Rain or Shine Tames Powerade Tigers to take Game 1 of Semis Duel

I consider Rain or Shine to be the dark horse of this conference, especially with their rookie Paul Lee, as for Powerade they completely surprise me with their win over top seed B-Meg on the quarters.

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters took game 1 of their best of seven semifinal bout against Powerade Tigers 114-97.

As expected of Powerade after their moral boosting win over top seed B-Meg. They came out firing, led by their main man Gary David. Gary David already had 17 point in the first half leading his team to a 54-43 halftime lead.

But it was a different Rain or Shine in the second half, led by their rookie sensation Paul Lee and sharpshooting Jeff Chan. Rain or Shine exploded for 45 points in the 3rd quarter, and finishing with a whooping 71 points in the second half to take a 1-0 lead in the best of seven duel.

Rain or Shine was led by Jeff Chan with 27 points and rookie Paul Lee with 25 points (22 of those came in the 2nd half).

Gary David led Powerade Tigers with 30 points but sorely miss Lassiter's production who only scored 2 points the entire match.

Game 2 will be on Friday January 6, 2012.

Korea Defeated Smart Gilas Pilipinas 70-68 To Claim Bronze in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

It was a heart breaker and it came from a very familiar foe, Team Korea. I thought the game was on the bag last Sunday afternoon, with the Philippines leading most of the way leading to the final quarter. Then just seconds away a 3 pointer from a Korean player who has been struggling the whole game, poor free throw shooting, a block, the finale? a come from behind win from Korea 70-68 to claim the bronze medal in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship.

Moon Taejong who has been struggling since the China game, buried his only three pointer for the game with 47 seconds left on the game to give Korea the lead 67-65, Gilas has a chance to tie the game in Douthit free throw but he missed the second one but was able to grab the rebound only to be blocked by Moon. Still with the Korea leading by just a point 67-66, Kelly Williams was given 2 free throws on a foul by Oh, but misses both charities.

Smart Gilas still has a chance to tie the game with 9 second on a free throw by Lassiter, he sank the first one making it 69-68 but missed the second one, Douthit was able to grab the offensive rebound but turned the ball over. With Philippines down by one Casio fouled Cho, and sent him to the free throw line, Cho misses the first but sank the second one, giving Korea a 70-68 and the game.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over Syria 75-52 in the 2nd Round of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

It was a shacky start for Smart Gilas Philippines in the first half, having trailed Syria by 9 points 23-32 at halftime. Mainly due to the foul trouble of Douthit. Things were different in the second half, as the Philippines put on the pressure as it won 75-52 to end its 2nd round in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship.

With its win the Smart Gilas Pilipinas is 2nd in its bracket, the Philippines will now face Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals.

In a way, it was good that Smart Gilas Pilipinas were not able to show their usual form and true strength against Syria, with the Taiwanese - in full fource in the scouting gallery.

"I deliberately not put in that much Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams in the first half as I calculated some things. We missed lot of shots and it was good we're able to turn things around in the second half," said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

"And it's now the deciding games. We're looking forward to play Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals. We know it's not going to be easy but we're optimistic," Toroman also said.

The knockout quarterfinals are set on Friday.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over Jordan 72-64 in the 2nd Round of the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

The Philippines started the 2nd round on a good note, as it beat Jordan 72-64. It was nice to see Lassiter and Lutz finally having to play, there were still some controversy it was said that on Coach Chot Reyes Twitter

coachot Chot Reyes

RT @NoliEala Great news! Fiba has cleared Lassiter and Lutz to play. Letter already being transmitted to Fiba Asia and SBP. God bless Gilas.

The message was dated Sept 18. Then came a tweet just before the game that

coachot Chot Reyes

UNBELIEVABLE! This is why I'm so disillusioned about FIBA basketball. Ayaw na naman palaruin yung 2!

So I thought Lutz and Lassiter wont be playing the game, but to my surprise they did. As the first half of the game we saw the Jordan team leading the Philippines. It was a different story on the second half as Lassiter provided the spark with his timely three point bomb and Douthit flexing his muscle inside. Although there was moment on the game where Douthit went down it, I was concerned since Douthit is our only big presence down the middle.But came back a few minutes to help the team.

Philippines was led by Marcus Douthit with 19 points and Marcio Lassiter with 14 points. Jordan was led by Osama Daghles with 18 points and Rasheim Wright with 16 points.

Philippines Smart Gilas will face Team Japan tomorrow August 20, 2011.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas Won Over UAE 95-52 in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship

It was a great start for the Philippine team in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship at Wuhan Sports Centre, winning 95-52 over United Arab Emirates. Mac Barracael lead the team in scoring with 15 points. Although it was a big win for the team, what worried me is not having Lutz and Lassiter in the lineup.

Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz were ruled ineligible to play barely an hour before the tip-off of their game against the United Arab Emirates.

Talk and Text coach Chot Reyes broke the news on his Twitter account (@coachot)

"FIBA Commisioner just told me now that Lutz and Lassiter are ineligible. Only an advise from FIBA in Switzerland can make them play now," Reyes said.

Former Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) Executive Director Noli Eala said in his twitter account (@NoliEala) that "FIBA is invoking the wrong rule, Marcio (Lassiter) and Chris (Lutz) did not acquire citizenship by naturalization. They are natural born Filipinos by virtue of a Filipino parent."

Eala, who is also part of FIBA legal committee , has already advised the SBP on what to do next to salvage Lutz and Lassiter stint in FIBA-Asia.

Their eligibility was questioned by FIBA-Asia Deputy Secretary Hagop Khajirian, who is a Lebanese.

This is sad a bad news for our team, and if i not mistaken this guy Hagop has been in our country during a certain basketball event. Are they that threatened with our team? Lassiter anf Lutz have been playing for the team on several FIBA sanctioned games already and now they filed a petition for the two? this is plain BS. I just hope the two can get cleared and play the game against China.

Kobe Bryant, CP3 and other NBA Superstars vs PBA All Star and Smart Gilas

Wow, that's all I can say. I enjoyed watching online when Kobe went to visit Manila, and played briefly for the UAAP Selection against the Smart Gilas. It was a great to see such player of Bryant's caliber to play along side our college up coming stars and our countries representative Smart Gilas.

If that wasn't enough Kobe will come back on July 23 and 24, not by himself but together with several NBA stars like Hornet's Chris Paul, the King's Tyreke Evans, Thunder's James Harden.

Chot Reyes, the executive director of MVP Sports Foundation was the one who made the official announcement yesterday in a media conference inside the Big Dome, with him at the presscon were PBA Chairman Rene Pardo, Commisioner Chito Salud, and MVP Sports Foundation president Al Panlilio.

The PBA selection will be the first to play the NBA team on July 23 at 7pm and Smart Gilas on the next day at 1pm.

Tickets are at Php 5,500 for the patron, Php 3,800 for lower box, and Php 1,600 for the upper box section. General admission tickets are priced at Php 300.

For more info please visit the PBA website www.pba.com.ph

It's Ginebra Versus TNT in the PBA Commissioner's Final

Ginebra defeated Smart Gilas 92-85 last night to face early qualifier TNT. Lets talk first about Smart Gilas at the start of the tournament I was not in favor of letting Smart Gilas joining the conference, because for me it would not benefit the Smart Gilas team, but against Ginebra I have changed my mind. The physical play of Ginebra, the defense, and the way the fans of ginebra was in all out support of the Gins King was for me a very good experience for the national squad. I think with this experience I hope it would toughen up the Nationals to help them reach their goal in qualifying for the Olympics.

And now for the winner Ginebra, with their import struggling their locals showed up to play, especially Ronald Tubid, his 3's in the final quarter was a dagger in the hearts of the nationals, Tubid end up scoring 22 points to lead the Gin Kings, while Douthit in foul trouble in the second half lead the nationals with 25 points.

The best of 7 finals between TNT and Ginebra will be on Wednesday (April 27, 2011).

Smart Gilas Coach bares his wish list of 10 PBA players

Will this be enough? I ask myself, would adding PBA players disrupt the Gilas chemistry? Well Coach Rajko Toroman think otherwise, as he disclosed his wish list of 10 PBA players to reinforce the national basketball team vying for a ticket to the 2012 London Olympics at the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on September 15-25.

The 10 PBA players are Meralco's Asi Taulava, TNT's Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, Ryan Reyes and Ranidel de Ocampo, SMB's Arwind Santos and Jay Washington, B-MEG's James Yap and Alaska's SonnyThoss and Joe DeVance, of the 10 only five will be picked for the national squad.

RP Gilas team will compete in the 2011 Commissioner's Cup

With the Leave of Absence of the Barako Bull approved, this has now allowed the entry of RP Smart Gilas national team for the second conference 2011 Commissioner's Cup.

This will be part of the Smart Gilas preparation for the 2011 FIBA-Asia championship, a qualifying tournament for the 2012 London Olympics. With their entry, it completes a 10 team league for the import laden Cup, won for the last time by Red Bull in 2005.

Smart Gilas will play by the rules of the professional league and will only have 14 man in its line up. Gilas will be led by naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit.

With the leave of absence, all players of Barako Bull will be put on a dispersal draft to allow them to play for other teams. However, they will return to their mother club if the team sees action in the Governor's Cup.

I dunno if this will be a good thing for the Smart Gilas team, I would prefer them playing some International Games than rather playing in the PBA.

DOES A NON BEARING GAME BENEFIT SMART GILAS?

Does making games by Smart Gilas against PBA team a non bearing game benefit them? The PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios took into account the interest of the country in coming up with a crucial decision concerning the RP-Smart Gilas team’s participation in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup.

Given two options by the Board, Barrios decided to alter instead the arrangement of the nationals’ participation in the season-opening meet, rendering all their games – past and future – as no-bearing, instead of not allowing big man CJ Giles to see action in the team’s remaining games.

The commissioner bared the new set-up Thursday after hearing complaints from governors over the unpredictable playing minutes of the 6-foot-11 Giles, the observations from a former national coach and the remarks from players alike.

Governors immediately questioned the move by coach Rajko Toroman the following day, wondering why the Serbian mentor benched his intimidating inside force against the Tropang Texters, whose owner, Manny V. Pangilinan, is also the president of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas, the governing body for amateur basketball that bankrolls the RP Team.

I myself is having second thought of which is beneficial for the Smart Gilas, If they play a non bearing games, will PBA teams take the games seriously? will coaches bench their starters to protect them from being injured? Now if the games were not a non bearing one, PBA teams would take Smart Gilas seriously as what we have witness in their previous games, but the PBA also arrived at a common thought that since games before by Smart Gilas had effect on the win-loss standings of the PBA teams, the level of intensity against the Nationals have been at a level that results in physicality and ruggedness.

What do you think?? does it help Smart Gilas making games a non bearing one?

SHOULD JAPETH AGUILAR BE BANNED FROM THE PBA?

Japeth Aguilar the number 1 overall from this year PBA draft, refused to sign with Burger King. His decision prompted Burger King team manager and current PBA chairman Lito Alvarez to propose before the PBA board that Aguilar be banned from all PBA games.

Alaska team manager Joaqui Trillo, Alvarez's predecessor, said Aguilar broke PBA rules. He, however, did not specify which rules. “Burger King was shortchanged and that is not fair. The PBA has to stand for its rights and we will not allow anyone to make a mockery of its rules. Japeth will have to find a win-win situation. Otherwise, the PBA can do without him,” Trillo said. Aguilar is expected to face stiffer sanctions from the PBA, including a lifetime ban. The Philippine Cup kicks off on October 11 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Now is it right or is it possible to ban a player from playing in the PBA cause he did not sign with the team that drafted him? how about those other players who were pick by other team( especially those in the second round) and later was not signed by their team. Should the team be penalized for not signing the player they have picked? This case with Japeth is a familiar thing in the NBA most recent is Ricky Rubio case though lets not dwell deeper in that issue.

I myself don't know the reason why Japeth Aguilar didn't sign with Burger King, maybe he think he can gain more experience playing with Smart Gilas, or maybe he can become a much better player under coach Toroman. Or is it the recent FIBA Asia where he wasn't given the playing time by Yeng Guiao?

What do you think will be the right verdict for Japeth's case?

SMART GILAS DOWNED POWERADE TEAM PILIPINAS

Is is the future of Philippine basketball were seeing? Maybe.. But last night, the young ones prevailed over the grizzled veterans.

Smart Gilas defeated the Powerade Team Pilipinas by 98-69. Watching last nights game i never thought it would be this lopsided, but considering the Powerade team haven't even practice a session together and the absence of key players Kelly Williams, Mick Pinnisi, Arwind Santos and this year MVP Jayjay Helterbrand. I just hope that what Smart Gilas have shown last night would carry them to the next Olympics. Although it would be a tall order, a very tall one, since they would have to defeat powerhouse countries like Iran, China, Lebanon, Jordan and more.

But going back to last night game. Smart Gilas a team who is working together for quite sometime now played a notch higher than the hastily reassembled Powerade Team Pilipinas. The special event, organized by the SBP in cooperation with its principal stake holders and the Araneta Center management, drew over P2 million in gate receipts and cash donations by individuals, including SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan and Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero.

Japeth Aguilar led all scorers with 24 points with Mac Baracael contributing 10 points, Dylan Ababou nine and Mark Barroca and JV Casio eight apiece for Smart Gilas.

James Yap paced the PBA selection with 17 points on 8-of-19 field-goal shooting.