season as their aren't any ideal situations for him right now. It also doesn't help that he just recently signed a large contract extension and contenders are already loaded in his positions. Utah is also having a lot of difficulty of finding a trade partner and having Boozer around might mess up the team's chemistry. The team's frontline is also clogged up. Their top 4 frontliners are a combined $48M approximately in salary this year compared to the defending champions' $41M. Look for Boozer to be pursued more by the other teams when the trade deadline approaches as he is on an expiring contract if he is not yet traded before the season starts.
• It looks like we're going to finally see the Spark back in the PBA's next season. BGK surely will welcome the return of their man and this should make the perennial contender even stronger this season. His return will also move Helterbrand back to his natural position, PG. Helterbrand has gotten used to being the team's SG but I'm not expecting him to struggle returning to his old position especially now that he has his partner back with him.
• The UAAP Men's Basketball Championship Game 1 has been moved to October 1. The Juniors' and Women's games scheduled today were also suspended due to the typhoon.