Ball Points (11-16-2009)

• As expected, the DLSU Green Archers have booked the final ticket to the PCCL Sweet 16. ADMU, UE, FEU, UST, SSC-R, SBC, JRU, CSJL have also booked seats in the Sweet 16 for advancing to the Final 4 in their respective leagues. The UV Green Lancers have also qualified for winning the latest edition of CESAFI. Contrary to what I predicted, it was the SSC-R Cavite Baycats who advanced by beating out the Adamson Univeristy in their zonal qualifier for having a better quotient. Other teams that have adavnced through their zonal qualifiers are University of Cebu, Mapua, Arellano U, University of Manila and University of San Carlos. The league is set to start on November 23 and will be broadcasted at Studio 23. My early bet is the FEU Tamaraws. That is if the Gilas boys, JR Cawaling and Aldrech Ramos, will play in the tournament. If not, look for DLSU Green Archers and SSC-R Golden Stags to make some noise. Still, we can not count out teams like ADMU, UC or UV. ADMU still has one of the better coaches in the collegiate ranks in Norman Black. They might not use veterans Nonoy Baclao, Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Jai Reyes but they are still a very talented team.
• The RP Patriots have notched their 4th win in the ABL as they defeated the KL Dragons in the Dragons' home court 73-63. This is the Patriots' 3rd straight win since Nonoy Baclao and Elmer Espiritu have been included in the lineup. Looks like the defense of the former UAAP stars is just what the doctor ordered for the Patriots.
• There are some rumblings that Emeka Okafor might be on the move once again. There isn't anything imminent and there have been only discussions. If the deal does push through, that would mean that NO Hornets might be entering into rebuilding mode. They recently fired Byron Scott due to the horrendous 3-8 start and replaced him with GM Jeff Brower. I don't like this move at all. Scott is a good a coach and I believe he's being used as a scapegoat. Whenever you're paying $14M to a shooter who is currently shooting 38% from the field, you can't expect to win a lot of games. I actually like the Okafor-for-Chandler swap as it gives them another guy who can create shots for himself but its has not translated into more wins. They're already 3rd to the last in the Western Conference with Chris Paul and now that he will be out for 3-4 weeks. That might result to their burial in the Western Conference. CP3 might not come back in time to save their season and it might prompt management to start rebuilding. If they do decide to rebuild, I'm pretty sure CP3 will not want any part of it. Right now, I think they just have to be patient. Find a coach who can work with their star PG and get a guy who can create off the dribble and shoot. The Golden State Warriors have stars who want out in Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson and the Hornets might want to start calling up Don Nelson about those guys. It will hard for them to upgrade their current roster though as they hardly have any assets. They're stuck with the 2 years and $29M on Peja's contract. The most sizeable expiring contract they have is Hilton Armstrong's $2.8M deal. The only young player that other teams might have any interest is Julian Wright and he has not been productive at all. The Hornets were considered contenders in 2007 but they fell short to the SA Spurs. Last year, there were a lot of expectations for the team but they did not even get past the 1st round with only the 7th seed in the Western Conference to show. 2007 was a fluke? Maybe. But Peja and Tyson Chandler were still productive in 2007. Maybe you can partly attribute their success in 2007 to the fact that not a single team was ready for them. Hurricane Katrina might have also motivated them to play extra hard. Fluke? Sort of. But I still believe they can still get out of their current situation but they they will have to be extra creative now.
• What about the LA Lakers losing 2 straight after the Boston Celtics lost 2 straight. The Rockets beat the Lakers in their home court today behind Aaron Brooks 33 points and Kobe Bryant's 5-20 shooting. Kobe is shooting 34% shooting in his last 2 games and the woeful shooting could be blamed to his groin injury. He has said that he will be resting his groin but don't expect him to sit out games. Aaron's domination justifies the fact that the Lakers can not guard guard quick point guards. Jordan Farmer will have to show up sooner rather later if the Lakers still intend to defend their championship. I guess the possibility of a 70-win team is dwindling down. Maybe we should stop dreaming the feat accomplished by Chicago Bulls in 1995-96 will be done again.

Ball Points (11-7-2009)

• Smart-Gilas finally won a game yesterday as they defeated the Coca-Cola Tigers 98-93. This game and the remaining games of the RP developmental squad will not count anymore in the PBA squads' win-loss record so it's reasonable to think that the PBA teams might not take the games seriously anymore. I caught some portions of the game and it seemed like the Tigers were very much interested in winning the ball game. Still, I can't say that I was impressed by the performance of the Gilas team as they defeated a team that lacks both in manpower and talent. The Tigers did not have men Ken Bono and Asi Taulava in their lineup yesterday and we can't really say that the current roster of the Tigers on paper can strike fear into other PBA teams like SMB and TNT. In my opinion, the biggest concern for the Gilas team right now is individual defense. Chris Tiu has proven that he can really score in Toroman's system but his defense is something I'm not fond of. He's lucky that the Tigers do not have a proven guard that can score 20 points night in and night out. I understand why Japeth can't guard Kerby Raymundo but I can not understand why he can't guard Beau Belga or Norman Gonzales. They're just outsmarting him. It's not like those guys are uber talented. Japeth has the tools to be a great individual and team defender but he needs to have the willingness to be a good defender. I just hope coach Rajko Toroman can motivate this kid to play up to his utmost potential.
• After weeks of speculation, the JRU Heavy Bombers have announced that the Vergel Meneses will be the their new head coach. Derrik Pumaren is also being eyed to assist him to provide the much needed coaching experience in JRU's sidelines. I'm not really sure what to expect from Vergel as he has had little coaching experience from the past. Unlike Coach Ato Aguston, he will be under a lot of pressure as he is inheriting a very talented roster consisting of reining NCAA MVP John Wilson, former Mythical Five member Marvin Hayes and foreigner big man Joe Etame.
• The RP Patriots have inflicted the first loss of Singapore Slingers as they beat the Singapore-based squad 70-53 at The Arena, San Juan today. The Patriots played hard-nose, physical defense that has been the signature of the recent Letran squads coached by the Patriots' coach Louie Alas. The RP squad forced the Slingers to TOs and swatted shots all game long. The visiting team just could not get into any type of rhythm in the game. The nationals of Slingers were non-factors. Their imports Kyle Jeffers and Michael Leblanc were forced to carry the load on their own and it allowed the RP squad to gank up on them.

Ball Points (10-26-2009)

• The RP Patriots have improved to 2-1 as they defeated the Thailand Tigers 74-61 with the help of some of its new recruits. Former Finals MVP Nonoy Baclao, Defensive Player of the Year Elmer Espiritu and UE hotshot Val Acuña were all recently signed up by the Patriots to strengthen their lineup. According to the article, it was Elmer's and Nonoy' defense that ultimately gave RP the win. UST's Khasim Mirza and Val Acuña combined for only 2 points in the game and are still uncomfortable with the team's system. As they say, your offense will be off at times but you can always count on your defense to be there for you whatever happens. The PBA have lost on a couple of young stars because of the Gilas program and if the Patriots do find a way to sign up more collegiate stars long term, it will only make matters worst for the PBA. Still, I doubt that it will affect the popularity of the PBA as they have already established stars like Mac Cardona, Willie Miller and James Yap.
• So far it has been the finalists of last year's All-Filipino Cup, TNT and Alaska, that have been most impressive. (Both are also undefeated) Let me talk about my Aces a little bit here. The great thing about the Aces so far is that it hasn't been the Miller show. Other guys are contributing. Borboran(Remember him? The star of the All-choker UE team in 2007?), Fonacier, Hugnatan and Tenorio have all chipped in and I just hope that they all won't choke come crunch time. (Tenorio actually leads the team in scoring with 16.25ppg while Willie Miller is averaging 16ppg)
• It's the battle of behemoths in the CESAFI Finals as Junmar Fajardo's UC Webmaster is squaring off against the Greg Slaughter's UV Green Lancers. So far, UV is leading 1-0 in the best of 5 series and Game 2 is scheduled today but I'm terribly sorry as I do not have any updates on the game.
• Review of old news. It was earlier announced that the John Wilson was this year's NCAA MVP. Why the hell did the UAAP and NCAA base the MVP award solely on stats? All of a sudden the game is only about stats? C'mon we're better than that. I don't also get why the NCAA had to prevent Aquino from receiving the award just because he was suspended. Fine, if Jimbo can't get it, give it to Sudan. My favorite player in the NCAA is John Wilson but he didn't show up when his team needed him the most. That's not a MVP to me. He's the MVP because he scored a 37 points against CSB? Damn.

Ball Points (10-19-2009)

• I guess there will be a surprise team in the NCAA Finals just like the in the UAAP. Everyone expected the JRU Heavy Bombers to be one of this year's finalists in the NCAA. Everyone, except Ato Agustin and his boys as they have booked the 2nd and final ticket to the NCAA Finals after defeating my dear John Wilson and the rest of the Bombers, 79-64. A great start by the Stags in the 1st quarter was enough to put the Bombers away for good as they led 29-8 after the 1st. The Bombers started out good as they got 4 early points from John Lopez off open looks as a result of the attention given to his other teammates like Wilson but it was all downhill after that. The Bombers relied too much on one-on-one action while the Stags were taking easy shots off transition offense and ball movement. The 2nd quarter saw the Bombers play with a lot more energy and they were able to make some headway courtesy of their zone defense and full court press. Still, these weren't enough as the emergence of the other guys like Pascual and Gatchalian was enough for the Stags to keep a double digit lead at the half. In the 3rd quarter, the Bombers started out w/o their MVP, Wilson, but was able to crawl back and came as close as 8 to the Stags midway in the 3rd. It was a classic comeback wherein JRU just played with a lot more energy while SSC-R played too relaxed. Abueva helped the Stags build a huge lead in the half but he was also responsible for the Bombers' comeback as he was called for an unsportsmanlike foul (2FTS and ball possesion is given to the opposing team). He did make up for it as it was his dominance in the paint (scoring, rebounding, defense and everything else) that gave the Stags a 20-point lead after the 3rd. No one can stop this guy in the paint. No one. Not even Sudan Daniels. He just needs to stay in the game and remain composed. The Bombers still tried to comeback in the 4th but Ato's boys always had an answer for them. I expected the Stags to play as good as they played today but I did not expect the Mandaluyong-based squad to play this bad. The Bombers were 0-18 from beyond the arc before Agas hit a banked 3-point shot at 1:47 mark of the 4th. This team depends so much on outside shooting and it's hard to imagine them winning a game if they can only hit a single 3 pointer. The Stags were able to get easy shots when they running and it was when they slowed down that they had difficulty scoring. JRU decided to slow down and dump the ball to Sena at the post and it did not work at all. All the points Sena scored were all from midrange jumpers. Coach Ariel has a plethora of talented perimeter players and setting up more in the half court meant that his perimeter gunners had to bleed for their points (Si Wilson hindi dugo tumutulo eh, sipon! Yup, Wilson wasn't 100% as he has a flu but that isn't a valid excuse. He didn't show up today and as a result JRU doesn't need to show up in the NCAA anymore this year.). JRU should have played a faster tempo to allow players like Njei, Wilson and Hayes to get easier looks. If there are no numbers? Dump the ball to Sena but don't dump the ball to Sena with 23 seconds on your shot clock. Can I ask for Coach Ariel V's head? This Stags team is a one-man team but their man isn't Jimbo but Ato. He has done such a brilliant job coaching this team and he'll have more firepower in the Finals with guys like Pascual now ready to step up.
• The RP Patriots have lost in their second game in the ABL to the Sinagpore Slingers 74-69. We can't really expect RP to dominant the Slingers as they are a very competitive team. I don't have much details about this game as I wasn't able to watch it.
• Wow, as first reported on patayangbutiki.com, RP Patriots' import Brandon Powell may be a Filipino. I would love to see this guy in a PBA jersey or better yet in a Smart-Gilas jersey.
• Arboleda will be suspended for the rest of the 2009-10 season. Only 1 year? Not enough. Even for a kind-hearted and merciful person like me. :D

Ball Points (10-11-2009)

• Rey Guevarra has played his last game in the NCAA as he tore his ACL and will not be able to join the team in their Final 4 run. Rey Guevarra is one the most athletic swingman in Philippine collegiate basketball today and is also a member of Smart-Gilas. An ACL injury is one of the most threatening injuries to basketball player's career especially for players who depend on their athletism like Rey. It's a pity the Knights will not have a chance to upset the Stags one more time. Rey is such an integral part of Letran's success this year and it is doubtful if they can put much of a fight against a resurgent Stags team. This guy would have also looked so good in Toroman's system with his leaping ability and his improved shooting. I do hope that Gilas will take necessary steps to ensure Rey would return to 100%. He's got so much promise and I won't mind seeing him in a Gilas uniform once again.
  
• Smart-Gilas destorys the RP Patriots 87-66. The Gilas program is looking better and better as time goes by. The Patriots weren't expected to put much of a fight against Toroman and his boys but it is important to note that the Patriots are reinforced by 2 American imports namely big man Jason Dixon (former import of Coke in the PBA) and the very athletic Brandon Powell. Japeth scored a total of 24 points including a couple of triples and dunks but managed to secure only 4 rebounds. He should be able to get more rebounds than that for a guy of size and leaping ability. Gilas' import ,CJ Giles, was limited to only 2 points as I believe he was plagued by foul trouble most of the game. At least, Gilas was able to show that they can win even without much production from Giles.
• Kay haba-haba ng prusisyon sa simbahan din naman ang tuloy. Japeth Aguilar finally agrees to play for BK in the PBA. I believe it is only for 1 year 1.8M deal and not a 3 year deal as mentioned on the article to which the link above goes. It's hard to see how Japeth can manage to play on both BK and Smart-Gilas but don't be alarmed Gilas fans. Also mentioned in the article is the agreement that Japeth will only play a couple of games for BK and he will be eventually be traded to TNT and will then be released to Smart-Gilas. One of the main problems of Gilas is how they could secure the services of Japeth without ruining the healthy relationship of SBP and PBA. Now, if the rumor is indeed true, the only thing Gilas has to think about is how to win on the court.
  
• Norman Black calls his young center, Justin Chua, a pretty good player in an interview with Hardball. He also adds the that Chua just hasn't been able to get much exposure because he's playing behind the league's best center. Ateneo having another dominant center next year is a pretty scary thought for the other UAAP teams. Bear in mind that Rabeh was barely a factor for Ateneo is his 1st 3 years. He was only a guy with size who can shoot from the outside back then and then boom, he wins the league MVP in his 4th year. A big guy down the post is such an integral part of Black's system so developing his young bigs in Salva and Chua will be key if Ateneo wants a 3-peat.
  
• RP Patriots have won the first ever game of the ABL as they defeated Indonesia's Santria Muda 76-69. From what I heard from the game broadcasters, I guess we can think of Santria Muda as the Indonesia's TNT or SMB. The game was very close from the 1st quarter up to the early stages of the 3rd. It was a couple of steals of Christian Coronel that started RP's run that would eventually result into a double digit lead. The Indonesians was able to mount a rally in the 4th but the Pinoys were able to hold on to the lead and win the game. A lot of players from Indonesia, especially import Alex Hartman, were getting really frustrated with physical play from the Filipinos. Maybe they had a little too much "gulang" from our countrymen. Khasim Mirza who was expected to be key part of this team scored only 1 point and it came on a FT late in the game that was result by a foul of SM to stop the clock. He was clearly frustrated with the lack of playing time when he was taken out of the game when he committed a couple of mistakes in the 3rd. Big man import Jason Dixon was horrible from the field missing a lot of gimmes inside. He was getting a lot of easy looks because SM's big man Theo Little was in foul trouble but Dixon was not able to convert on those looks. I was quite impressed with our other import, Brandon Powell. He did miss some inside looks but he was a key part of this win as he played hard nose defense on sharp shooting Hartman and limited him to only 13 points and forced him to bad shots. Brandon also caught my attention with his hustle, energy and superb athletism.
  

Ball Points (10-6-09)

• The Junior Archers have extended their finals series as they defeated the Eaglets 57-53. They finished the game on a 14-2 run including 4 clucth FTs to seal the deal. Kiefer Ravena was held scoreless in the 1st half and was able to finish the game with only 6 points. It was Ael Banal(19 points) who carried team in the 1st half with his outside snipping but he couldn't carry the team to the finish line. ADMU looked poised to win the championship today as they led by 8 in the 4th quarter but the guys from Ayala Alabang just took their games a notch higher and clawed their way back with their hustle and aggressiveness. Gywne Capacio came back with a better performance with 19 points but he has to settle down a little bit. He's got to be smarter when to attack or not because ADMU's defense is ready for him. DLSZ will have to establish their running game come Game 3 to utilize the talent of their players like Dela Paz. The Junior Archers have to attack quicker to prevent ADMU to set up their tight defense.
  
• The Adamson Lady Falcons have swept the no. 1 seeded FEU Lady Tamaraws in their finals series with a 64-50 victory earlier today. Another disappointmet for Anton Montinola and the rest of FEU. Analyn Almazan was awarded the Finals MVP as she averaged 16.5 points and 16 rebounds in the finals. A key part of the ADU team is another of the Mangahas siblings, Katherine Mangahas. Man, how many Mangahases are we going to see in collegiate basketball?
• Guess what, we have another national team, the RP Patriots! Don't worry this team will not be joining in the controversy between the SBP and PBA and this team will coached by a Filipino, Louie Alas. This team will be representing us in the recently formed ABL. Think of ABL as the Euroleague of SE Asia. Yes, Southeast Asia so we can expect to dominate this league. All teams will also be allowed up to 2 imports and I believe Mikee Romero (co-owner of Patriots) is considering Sam Ekwe as our import. Some notables on the team are former UST hotshot Khasim Mirza, former PBA player Rob Wainwright, former DLSU player Gerwin Gaco (no he is not a star Manila Bulletin but he's a good player nonetheless) and former Letran player Dino Daa.