(Photo Credit: Leo Lopez, Fabilioh) Ten players stood inside the Blue Eagle Gym on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but fans in attendance were eagerly waiting for the explosion of one man. Jolo Mendoza was being hyped up as the next Kiefer Ravena. In a second-round match-up versus a young Adamson Baby Falcons team, the table was set for an eruption by the Season 77 Finals MVP.   The wait was excruciating. Jolo was seemingly picking his spots, choosing to pass the ball instead of pulling up unconsciously. The fans were starting to get bored. They wanted the scoring barrage they paid a ticket for. All of a sudden, a tall, lanky kid with frizzy hair galloped coast to coast, flew up high and attempted a dipsy-doo lay-up with ease. The referee blew his whistle to signal a foul. Fans jumped up, with their faces saying "OH SHIT WHO IS THAT GUY?", while the coaching staff of the Blue Eaglets' face screamed, " Bakit di mo na lang diniretso Mamu!!!!"  We all know G...

On the afternoon of April 11, 2017, SPIN.ph reported that coach Goldwin Monteverde has resigned from his position as head coach of the Adamson Baby Falcons. Rumors of coach Goldwin's resignation has been going around High School basketball circles, so the news of the resignation didn't come as that much of a surprise for insiders. (Photo Credit: Hazel Siy) But for fans, the move came as quite the surprise. After all, the Baby Falcons were still projected to contend for a championship despite the controversial end that they had to their Season 79 campaign. They weren't losing that much key players to graduation, and the desire for redemption was the most important part in all of this. The fact of the matter is, Goldwin Monteverde could very well be going out of the Adamson basketball program. This move creates then a number of effects not just for the San Marcelino-based school, but also the rest of High School basketball.  1. The effect it has on the Adamson Ju...

Is he truly High School basketball's best? (Photo Credit: Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports) Basic Information Name: Encho Serrano  Age: 17 School/Team: Adamson Baby Falcons Years of eligibility left: 1 Height: 5'11" Position: Combo Forward Projected Position: Combo Guard Quick Hits Strengths: - Good strong body - Considered as very athletic in any level of basketball - Can play multiple positions - Team player - High basketball IQ Weaknesses: - Has limited upside given his size - Jumper needs work - Needs to transition to point guard to do well in the collegiate and professional level Just recently, a group of coaches and basketball analysts came together to grade the top High School basketball players in the country. The four of the top five consisted of former national team players, while one of them is a controversial name in the High School basketball scene. The other four? John Lloyd Clemente, SJ Belangel, Juan Gomez de Liano and Jonas Tibayan...

MVP. Diliman bound.  Basic Information Name: Juan Gomez de Liano Age: 17 School/Team: UPIS JuniorMaroons Years of eligibility left: 0 (Graduating) Committed to: UP Fighting Maroons Height: 6'3" Position: Combo Guard Projected Position: Combo Guard Quick Hits Strengths: - Polished offensive game - Capable of playing multiple positions - Great passing ability - Great size for a point guard - Great physical tools Weaknesses: - Hasn't shown ability to defend - Isn't used to playing with players with same talent - Leadership is unproven The UP Fighting Maroons have long been aching to go back to the Final Four. It's been losing season after losing seasons for the Maroons. It's even reached a point that a Twitter named "Did UP win today?" became a hit with fans. Instead of being recognized as the top university in the country, University of the Philippines turned into a running joke for other schools. Mention the name UP, and pro...

Photo Credit: Joji Lapuz, Fabilioh  Dragon Ball Z was my favorite anime/cartoon during my childhood. How Goku could muster that much energy to save the world was awe-inspiring. But the moment in the anime which I could say is my favorite was during the Cell Saga, where Gohan made himself known.  As a kid, that moment truly resonated with me. I wanted to make myself known already, but elders would stop me because I was too young. But I knew I had the potential to do great things. For the case of Gohan, with no one else among the Saiyans giving much a fight against Cell (and well, Cell killing Android 16), he decided to unleash the beast within. Kai Sotto was more gentle giant than beast when he entered the UAAP. He was relegated as a benchwarmer, only coming in during spurts to grab a couple of rebounds and to block a shot or two. It was only during the second round where Kai was used consistently, mostly as a rebounder and as a shot blocker. Against the FEU ...

Photo Credit: Richard Esguerra, ABS-CBN Sports Season 79 of the UAAP Juniors Division has been more controversial than fun. That wasn't usually the case. More often than not, scouts and analysts would be found talking about who would be the future stars come college in this batch of High School players. Instead, talk regarding the UAAP Juniors Division has been centered around the eligibility case of Adamson's Encho Serrano. Almost immediately, fears regarding the credibility of High School basketball started to circulate around basketball circles. Just how credible are the ages of these players in the Juniors Division? Heck, is the Juniors Division still a Division for well.. Juniors? Is the age group which was previously loved because of how "pure" it was now sprinkled with the dirt which College and Pro Basketball has? There aren't any answers for these questions just yet. But Ateneo and FEU's Final Four classic reminded us what High School Baske...

Kai Sotto has been mighty impressive as of late. But is he for real? (Photo Credit: Spin.ph) Basic Information Name: Kai Sotto Age: 14 School/Team: Ateneo Blue Eaglets Years of eligibility left: 4 Height: 6'11" Position: Center Projected Position: Power Forward/Center Quick Hits Strengths: - Has arguably the highest ceiling of anyone in Philippine basketball - Great touch around the rim - Has a great stroke from mid-range - Is an elite shot blocker, uses his size and length to his advantage - Very high Basketball IQ Weaknesses: - Needs to bulk up - Footwork needs improvement to dominate offensively - Athleticism isn't there yet which limits him, understandable given his age 6'11". 14 years old. Those are the two statistics which are often most talked about when talking about Kai Sotto. There's arguments whether he's really 6'11" (6'9" is the height which has been used for the longest time), but the point is,...

Kenji Roman is just one of the many players who are MVP Candidates for this season's UAAP Juniors action. (Photo Credit: Josh Albelda, ABS-CBN Sports) Results: Ateneo Blue Eaglets def. UE Junior Warriors 89-62 FEU Baby Tamaraws def. UPIS Junior Maroons 84-68 AdU Baby Falcons def. DLSZ Junior Archers 78-53 NU Bullpups def. UST Tiger Cubs 73-64 Notable Performances: SJ Belangel (ADMU): 10 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists Daniel Celzo (FEU): 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks Kenji Roman (FEU): 13 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists Juan Gomez de Liano (UPIS): 22 points, 10 rebounds Encho Serrano (AdU): 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists Martin Romero (DLSZ): 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals John Lloyd Clemente (NU): 23 points, 8 rebounds Inand Fornillos (UST): 24 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks  Key Storylines: The MVP Race is starting to heat up It was already expected coming into the season that Juan Gomez de Liano would be the one leading the pack for the...

Can anyone stop Gerry Abadiano and the Adamson Baby Falcons? (Photo Credit to Owner) Results: FEU Baby Tamaraws def. UE Junior Warriors 100-82 AdU Baby Falcons def. Ateneo Blue Eaglets 77-65 NU Bullpups def. DLSZ Junior Archers 80-55 UST Tiger Cubs def. UPIS Junior Maroons 69-67 Notable Performances: Xyrus Torres (FEU): 23 points, 7 rebounds Daniel Celzo (FEU): 18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks Encho Serrano (AdU): 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals SJ Belangel (ADMU): 14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists Juan Gomez de Liano (UPIS): 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 8 turnovers  Miguel Ratuiste (UST): 21 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks Key Storylines: Ateneo has a BIG problem For their first game of the season, Ateneo immediately trotted out a line-up which featured four players standing at 6'3" and above plus elite playmaker, SJ Belangel. The scary thing was that Ateneo had more players who stood that tall in the team...

"Oy, title contender din kami!" - The FEU Tamaraws probably, after beating the Ateneo Blue Eaglets. (Photo Credit: Richard Esguerra, ABS-CBN Sports) Results: AdU Baby Falcons def. NU Bullpups 80-67 FEU Baby Tamaraws def. Ateneo Blue Eagles 77-73 DLSZ Junior Archers def. UST Tiger Cubs 64-58 UPIS Junior Maroons def. UE Junior Warriors 95-63 Notable Performances: Encho Serrano (AdU): 25 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists Rhayyan Amsali (NU): 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists  LJ Gonzales (FEU): 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals Dave Ildefonso (ADMU): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 steals SJ Belangel (ADMU): 17 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 10 turnovers Juan Gomez de Liano (UPIS): 24 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals Ralph Labao (UPIS): 14 points, 9 rebounds, 10 steals Key Storylines Time to stop sleeping on the Adamson Baby Falcons When my rankings for the teams this UAAP Season 79, a number of people were surprised ...

Title favorites, they could very well be. The Adamson Baby Falcons are looking like a well-oiled machine. (Photo Credit: Arvin Lim, ABS-CBN Sports) Results: UPIS Junior Maroons def. DLSZ Juniors Archers 81-59 AdU Baby Falcons def. FEU Baby Tamaraws 78-65 UE Junior Warriors def. UST Tiger Cubs 87-77 NU Bullpups def. Ateneo Blue Eaglets 73-68 Notable Performances: Juan Gomez de Liano (UPIS): 20 points (6/9 shooting), 9 rebounds, 6 assists  Kenji Roman (FEU): 12 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists Dustin Angeles (UE): 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals SJ Belangel (ADMU): 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists Winderlich Coyoca (NU): 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals John Lloyd Clemente (NU): 14 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists Inand Fornillos (UST): 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals  Key Storylines The UE Junior Warriors finally win one! The last time the UE Junior Warriors won a basketball game in the UAAP... Barack O...

SJ Belangel has established himself as one of the favorites for MVP. (Photo Credit: Joji Lapuz, Fabilioh) Results:  Ateneo Blue Eaglets def. UST Tiger Cubs 79-73 FEU Baby Tamaraws def. DLSZ Junior Archers 66 - 56  AdU Baby Falcons def. UPIS Junior Maroons 82-59 NU Bullpups def. UE Junior Warriors 104-54 Notable Performances: SJ Belangel (ADMU): 20 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals Kenji Roman (FEU): 8 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists Inand Fornillos (UST): 16 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists Juan Gomez de Liano (UPIS): 18 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists  Carl Tamayo (AdU): 14 points, 11 rebounds John Lloyd Clemente: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists Key Storylines The dominance of the Adamson Baby Falcons When I had ranked the Baby Falcons as my #1 team for the upcoming UAAP season, a number of pundits were surprised. After all, they didn't have any notable blue-chip names in the level of SJ Belangel and Juan GDL...