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...

Before the season started, people were already branding Season 79 to be the De La Salle University Championship Tour. There was some merit to that. After all, among all of the line-ups in the UAAP, La Salle had the only intact line-up aside from a UE team that has been struggling to make it to the Final Four. Plus, they have (arguably) the best player in the country right now in Ben Mbala, plus (arguably) the best local player in the UAAP right now in Jeron Teng. Who could stop these Green Archers? Just chalk up the championship for La Salle. It's a sure thing for them to win anyway. If anything, today's clash against the FEU Tamaraws taught us that the La Salle Green Archers are still a work in progress amidst their perceived dominance. The game started out with La Salle struggling to initiate their mayhem press. It wasn't a matter of FEU breaking the press, La Salle just couldn't implement it in the way that they did during the preseason, usual...

Photo Credit: Inquirer.net September 4, 2016 2:47 AM I was already sleeping at 1:30 AM dreaming of a bonfire in Katipunan. Beer would be flowing while the rest of the Blue Eagles would tirelessly sign autographs. Fans would celebrate and shout "ONE BIG FIGHT!!!" Then there I would be in the corner, documenting everything that was happening with a smile on my face.   One hour later, I wake up and realize that it was all just a dream.  I try to go back to sleep, but to no avail. It's weird. The girlfriend's sound asleep. The brother isn't snoring, and he smells rather good this time around. My alarm clocks are off, it is the weekend after all. So why can't I sleep? I listen a bit closer, and I start to hear the drums.  "ONE BIG FIGHT!" one side shouts. "Go USTe!!!" the other says.  Oh crap. It's that time of the year again. It's the UAAP season. Sleepless nights like these? It's going to be nothi...

It's 15 days to go before the UAAP starts, and the excitement for the tournament is slowly increasing as the tournament draws closer. Even though we've had multiple preseason tourneys and various tune-ups, there are still various questions that come out every time a team is mentioned. What are some of these questions which fans are hoping to be answered as soon as possible? Here are some of the questions: UST Growling Tigers: Will they surprise once again? Without Ferrer and Daquioag, all eyes are on Louie Vigil. (Photo Credit: Inquirer.net) No one expected UST to finish a game away from a championship last season. Considering their lack of depth and unproven coaching, there was no reason for fans to believe that they would have even made it to the Final Four. UST finds themselves in the same situation, albeit with different characters this time around. Instead of being led by Ed Daquioag, Kevin Ferrer and Karim Abdul, the Growling Tigers will be led by Kent La...