UST Growling Tigers (8 - 6) def. Ateneo Blue Eagles (7 - 7) 82 - 74 Hey, there's still him next year, right? (credits to uaapsports.studio23.tv)    Instead of going through the usual motions of recapping the games, I'll be doing a slight features article concerning Ateneo and UST.   When the final buzzer ended, I honestly wanted to cry. That was a painful loss for my Blue Eagles. Sure I support UST, but no matter what happens, Ateneo pa rin susuportahan ko. Yet, eventually I started to gather my feelings, and I thought, hey, I think teams should actually be worried of Ateneo next year. And, I also thought about it. NU, FEU and DLSU should be worried about UST come the Final Four. REAL WORRIED.

Mac Baracael heroics (albeit controversial) led this weekend's bunch of reunions. (credits to interaksyon.com)  What. A. Weekend.  Okay that's getting old I have to find something new.   This weekend wasn't as hyped compared to last week's Manila Clasico since there weren't any super high profile matches like a San Mig - Ginebra match - up or a San Mig - RoS match - up. Despite that though, this weekend's set of match - ups actually have very similar story lines.   All match  - ups had a reunion.

Petron Blaze Boosters (7  - 1) def. Alaska Aces (3 - 4) 103 - 100 Elijah Millsap took over for Petron in this game. (credits to interaksyon.com)   What. A Game.   This Friday was actually a "basketball marathon" for me, as I was treated not only to the two PBA games that were staged tonight, but also a THRILLING (to say the least), UAAP Juniors game between the Ateneo Blue Eaglets and the NU Bulldogs. To summarize that game well, Thirdy Ravena is definitely a beast, but free throws, free throws, free throws. (They were leading by 6 with 2:21 remaining in OT. Thirdy would miss 5 STRAIGHT free throws, NU would make a 9 - 0 run. Ateneo would score, get a chance to win the game, but Phenom Jolo Mendoza would miss two free throws, and NU gets itself a thrice to beat advantage for the Finals.)   Since Ateneo lost that game and I didn't get honors, I was hoping for a Petron win to cheer me up. They were against Alaska, my second favorite team, which made the game

Petron Blaze Boosters (6 - 1) def. Talk ' N Text Tropang Texters (2 - 4) 122 - 88 Alex Cabagnot was highly efficient against FIBA Asia Top PG Jayson Castro. (credits to interaksyon.com)   Honestly, who expected Talk 'N Text to get blown out by this big of a margin?   Anyone?    The rivalry between these two teams is dubbed as "Bad Blood" and for good reason. After all, they treated us to arguably one of the greatest 7 game series' in history. Personally, it's the greatest series of all time for me, even though Petron wound up losing that.   Now, what exactly were people's expectations coming into this game?

     Well, I didn't expect to return at this time.      I'll be honest, I was eyeing to return last week, but ACTUAL basketball actually stopped me from doing so. In short, I've been playing more with my buddies from #K2015, and that's taken up my time from writing about UAAP basketball. Well I've found time, so here I am writing about controversy. Great way to return, aye? Coach Bo has been subject to much controversy over the past few days. (credits to sir Roy Afable)

   Well, it's been a while ever since my last post. You guys may wonder why. Well...   School has taken it's toll on me. Not only physically but mentally. So I decided that I'll be taking a slight hiatus for the meantime.   How long?

Gilas Pilipinas (3 - 1) def. Qatar (3 - 1) 80 - 70 Japeth sure does like smashing the rim huh. Good thing that backboard is still steady. (credits to interaksyon.com)   As I said in my previous article, I expect Gilas to rise these coming days.   Well rise they did. And they did so, with ruthless aggression. 

Gilas Pilipinas (2 - 1) def. Japan (1 - 2) 90 - 71 Once again, Marcus Douthit dominated the Japanese front line. (credits to interaksyon.com)   I'm pretty sure a lot of you know how Japan is often called, "The Land Of The Rising Sun".   That is what Filipinos wanted Gilas to do. They wanted them to rise.   After all, they came into this game with the memory of a 13 point meltdown against Chinese Taipei still fresh in their minds. Also fresh in their minds is Gary David's recent struggles. Fresh in their minds is the amount of hate they have been mired with after losing against the country they have been rivals with not only in the basketball court, but also in the political stage.   Well, after this game, it was the Philippines that looked like the land of the rising sun. Every bit of it.

Chinese Taipei (3 - 0) def. Gilas Pilipinas (2 - 1) 84 - 79 Tseng Wen Ting gave Mick Pennisi a run for his money for best actor in this game. Kidding. (credits to interaksyon.com)   This was the very first FULL game of Gilas which I could watch, since I've been busy with school work these past few days. Well, malas nga naman.   This was supposed to be a revenge game of sorts for Gilas Pilipinas. They wanted justice for the OFWs being abused in Taiwan. They wanted revenge for their exclusion in the Jones Cup. It wasn't only the team who wanted it; the WHOLE NATION wanted it. I honestly wanted it.   Sadly we couldn't get it.

NU Bulldogs (4 - 3) def. DLSU Green Archers (3 - 4) 63 - 56 I have this feeling Ray Parks is deceiving us all. (credits to uaapsports.studio23.tv)    A number of people have noticed there has been a slight dip in terms of Ray Parks' performance for this season. Now the question isn't why there has been a dip in terms of his performance. I think the real question is... has his performance actually dipped?   Based on regular statistics at least, not exactly.

Ateneo Blue Eagles (3 - 4) def. UST Growling Tigers (4 - 3) 61 - 57 First Kiefer, and now Newsome. I feel bad for Abdul. (credits to Fabilioh and sir Philip Sison)   The title Stitches and Burns is usually associated to the song by Norweigan New Wave band Fra Lippo Lippi. Well, we could actually associate the song to the relationship between UST and Ateneo.   The song talks about a guy who, we could assume, just recently broke up with his girlfriend. He states that, he will no longer fall for any of the tricks that his girlfriend did back then, but deep inside, he actually still loves the girl. Eventually though, he realizes that he can come to terms with the stitches and burns that he has received from the girl, and he is willing to move on, and fly again.    So why can we associate the song to the relationship between UST and Ateneo? Well, I'll explain that at the end of the article. Let's go through the usual motions first.

DLSU Green Archers (3 - 3) def. Adamson Soaring Falcons (3 - 3) 70 - 67  Adamson was all eyes on the referees during this game. Just look at them. (credits to spin.ph)   What.   That's the very first thing I said when I read all the tweets regarding the unsportsmanlike foul that was called on Gian Abrigo. I had no idea whether it was really an unsportsmanlike foul or not since I was studying at that time for our English Long Test the next day (which turned out to be quite a toughie), thus the late post regarding this game. I got to watch the replay of the play earlier and all I could say was...   What.   What. Was. That.

Chris Newsome's slam leads this weekend's heart racing set of games. (credits to Fabilioh)       Remember how UAAP's tagline last year was "Unbreakable"?   Well, after the results of the past few games, I thought of a proposition to the UAAP Board.   What about we change the tagline of this year's UAAP Season from "Greatness Never Ends" to "Unpredictable"? Why that? Well that's pretty much what the UAAP has been this season!   Unpredictable.   Not only does it fittingly describe the season, but it also sounds way better than "Greatness Never Ends". Seriously.   Kidding aside, the season really has been unpredictable. I honestly expected it to be unpredictable in a sense that anyone could make the Final Four, but I didn't expect it to be THIS unpredictable. It has indeed come to a point where every team can make the Final Four, and it could even come to a point where we find out the COMPLETE Final Four cast

  If you think about it, the reason why UE got that win against Ateneo was because of Charles Mammie. Probably if Mammie wasn't in the team, Ateneo would have won that game by a considerable margin (no bias). Also, you can also say the reason why Adamson is back into contention this year is because of the addition of Ingrid Sewa, which shakes up the whole rotation of the team, especially the front court. You can also imagine FEU without Hargrove and Sentcheu... well that's pretty much FEU with a front court. What if Charles Mammie wasn't in the UE Red Warriors? (credits to abs-cbnnews.com)    In short, the inclusion of these imports in the UAAP have shaken up the league. It's been quite the controversial topic, but for now, we can't do anything about. Well, the least we can do is IMAGINE the UAAP without the imports!   Instead of going through the usual motions by posting game recaps of the past two play dates, I decided to create a "power ranking"

FEU Tamaraws (4 - 0) def. DLSU Green Archers (2 - 2) 83 - 79 in OT Terrence Romeo had to go all Super Saiyan in order for FEU to get this win. Get it? (credits to ph.sports.yahoo.com)   Wow. Just, wow.   Even though I'm an Atenean, I was looking forward to this game. It was a showdown between of the top teams in the league. One came from a come back victory against their arch rivals, and they had some revelations during that game as well. The other team was riding on a 3 - 0 winning streak, and slowly cemented their place as contenders despite a poor preseason.   It was a clash of opposites. One team relied heavily on their guards when it came to scoring. They had a poor interior game because of their lack of quality big men, but the hot shooting of their guards more than made up for this loss of their. One team relied on the inside game, as they had an imposing front line and a swing man who's virtually unstoppable when you play him one on one.   People expecte

  I won't be posting the recaps for the past three game dates because of personal problems, but I feel like I really have to write regarding this issue, not only because I am an Atenean, but also because I am a spectator of Philippine Basketball.    I've been watching the UAAP for almost 11 years now. If you do the Math, that's around 2002, the same year Ateneo won a UAAP championship. I remember the very first Ateneo jersey that I got; it was a Rich Alvarez jersey, and until now, it still fits me quite well. My very first Ateneo jersey. Rich Alvarez. (photo courtesy of writer)

  FEU Tamaraws (2 - 0) def. Ateneo Blue Eagles  (0 - 2) 79 - 75 in OT Even Ryan Buenafe's monster performance couldn't propel the Blue Eagles to a win. (credits to spin.ph)   Phew. What a game, to say the least.   In a game that was filled with drama despite the absence of star play maker Kiefer Ravena and ever so controversial Jerie Pingoy, only one could end up as the winner, and that title had to go to the FEU Tamaraws.    Fans of the Morayta based team went home happy, filled with confidence because of their two game winning streak. The fans from the blue side, however, went home sad, confused and filled with uncertainty for their future because of their two game losing streak.   Are the fans supposed to feel this way? Let's analyze the game and find out.

  Well, that was quite an opening weekend.   The UAAP has officially started, and the results for opening weekend were rather interesting. I won't be able to give out an extensive report of each game (probably the only game I could fully analyze was the Ateneo game, obviously), so I'll just present to you guys the summary of the games based from news reports and what I can get from these reports as well.

      The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).   For the last post of this series, I will be analyzing the reigning and defending champions. The Ateneo Blue Eagles.

    The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).    For my second to the last post of this series, I will be analyzing the forever underdogs; the UST Growling Tigers.

       The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).   We'll be analyzing the seemingly confusing De La Salle Green Archers.

     The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).   Now, we will be analyzing the team tagged as favorites, the NU Bulldogs.

    The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).    Now, we'll be analyzing the much controversial FEU Tamaraws.

    The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.       For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).   For this post, we'll be talking about the much improved Adamson Soaring Falcons.

    The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.      For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).    The next team that we will be analyzing is the much hyped UE Red Warriors.

   The season starts in a couple of days, and teams are surely preparing hard for the grand chase to the Championship. The parity for the league this year is practically unheard of, with nearly every team being contenders not only for a Final Four spot, but also for the championship.    For my preview and predictions for each team, I will predict the team's standing (meaning the place that they will be in), and the different developments that I expect to see from the team as the season rolls on. I will also list down the key players for the team's run to the Final Four, and the players who we should watch out for developmental wise (rookies and bench players fall under this category).    Let's start by writing about the much revamped UP Fighting Maroons.

   Okay, now for my second post for the preview and predictions of Season 76! For this post, we'll be talking about the MVP Race that will happen for this season.   Many people say that the MVP Race shouldn't be of utmost importance. Players will always try to downplay the awards that they get by saying stuff such as: "We should focus on winning a championship, not MVPs" or, "I win these awards because of my team mates". Whether you like it or not, deep inside those players' minds, they are happy and proud of themselves and NOT their team mates that they won the award. Well, they should be.   Last year's MVP Race was really close, with Ray Ray Parks barely beating Karim Abdul for the award. This year's Race may end up being closer.   To start things off, I'll declare my personal top 5 candidates for the award. My prediction for the top 5 is based SOLELY on my prediction for the stats of a player, since the stats of a player is the

  The UAAP season is a week away, and the excitement surrounding the season rises each day that we come closer to June 29, the opening of Season 76.  I will start my coverage for the season by generating what I think are the most important question/s that surround each team as of this writing. For the next few days, I will be writing a preview for each team, and I will base the previews from the questions that I will generate. Before the previews though, I will post my preview and prediction for the upcoming MVP race. Let's get it started!

  It was another Saturday evening for me and my family. It also meant it was another Saturday evening for me and my family to play some good old basketball.   While waiting for the game to start, I saw a kid probably half my size (I'm around 5 feet and 8 inches tall, so the kid's around 3 feet tall I think) playing basketball in the opposite court. At first, I didn't take notice of the kid too much, but when I ended up looking at him for a longer period of time, I noticed something about the kid that actually broke my heart. He was playing basketball with only one arm. No, he wasn't doing it on purpose, he actually HAD to do it. In short, he was missing an arm, his right arm to be precise.

  Well, the title of this post practically sums up what this article will be about. Is Gilas peaking too early before the actual FIBA Asia tournament?   You guys may ask, what made me ask this question that Gilas may be peaking too early? Well, let's go back to a certain statement Coach Chot made days before the much anticipated Lithuanian trip. "We expect to get massacred."   To be honest, I WANTED Gilas to get massacred. I was actually EXCITED to see Gilas get massacred. Why? The true character of Gilas would show in these massacres. We would see if Gilas could rise and persevere amidst disaster.   Well, their trip is about to conclude, and Gilas hasn't gotten massacred. FAR FROM IT.   Gilas is 5 - 1 thus far in their Lithuanian trip. They beat 4th placers of the recently concluded Lithuanian Basketball League Klaipedos Neptunas 81 - 76 albeit the absence of their two American imports. For the next game, they would rally against Birstono Jazz Diremta to ge

  Finally, after a week of not posting, I have decided to post once again. This topic is actually around 4 days late, but it is still hotly being discussed by Filipino basketball fans all over the globe.   The FIBA Asia Championships Draw 2013. The draw was held at the Manila Hotel last Thursday afternoon.   Now, before I tell you guys what the classifications are, I will explain first how the draw went about.

Just a quick update since, it has to be quick.    I won't be posting as much from now on since classes just opened here in the Philippines this past week. The workload will start to rise come next week, so I might not even get to tweet as much by then.   I will still try my best to post, although the content that I can provide won't be as in depth compared to what I would write back then. I will be writing a FIBA Asia Draw review in a couple of days (albeit a very late one), and some UAAP previews.   Till then, you can check out the archives to go through some of my past articles!

  As of this writing, Gilas has just arrived at Palanga, Lithuania, the site of their training camp for the next two weeks. Coach Chot dubs it as the beginning of the "61 Day Trip to History". 61 days to the FIBA Asia Championships this August.   Before we list down the things we should watch out for in this trip, let's list down the schedule of activities for the Philippine national team.   Today, June 4, Gilas will start their training camp in the confines of the Svyturio Arena in Klaipeda. Their training will consist of two sessions daily; first, during the morning, they will have their conditioning exercises. Come evening, they will have their basketball scrimmages. They will be having a game every two days. On June 5, they will be up against Klaipedos Neptunas squad which recently finished at third place in the Lithuanian Basketball League. On June 7 and 15 (the eve of their departure), they will be against the Kaunas LSU - Baltai squad. On June 9, they will face

   While I was in the car last Saturday "watching" the Ateneo - La Salle game through my twitter, I read a certain tweet that had the moniker "Blue Granada" to it. So, who is Blue Granada?   The one and only Kiefer Ravena. Blue Granada was virtually unstoppable against La Salle.   Now, some of you may wonder, why are some basketball pundits calling Kiefer, the Blue Granada?   First, he's being coached by Bo Perasol, who formerly coached the Powerade Tigers. In that same Powerade team, he coached a monster of a scorer... which brings us to our second reason.   Gary David was this monster of a scorer, and his moniker was El Granada because he was virtually unstoppable in the offensive end. So now, I will recap the game that was, and I will also answer the question...   Is Kiefer deserving of the moniker Blue Granada? Nagliyab nga ba ang kamay ni Kiefer Ravena?

The Filoil Flying V's tournament tagline is "Where it all begins..". Well today, June 1, starts another chapter of the ever so popular Ateneo - La Salle rivalry. Two of the league's brightest young stars face off this afternoon at the Arena. (photo courtesy of spin.ph) Same teams, different faces. Very much different. First, let's see some of the new faces for both squads, and how they will impact their respective teams come game time.

   2 months.   That's all there is left for the training of our Gilas Pilipinas national team. And, it has been bumpy. INCREDIBLY bumpy at that.    The first setback is the much publicized  exclusion of the Philippines  for the upcoming Jones Cup. The tournament would've been integral to the preparations of the national team for the FIBA Asia tournament, but now, they will have to find a way to find or create a tournament to prepare them come August. Some help from  coach Rajko  perhaps?    The second setback is actually a series of setbacks, but we can actually describe it into just one. The loss of players in the pool. It all started when the blood disorder of a certain machine gun in the pool triggered, and when a certain daredevil  got into a car accident . Then, the top perimeter defender of the pool got  injured , and that lessens his chances to get into the 12 man team. Then again, a certain beast who has long been considered by Coach Chot for the actual team and n

   "525,600 minutes, how do you measure, measure a year.."    This song may sound familiar to most of you. Yes, it is Seasons of Love by RENT (as far as I know that's the original..). In a year, there are different kinds of seasons, yet, one thing cannot be doubted. In all those seasons, there is love. When there are storms, there is love. When kids play ball in the streets under the scorching sun, there is love. When Ginebra fans and Alaska fans jeer at each other, yes, there is actually love. In 525,600 minutes, there are seasons of love.   Now, I'd like to share with a little story, if you supposed. I don't know whether to call it a story or a biography, so just call it what you may.   Today, my dear friends, is May 27. For most, it is a a regular date, a Monday for this year's case. Well, for me, it's isn't just a regular date. It's a special date. A REALLY special date.

    Now that the PBA Commissioner's Cup, the nation can finally unite into one. No longer will the members of the  Gatas Republik feud with the Barangay. The  Petroniverse will no longer have to completely worry about the scrutiny that they will receive from the other fan bases. Now, we unite to form the ultimate fan base, and that's the Filipino nation . All of us. Fil - Am, Cebuano, Kapampangan or even Bicolano. As long as you are a Filipino, you are part of one nation, the Filipino nation . Now, what is the team that we are to support?    The Gilas Pilipinas national team. Para sa bayan.    Our Gilas pool originally consisted of 17 players, but now it is down to 15 players because of the illnesses past Gilas standouts Jared Dillinger and Kelly Williams received. This proved to be a huge loss for our line up, since the two were expected to be shoo ins in the final 12. This opened up a hole in our 3 spot (You can read more on this issue right  here ), since both playe

    Nadamay pa ang basketball.     That's probably the message echoing in the heads of many Filipino hoop fans right now. Why did basketball have to be affected by the rift between the Philippines and Taiwan? I honestly have no idea why. If anyone can actually answer that question for (in such a way that is not biased), please do so.    Now, if you guys have been under a rock lately, or if you haven't paid much attention to the headlines, the Philippines and Taiwan are in quite a rift right now. As to why, you can read that right  here .   I won't go into full detail regarding the national issue between the two countries, since I made this post to talk about the issue concerning basketball about the two countries. But, to further understand the basketball side of things, I'll explain how the Taiwanese are feeling towards the Filipinos in a national perspective a bit more. Just a bit.

      Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska.       Well, Ginebra at least.       Two games into the Commissioner's Cup Finals, Alaska is a game away from capturing their first title after 3 three years. The Beast has done a masterful job keeping the rabid Barangay silent.      Now, I'll analyze the two games by citing one thing from each team; what one negative and positive output they did for the game, and how it will impact them the following game. I know Game 2 is done, but either way, I will still state the negative thing that impacted them.

   In the midst of the PBA Finals fiasco here in the Philippines, some fiasco is also happening in the US, this time in the College Basketball ranks. So, might as well talk about this fiasco.    Today, May 15 midnight in the Philippines, and May 14 around lunch time in the United States, top college basketball recruit Andrew Wiggins finally decided which school he was going to. He cut down his list to 4 schools and those are; North Carolina which has James Michael McAdoo returning for them, Kansas which has the #3 Class for 2013, Kentucky which probably has the MOST talented recruiting class EVER and Florida State which is the alma mater of Andrew's parents.    Many basketball fans thought UNC was Andrew's best fit since he would practically be the star in that team. Plus, he'd be facing off against Jabari Parker's Duke Blue Devils, the rivals of UNC, whereas Jabari is the #2 college basketball recruit for this year. A number also thought Kentucky, since Andrew join

     Finally... it is set.     After a combined 9 games for the semifinals, the stage is set. Two teams, one championship.    We didn't get the Manila Clasico Finals match up most of us were craving for. A battle between the top two coaches in the league today isn't going to happen either. Of course, the rematch of the Finals last year isn't happening either.    It's the Alaska Aces vs. the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel for the Finals.   LA Tenorio is back in the finals.. this time against his former squad, the Alaska Aces.     Now, for the preview of this match up, we'll analyze both teams first. We'll talk about the key injuries for both teams, how they got here, their key player for the series, and what they have to do in order to win it all.

      It's the semifinals, and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be to ideal to suddenly talk about an individual award, since (as of this writing), two teams are in danger of getting eliminated, and one already is. One survived a rampaging 6'5 hurricane. The third are in danger of having the same fate as Rain or Shine. But, it's something that's bound to be in the conversation one of these days.      The Best Player Of The Conference award.       It is an award given to the player who performed the most exemplary in the conference that he performed in. Only locals are allowed to receive it. It is actually not as debatable as the MVP award since this award does state that the BEST PLAYER is the winner, and not the MOST VALUABLE. But that's for another conversation.     When talking about the BPC award for the Commissioner's Cup this year, three names come to mind, and those are Calvin Abueva, LA Tenorio and Jayson Castro.      Sadly, Mark Caguioa will

      Alright guys, it's been 6 days ever since I've posted so here we go, some updates to why it's been 6 days ever since I have posted and other activity around the website.      First of all...     The lack of posts       Now, you guys must be wondering, where are the posts? Why the sudden lack of posts? Have I lost my passion for writing?           Not really. Well, first, I kind of had a personal problem this past week that's why I wasn't in the mood to write too much about basketball. I was about to start an article about Derrick Rose but I guess that won't push through.       Second, I got the flu because of various stress. I had a hard time moving, so obviously it would be even more difficult for me to create a blog post. Sorry guys!     PBA and NBA Player Of The Week     I told you guys I'd be making a post explaining the criteria of the PBA and NBA POW's. Well, the reason why I wasn't able was because of my reasons above. I prob

      This won't be an incredibly long post, just like my Filipino Teenagers post. You can check that out right  here . This post will basically contain the updates that I have made with the site. First update: PBA/NBA Player Of The Week      If you noticed, there is a new part in the website that says "PBA Player Of The Week" in the right side of the blog. Not only will we have a PBA Player Of The Week, but we will also have a NBA Player Of The Week. I will be posting the player of the week for each league every Sunday (Although I posted PBA's POW yesterday because the PBA doesn't have anymore games for the week. The All Star Game does not count). I will be posting the criteria for the PBA/NBA POW sometime this week. :) Second update: Shoutbox      I added a shoutbox for my blog. So why did I decide to add one? Well, in the shoutbox, you can go express your feelings about the blog. If you have any comments/suggestions/questions/violent reactions, please don

              This is an essay I made about Camille, The Pretty Mermaid, for my English class last year.              Guys, do you know that feeling when the person you’re closest to suddenly hurts you? It sucks, right? Well, that’s exactly what my girlfriend, Camille Cutler, has made me feel. She’s made me feel like a failure, but with that, she has actually made me a winner, and I love her for that. A picture of me with Camille The Pretty Mermaid

     Now, you may ask, what inspired me to suddenly write an article about Filipino Teenagers and their love affair with basketball? Well... first of all, I am a Filipino teenager, and I love basketball. I mean, that's why I created this blog! So that I can get to write about the game that I love playing. Second is well... because of this kids I play with at our local court and at our very own court at the province. Now on to my little essay.     If you didn't know, I'm 16 years old, and I love playing basketball. I've played the sport ever since I was 4 years old (I think hehe), and I've been playing it ever since. Fine, my parents made me learn swimming. I got good at it, but it just wasn't the same. I liked it, but I didn't love it the same way that I loved basketball. I grew up watching Kobe Bryant score 81 points, Derek Fisher shooting that 0.4 buzzer beater on the Spurs, and on a more local note, Doug Kramer beating the buzzer against the UST Growlin

       It was around Saturday afternoon when I heard reports of Jared Dillinger being involved in some car accident. I was sad to hear of the incident. Not because I knew that losing Jared would mean that the Tropang Texters would have to dig even deeper into their line up to find a way to beat the resurgent Barangay. In fact, I'm not even a fan of the Tropang Texters (I'm for Alaska and Petron hehe).        I was sad, of course because a fellow human being got into a sudden accident. An accident that could have been avoided. But other than that, I was sad because that meant a blow to the hopes of Gilas Pilipinas to go to the FIBA World Championships in Spain this 2014. Gilas Pilipinas will miss the Daredevil's services this August for the FIBA Asia Championships. (credits to sports.inquirer.net)

      Finally, after 9 games against their former mentor Tim Cone, Alaska has beaten the San Mig Coffee Mixers (formerly the B Meg Llamados), and boy, did they beat them BIG.      Honestly, I wasn't able to watch the 1st game between the two teams, but based on the tweets that I read while the game was ongoing, it was a heck of a game. It was a game that put a premium on defense, as shown by the low final score. Not only was it a physical game because of the defense, but it was also an incredibly emotional one. From Leo Najorda and Calvin Abueva getting under each others skin, to James Yap telling Calvin Abueva to kiss him much to Kris Aquino's dismay, this game had the makings of a classic. Sadly, it had to end, thanks, to a certain Mr. Bowles. Monster Bowles comes up in the clutch again. (credits to Nuki Sabio and InterAKTV)