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)