PBA: Deep Into The Second Season

We are on the brink of closing out the PBA's Commissioner's Cup, and I have to give it to Talk n Text. As hard as it is to say, they actually seem to be getting better. The statistics have speak for themselves. (And I have to give a shoutout to Solar TV's stats team. You finally showed something relevant, Boys!)

TNT is an impressive 9-0 when they hold opponents to below 90 points. Sure, that seems pretty straight forward in this day and age. Good professional teams should be able of scoring enough to get beyond 100. But this is crazy considering the pace that TNT Plays at. I'm not one of the great advanced stats people like the boys of patayangbutiki.net, but the sheer number of increase in possessions should kick up opponents scoring by even just a bit. So clearly, they are a disciplined and hardworking team on defense. That's a testament to their great system in place.

So aside from their system, what is the main reason why they've given Ginebra such a beating in this Finals series? And aside from that, why is it that Ginebra has seemingly dealt them so little damage as well. Two reasons - Ranidel de Ocampo & Paul Harris.

Ranidel de Ocampo was the unheralded member of the TNT roster coming into these playoffs. People were continually saying that he wasn't the same since his injury, and reintegrating him in an import-laced conference would be difficult. In the opposite direction, he has actually found a way to come back, improve his game and even complement their import. De Ocampo has once again shown signs of being a relatively unguardable player in the PBA, Dirk Nowitzki-esque - a great big with a sweet j, who can handle, pass and rebound. His ability to play in the open-court has spaced out the floor for Harris and given them that fast post option they couldn't get with Ali Peek. Ranidel gives TNT so many different "teams" to work with, and that's what has made them so difficult to guard for opponents.

Then, there's Paul Harris. The Texters import has fit the team perfectly. He's fast, long, athletic, smart, relentless and a smart basketball player. He knows their team is loaded with talent, so he doesn't have to shove his skills down their throat in order to succeed. He can do a lot of things well, and he suits that to complement their system, his teammates and his coach.. Perhaps, aside from the skills though, the leadership IQ of the person is clearly remarkable. His teammates are talented, so when he's asked, just just says "he's just doing his part of the job." And when asked about the Best Import Award (which should have been given to him), he said he's out there to win a championship and he's going to be able to do that best by boosting his teammates and how he thinks of them.

The versatilty and overall soundness of these two men's games has given them an edge in comparison to the dragsters over at Ginebra. Brumfield, Caguioa, Tubid, et.al. go at a quarter-mile in 10 seconds. Indeed, when they arrive, they are Fast and Furious. But when the going gets tough, the basket seems to shrink for them, and they can't play any other way. It's stop and have Brumfield or Caguioa create. Unlike their opponent, which can play fast, really fast, slow and deliberate, the Ginebra puzzle has apparently been solved by TNT.

So my vote, Ranidel de Ocampo for Local Finals MVP & Paul Harris for Finals MVP.

Back to Blogging: The PBA Expansion vs PBA D-League

As of yesterday evening, one of the most evenly matched and star-studded Philippine Cup Finals in recent memory is tied at 2-2. The San Miguel Beermen, led by Jay Washington and Arwind Santos, have won games 3 and 4, and look to get that penultimate win on Wednesday. Talk n Text will have to ride the shoulders of Ryan Reyes and Jared Dillinger to gun for the same advantage as well. These two teams were expected to be here, in the finals, tied, and they have not disappointed so far. What is more surprising though is that Olsen Racela and Danny Ildefonso are starting to taste like fine wine once again, and Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro are seemingly running out of nitro.






With this kind of series, one might say that the PBA is in a pretty good place right now. The product on court has not been disappointing. Even the semifinal series that had Barangay Ginebra and Derby Ace, were also good games that filled up stadiums and made people tune in at home. However, I feel that the PBA still has a problem with their product - especially when we begin looking at the teams at the bottom and the upcoming D-League initiative.



Teams such as Red Bull and Air21, in recent years have been seemingly selling players in lopsided deals. Rumors have it that the cash considerations lumped with trades are being used to simply operate the teams, forgetting about the quality of the team fielded in. While this situation is sad, it is also an undeniable true part of business. Sometimes you have to liquidate your assets to make sure your business survives. This, understandably leads to blow out games against the more financially and talent loaded teams like SMB, TNT, Ginebra, Derby Ace and Alaska.



This downgrade in the quality of games is why I question putting up a D-League in the first place. In the NBA, the D-League was made to keep young, developing talent at home in the US. We, on the other hand, don't have that problem. Our good players aren't being imported (except for the Asean League), so why put them in lesser competition when the top competiton is already lacking in participants. Putting up a D-League would provide more reasons for powerhouses to stockpile talent and weaker teams would once again have to make do with less. The PBA could probably still survive and look like a more competitive league if there were 12 competitive teams playing, not just 8 teams with 2 feeders.



Just to elaborate on the topic, let's take San Miguel Beer as an example. Their depth chart can be seen below:
PG: Cabagnot, Racela, Artadi, Miranda
SG: Hontiveros, Yeo, Salvacion
SF: Santos, Seigle, Tugade
PF: Washington, Ildefonso
C: Pena, Pennisi



Their 4th string PG, Denok Miranda was the starter on the Sta.Lucia team that won the Philippine Cup years ago. If they can afford to keep a starter-quality point guard sitting on the bench, then what's going to stop them from getting good players and hiding them in the D-League for situations such as next year when an older player retires. If the PBA D-League works the same way the NBDL does, they might see sister teams SMB, Ginebra & Derby Ace fielding a team that could be competitive in the PBA itself.



The PBA's games have been struggling for a good quality product when it's not the playoffs. Probably because of the fact that only 2 teams are eliminated at the end of the classification phase. Put 2 more teams in and teams will have to value each game more as more teams can steal spots away from them. Maybe then, we won't have to wait for the playoffs to see good PBA basketball.

PBA Quarterfinals: A Different Level of Drama

I had initially wanted to write this article a week ago when the PBA Quarterfinals just started. I was watching Game 2 of both series wherein both winning teams rallied from late double-digits deficits to snatch victory and take very big advantages in the respetive best-of-5 series. But a week later, here we are Game 5s that are not just simple Game 5s.

The Quarterfinals have been on a completely different level for me than the eliminations and even the wildcard phase. In the eliminations, we could see people probably going to court at possibly 75% at their hardest. Teams were lax and players were obviously avoiding injury, as it is their livelihood. In the wilcard phase, you could see that people were playing to get to their next paycheck. They were playing harder, but not displaying their complete repertoire. In the quarters though, underdogs are scrapping and favored teams are trying to overpower people with their size, depth and ability.

Even before the walkout last Friday, a lot of drama had already been going down.

1) Comebacks

No lead has been safe in this phase as all teams have threatened (and some, even won) after being down double-digits in the second half. A little too lax, and the other teams have been talented enough to burn and eat into leads.

2) Emerging Stars

Intal, Norwood, Mercado, Castro, Artadi - all of them have played beyond expectations as their starters have either been injured or are just in the some slump. All of these have picked up the levels of their games and made the games exciting with new stars being displayed.

3) Veteran Stability

People have been telling these guys that they are over-the-hill, but veteran smarts and savvy have not been lost on these games as the vets have more often than not bailed the young bucks with a crucial basket, play, stop or assist. Menk, Telan, Laure, Roger Yap, Alapag and the rest have been the backbones of their teams for years, and now are unmoveable in their being cornerstones of the franchises.

4) Injury Miracles

Caguioa, Helterbrand, Raymundo , Simon, De Guzman have all made comebacks from on-again, off-again injuries to add depth and quality minutes to their teams. Every team seems to be 1-10 strong again, and if one piece doesn't seem to work, then another gets immediately subbed into that slot.

And then there was the walk-out...

Like most people, I really don't like walkouts. My stand is you always try to win it on the court. If you feel like the refs are cheating you, there's always a way to win still. If they don't call fouls for you, you just bull rush people to the hoop until the refs have to give up slanting calls as it will cost them their jobs. If they keep on calling fouls on you, foul hard. Make the opponents pay for those 2 free throw they thought they'd get easily. Now, I'm not encouraging dirty play, but if it's necessary to have to go through that route, then what choice do you have?

It's a given that the commissioner's office will not side with the team. That's just a fact. The PBA will not admit that their referees are slanted if only to protect the name of the league. We all know that corruption exists in the league and the refs are probably the biggest targets of it. If the PBA admits the ref's errors, they might as well throw away their credibility as a league since they cannot control their own employees. Doing so would just be plain suicide.

So, I'm hoping that Talk n Text plays Game 5. I hope they play hard and cram it down other people's throats so as to prove that aren't crybabies. The same way, I hope Ginebra comes out with a chip on their shoulders to prove that they did not need that gimme win. Same thing goes for Purefoods and Rain or Shine, prove that thye deserve to move on to the semis, that they belong in the quarters and that they really should be in the PBA at all.

Battle at the Bottom - The PBA Wild Card

The PBA regular season for the All-Filipino Conference is winding down with all teams basically having just one or two games left on their schedules. The race up top between San Miguel, Alaska and Ginebra is exciting but rather immaterial at this point as we are sure to see more of them already. Same thing with Talk n Text and Sta. Lucia, they might not be in contention for the outright semifinal slots, but being safe in the quarterfinals is much, much better than the plight which I am about to discuss.

The Battle at the Bottom of the PBA standings has four teams, all struggling to survive, knowing that even if they were to get through this ordeal, the next one will be much tougher to get through. Let's go through each team's chances, and maybe we can find a way to sort this out.

Burger King Whopper (5-11) - Ginebra, Alaska

Burger King is probably in the best spot among the four teams as they have 5 wins already, 2 games left and they beat the current bottom team, Barako Bull in both their meetings this season. Now, with their wild card bid already set, it's best to look at their possible competition. They're 1-1 against Coke, 2-0 against RoS in close games and 2-0 against Barako Bull in blow outs. It's not hard to guess who they'd like to face in the wild card round.

Of course, with the recent trade of Alax Cabagnot and Wesley Gonzales into their roster, they don't have the same team that won all those games. So, chemistry might be an issue and nothing is really safe even if they seem to been the best among the worst.


Coca-Cola Tigers (5-12) - Barako Bull

Coke is in a rather interesting bind. They have 5 wins, but they have one more game against bottom-placer Barako Bull. Worse, Barako Bull can tie their record and in their first round meeting, they lost to the Energy Boosters. Based on just the math, they too are almost sure-in for the wild card phase, but they can ensure their fate by winning their remaining game and putting Barako Bull away. As for their record against RoS, they're 1-1, so that should be an interesting battle.

Similar to Burger King, Coke too has to figure out how to deal with the trade. Why they did it this late in the season, I honestly do not understand. Chemistry and knowing your teammates is a very big thing during pressure-packed situations. Luckily for them, the trade came with a pressure player in Gary David, so they might be the winners of the trade.


Rain or Shine Elastopainters (4-13) - Alaska

Honestly, the faces of these two guys say everything about the Elastopainters' season. They don't know what is going on and how to deal with it. Early in the season, they are the first ones to defeat then undefeated Alaska, but they never get anything going. One win and done. The team's starters are loaded with talent in Norwood, Mercado, Reyes and Telan, but they can't seem to gel.

Unfortunately for them, they have to go against Alaska, a team with something to lose, on their last game. Alaska will be looking for a semifinal slot and revenge on Rain or Shine, and that doesn't help their cause. Good thing for them is that they blew out Barako Bull in their win against them, which might help if quotients are factored in.


Barako Bull Energy Boosters (3-13) - Sta. Lucia, Coca-Cola

Barako Bull was almost dead and gone last week, but they surprised Talk n Text. So, now, everything is still up in the air even though the numbers are against them. What's fortunate for Barako is that they still have 2 games to hike up their wins. If they can get to 5, they're in as they beat Coke twice. If they only win once, they leave everything in the hands of Rain or Shine.

Regardless, Barako is still the most likely team to be eliminated early. They have no clear leader and no clear star. They win when two or three players have almost perfect games - take note 2 or 3. They have to be that lucky against teams to win. Fortunately for them, Sta. Lucia is already in the quarters with no chance of the semis, so they might get to see a lot of the Realtors second unit.

There we go... A lot of interesting games left in the regular season before the hectic playoffs begin... Let's hope the teams deliver interesting basketball so that fans will come in during the playoffs.

Tainted Basketball - Is the PBA Really Behind Smart Gilas?

Basketball in the Philippines, as much as we hate to admit it, isn't pure. Just by the sheer number of people carrying interest in it, it would not be surprising that some would try to capitalize on the sport. There's game-fixing, commercialization, governing-body politics, spurned egos and much excess baggage that's tainting the "love for the game" which is so great when one is young.

What drove me to write this is actually something that I had just chanced upon in doing research for another post that I was about to write. I was supposed to write something about how the recent Smart Gilas success comes strangely at a time when they are dealing with a number of things on their plate. Not to take away anything from them, but it seems to be more than just a coincidence.

Here's an outtake from what I was intending to write:


Honestly, as a kid, what made me love Philippine basketball was the PBA, more specifically the San Miguel franchise. I was born in 1986, coincidentally the year San Miguel won the Grand Slam. Growing up, I idolized the man whom the Chinese called was "walking on air" - Samboy Lim. There was something about the athleticism and skill of the guy, the high socks and the brush of the hair before taking a free throw that was just mythical for a kid. I grew up idolozing the guy, wanting to wear the number 9 and wishing that I too could be a skywalker.

Sorry, to the Star Wars geeks out there, but Samboy was way cooler than Luke.

The San Miguel franchise was just awesome to me, and it saddened me that they sold out in their game against Smart Gilas. Not to take anything away from Gilas who played a great game, but I think SMB sold out by protecting their corporate interests over national ones. Somebody please explain to me how, 8 points down and 6 minutes to go, Eman and Calaguio are in the game's final minutes instead of Santos, Hontiveros, Miranda or Pena. The game was still win-able for San Miguel, but the starters were pulled out and Gilas was not tested. They weren't tested by the pro team who could have placed them in a very unique situation - late in the 4th and with the lead, but without your import and against a hot, veteran team pushing and pressing you, hoping that you quit.

That should be a very important scenario to the national program when we have to face off against Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, Korea and other Asian powers - all winning, veteran teams who will push, pressure and are relentless. It could have been a real learning experience, but it wasn't.


I was supposed to write the peace above in greater detail, present some numbers that would help me drive my point. During the TV coverage, they kept on harping about how impressive Chris Tiu's game was. He supposedly scored 24 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 11 assists. Now, I know all the Tiu fans are going to hate me, but Chris isn't that good yet, especially playing against Hontiveros, Cortez, Racela, Tugade, Santos, et al. He shouldn't be able to put those numbers up, and I checked the PBA's official website to get the real statistics from the game. But lo and behold, they weren't there. I checked the other Gilas games since the decision to render the games as "no bearing" and no stats either. This seemed a bit off to me, especially since 3 of those 4 games have been Gilas wins.

Giving the benefit of the doubt, I just thought that maybe it was the National Program's way of keeping the Gilas team a secret to surprise other countries. (Something completely irrational since other countries will scout us wherever the hell we may try to hide.) So, I checked the rest of the PBA's site, and there is very little mention of Gilas, except for results, the schedule and some photos. For me, there just seems to be something very wrong about that.

If the PBA, as it says, is completely behind the National program, shouldn't it help in helping them improve basketball-wise and making people believe in the Gilas Team?

Gilas entered into the PBA tourney to get better on-court and get more people's attention to support and drum up some excitement about the team. The team was supposed to grow up in front of our eyes like some telenovela and then lay it all out in battle during international competitions. However, I honestly believe now that the PBA (no longer just individual teams) as a whole is protecting it's interest as a professional league more than the national purpose. Sad to say it, but as I mentioned at the beginning. tainted basketball isn't surprising in the Philippines/

I think that the following pieces of evidence lead me to believe that PBA support to Gilas is half-assed:

1) The PBA nullifies all games played by Gilas.
2) They protect Arboleda roughing up Gilas, which eventually led to the mayhem with the fan. (Not to mention, Arboleda was only penalized was attacking the fan, but never his on-court actions more than 2 unsportmanlike fouls).
3) They chose not to control their teams, and allowed their teams to waive the white flag early to protect their players.
4) They do not make the public aware of the Gilas team's achievements since it comes at their expense. by news and statistics.
5) They continue to separate themselves from the concerted effort by focusing more on the entertainment rather than the basketball.

It seems to be that the PBA is becoming selfish with their resources. They have the best competition the country can supposedly offer, and yet they do not provide it to the team every night. They are trying to protect the brand from being upstaged by Gilas just because "they're the pros." In short, they really aren't fully behind Gilas after all.

To quote some lines from the Panatang Makabayan, hindi ba dapat

Ako'y kanyang kinukupkop at tinutulungan upang maging malakas, maliaya ay kapaki-pakinabang...

Tutuparin ko ang mga tungkulin bilang mamamayan...

Paglilingkuran ko ang aking bayan nang walang pag-iimbot at buong katapatan...

Sisikapin kong maging isang tunay na Pilipino sa isip, sa salita at sa gawa...

Saturday Night Bites

> Johnny A is playing again. C'mon Ginebra, c'mon PBA. You have good young players. Make them improve in practice and give them the minutes on-court instead of an over-the-hill veteran. Philippine basketball needs to move to the future. Hey, even Allen Iverson now has to sit.

> Smart Gilas won its first game in the PBA. Could it be a coincidence that it happens right after the league renders these games as no-bearing? Ok, maybe it's too soon to think of a conspiracy. After all, Coke isn't really that good anyway.

> Glen "Big Baby" Davis want to be an NFL player. I say bolt the NBA already, man. It doesn't need another big ego with too little talent to back it up, not to mention too little brains as well. Get your thumb fixed and realized that you only made that game-winner last year because they intentionally left you open. Thumbs up?

> Michael Jordan's son costs his entire university a sponsorship for breaching a contract with Adidas. I pity the guy. First, he can't play basketball without being compared to his dad. Second, he just stays loyal to his family by wearing his dad's shoes. Then, he becomes the bane of all the other athletes in his school. Damn, that sucks...

> A player from the Singapore Slingers gets into a staredown with Jerwin Gaco after Gaco steals the ball from him in an ABL game this afternoon. He obviously does not know who Gaco is and the beating he could give him on-court if he gets pissed.

PBA Getting Selfish

It's been recently released that the PBA will no longer count games against the Smart Gilas National Team against all the PBA teams' records. This means that all games with Gilas will purely be exhibition and for seasoning.

I think this is a bad idea... And I believe that the PBA is getting selfish in doing so. Why?

1) Pro teams will hold back their starters against Gilas since the games no longer matter.

Let's face it. Once you get to the pros, basketball becomes a business and you logically decrease the risk in your assets (players). So, teams will hold back on fielding their best players in the game. They'll just put them in long enough to ensure the win and then, it's bench mob time. Naturally, less minutes on-court means less time for injuries. The exposure to second- and third-stringers is no push-over task still for the Gilas boys, but the progress they will gain will be significantly decreased. Thus, those minutes are lost opportunities for Gilas to get better.

2) The PBA would like to lessen untoward incidents between their players during Gilas games.

This is the PBA's way of becoming preventive, I would guess after the Arboleda incident. What I say is let them play it out and exert their own discipline. Yes, PBA players having chips on their shoulders, roughing up the Gilas boys might be temptations for suspensions, but they are already professionals. It's part of their job to stay under control or else face the necessary sanctions. Let them learn their own discipline.

Also, the international game is filled with physical play. Being unused to this is what did in Philippine teams of old and even the United States years before thier Redeem Team program. Let the Gilas boys be roughed up and let them learn that they have to push back. Maybe this is only when the team would start gaining a swagger and confidence that's needed in the international game.

Bottom line, I know that the PBA is running a business, but to get back to our status as an Asian basketball power, we all need to pay our dues as a country. Being the best league in the country, I hope that the PBA starts seeing that they should be leading the way. Their players might no longer comprise the team, but the "kanya-kanya" attitude does not help at all. We're all just under one flag, one nation...

The UAAP Invades the ABL

Last Sunday, the Philippine Patriots won 74 - 61 against the Thailand Tigers at the Ynares Center in Pasig City. As usual, the contributions of the Philippine locals brutally outmatched their Thai counterparts as the imports virtually cancelled each other out.

Perhaps, more important than the final score (which expected that the Patriots would win) was the debut of three of the UAAP's biggest stars in the Philippine Patriots' line-up. Nonoy Baclao (Ateneo), Elmer Espiritu (UE) and Val Acuna (UE) all debut as new additions to Louie Alas' line-up. I am not sure if this meant that Hafer Mondragon, Mark Andaya and Christian Coronel (who started last time) are off the team, but it definitely gives the team an upgrade defensively and more importantly, star power.

Louie Alas, as proven by his Letran teams year after year, is probably one of the toughest defensive coaches in the country. His teams come to battle every game are not afraid to carry scars from the fight. This is why we probably see that in the Patriots' wins, the defense has been great, whether it be in the half-court or full-court. Even in their loss, they poured it on with their full-court trap which put even Al Vergara fits. This is why I am not surprised that Alas jumped at getting the three UAAP gems. Baclao and Espiritu are known for their highlight stoppages of many who dare drive the lane, being awarded the last 2 seasons' Defensive Player of the Year respectively. Acuna, on the other hand, is an underrated defender with speed to handle guards and length to handle bigs. On the defensive end, these 3 contributed immediately and will be a great asset as the season comes along.

However, I think that more than their defense these people provide the Star Power that the Patriots so direly need. If you've seen the league, small venues are not even half-filled and this is because there are no stars so far, only imports who are fed the ball because of their athletic gifts. With Baclao, Espiritu Acuna and Khasim Mirza, the team now hopes to gain the following of other UAAP schools and other hoops followers, possibly even sponsors. Let's see if there's any difference in the team's next game on Sunday at the San Juan Arena.

In relation to this, I sure would hope that the ABL would coordinate with the PBA on their playing schedule. We are a basketball crazy country and we'd like to root for anything Philippine basketball-related as much as we could, but the ABL plays every Sunday at 4:00 PM, going head-on against the PBA's first game. I think that the ABL has to be realistic in that they cannot battle the PBA's popularity and star power, so I would wish that they just play on Saturdays when there is only 1 PBA game. TV ratings wouldn't have to cannibalize each other and gate sales as well.

Also, I think that the Patriots did not get very good imports. Powell, being straight-out of college is still very immature, not to mention playing out of position, and Dixon seems to be out of shape. I'm honestly glad that they are not completely dominant imports as the locals can contribute significantly, but they would be 3-0 if they got better imports.

Anyway, thats the buzzer for this entry...

Where in the PBA is...?

After a week of PBA action, we've seen all teams in action already. There have already been some surprises like San Miguel being winless, Red Bull winning it's first game and (sadly) the biggest headline of them all Wynne Arboleda of Burger King being suspended for the rest of the season (more on this later)... But perhaps, the first surprise we all encountered was "(Player Name) is already with (Team Name)?!?"

Yes, the has been a huge amount of player movement during the off-season, some of which we did not even hear about in the broadsheets. (Sort of makes you wonder why the professional league of the country doesn't get much press. Haha) Nevertheless, this entry is dedicated to helping you, the fan, find out the new faces in the 10 teams in this year's PBA season. For all teams, I've also placed their current records and where their new players came from. Now, alphabetically...

1. Alaska Aces (2-0)
Mike Burtscher (Bacchus)

2. Barako Bull Energy Boosters (1-1)
Bryan Faundo (Letran)
Bruce Viray (San Sebastian)
Ben Fernandez (FEU)
Ogie Menor (San Beda)
Aris Dimaunahan (Burger King)
Chad Alonzo (Harbour Center)
Yousif Aljamal (Talk n Text)
Orlando Doroya (Arellano)
Paolo Hubalde (San Miguel)
Donbel Belano (Talk n Text)
Alex Crisano (Ginebra)
Gilbert Lao (Talk n Text)

3. Ginebra Gin Kings (2-0)
Celino Cruz (Purefoods)
Kevin White (PBL)
Enrico Villanueva (Purefoods)
Rich Alvarez (Purefoods)

4. Burger King Whoppers (1-1)
Ronjay Buenafe (Coke)
Ronnie Matias (PBL)
Carlo Sharma (Red Bull)
Richard Yee (Purefoods)

5. Coca-Cola Tigers (0-2)
Chris Ross (PBL)
Ken Bono (San Miguel)
Marvin Cruz (Burger King)
Dennis Espino (Sta. Lucia)
Larry Rodriguez (Red Bull)
Wesley Gonzales (San Miguel)
Norman Gonzales (Sta. Lucia)

6. Purefoods Giants (1-1)
Rico Maierhoffer (La Salle)
Rafi Reavis (Ginebra)
Paul Artadi (Ginebra)
Jonathan Fernandez (Harbour Center)
Marc Pingris (San Miguel)
Chris Timberlake (PBL)

7. Rain or Shine Elastopainters (0-1)
Jeffrei Chan (Red Bull)
Marcy Arellano (UE)
Jervy Cruz (UST)
Mark Telan (Coke)
Mike Hrabak (Red Bull)

8. San Miguel Beermen (0-2)
Arwind Santos (Burger King)
Dennis Miranda (Sta. Lucia)

9. Sta. Lucia Realtors (1-0)
Ardy Larong (Alaska Aces)
Joshua Urbiztondo (PBL)
Gabby Espinas (Red Bull)
Chito Jaime (PBL)
Jason Misolas (Coke)
Charles Waters (PBL)
Chris Pacana (Ginebra)
Mark Benitez (La Salle)

10. Talk n Text Tropang Texters (1-0)
Nic Belasco (Coke)
Mark Isip (Sta. Lucia)


With all the common shareholders in the teams (Ginebra-San Miguel-Purefoods and Burger King-Talk n Text), you would think trading would be more difficult if the non-sister teams would strangle the teams for better pieces for being third parties, but Red Bull, with it's limited budget, has become the Memphis Grizzlies of the PBA and they have taken all offers it seems.

Contrary to what was expected though, teams which stayed almost intact or did not have lots of new faces have actually been the ones that have succeeded so far - Alaska and Talk n Text. Naturally, team chemistry and familiarity is becoming an issue as of the moment. Maybe the other teams will round into shape come the latter portions of the tournament. However, I still predict that these 2 teams will probably get the semis incentives after the eliminations and prove thar solid teamwork can beat a band of mercenaries.

--------------------

In related news, Burger King will be short one point guard as Wynne Arboleda has been suspended for the season, losing close to Php 3 million in salaries and fines. He will not be allowed to participate in any games, practices and other leagues. This somewhat resembles the Malace at the Palace NBA suspension of Ron Artest.

This kind of surprised me, but then again, with the PBA trying to get credibility back as a top league in Asia, it was a right decision. The PBA is not a place for 6-foot and above bullies to bare down on simple fans. To the PBA fan though, hurl all the insults you want at the players, but please stay away from their families (like in the Marlou Aquino incident). You deserve your rights as a paying patron, but you have to know your limits just as much as the players do.

Tip Off

First entry time... So why 40 minutes of freedom?

For those non-basketball fans out there, 40 minutes is the regulation length of an amateur basketball game. If you've heard of FIBA rules, that's it!

So if you haven't figured out by now, this will be a basketball blog (most of the time). But I will post and link up anything that I feel is worth noticing. You might see some videos, some scouting reports, etc. I'll try to keep the rumors to a minimum though so that this would have some credibility. Hehe

Anyway, I'll probably skip the UAAP since it's done, and everybody's written about it already. If there's something I hear for the Philippine Collegiate Championships though, I'll drop something about the UAAP and NCAA schools without hesitation. Watch out for my PBA predictions and news while we're all waiting for the NBA to kick-of again. I'll also try to look into the ABL (ASEAN Basketball League) and give you a heads-up on what's going on there.

Now, time for tip-off!