Sunday, October 16, 2011

Two straight for the BOLTS

PBA on Tour: Meralco Bolts go head-to-head with B-Meg Llamados
Momentum Swing
After losing their first game with Talk 'N Text and losing Mac Cardona with injury, Meralco Bolts rode the bull and went to the opposite direction. They won their last two assignments including B-Meg and they played it pretty strong especially in the end.

Their match up with the Llamados was exciting from tip off up to the final buzzer.

Chico Lanete was on fire in their game. He scored a team high 24 points with 9 assists and 3 steals, almost a double-double performance for the veteran guard. The front line combination of Mark Isip and Asi Taulava had success in the paint while Mark Borboran, a late but very significant addition in the line-up of Bolts was one of the finishers of this game.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Full charged Texters stop Elasto Painters; Barako's Rookie Night

PBA's double header last Friday, October 14 went exciting because of the explosion of unexpected players. 
HE "Carey" US
The ever hardworking Harvey Carey lift TNT to its 2nd straight win of the Conference and dropped Rain or Shine to 2 and 1 and gave their first lost. 

It was the 28 points and 14 rebounds of Carey that carried TNT to another win, with the help from Ryan Reyes and "The Blur" Jayson Castro. The small runs of Talk 'N Text kept them ahead in most part of the game. Castro also had a double-double performance with 18 points and 10 assists, he anchored the Tropang Texters while their primary leader Jimmy Alapag still out with injury. Reyes, Fonacier and Dilinger added a combined 43 points to boost the lead of TNT and never looked back.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

PBA: Bolts and B-Meg 1st Win!

Gabi Espinas and the rest of the
Bolts defend the basket
(Image by the PBA/Nuki Sabio)
BOLTS 1st ELECTRIFYING WIN
In the first game of PBA double header yesterday Merlaco Bolts clinched their first win of the conference after an 18-point lost against the Tropang Texters.

Though they were undermanned, Cardona suffer from a severe sprained ankle in their first game, Sol Mercado suited up yesterday but Coach Gregorio decided to seat him down, Reynel Hugnatan and Chris Ross also nursing injuries, but they were able to grabbed their first win against the slowly clicking Shopinas.com Clickers, 79-72.

It was Asi Taulava's effort that led his team to a win. The ageless wonder Taulava scored a crucial fall away basket when the team needed it the most. He got help from his teammates Macapagal, Espinas and Isip who scored 41 combined points.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Domino effect of NBA lockout

MOST AFFECTED
With NBA cancelling their first 2 weeks of the season and this will cost a lot for certain players not to mentioned all the fans that already have their seats, employees and businesses around the cities

The small-market cities of NBA will suffer more like Salt Lake City of Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma of Kevin Durant, compare to those who have medium to big markets. NBA owners will lose an average of $1 million every cancelled game while the players will lose about $350 million per month and here are the most affected players for this season's lockout.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Azkals with a Great Win!

After a disappointing "friendly"game against Singapore last friday, Azkals sharpened their dogtooth and victimized Nepal.

THE YOUNGHUSBANDS CONNECTION!
Phil and James Younghusband combined for 3 big Goals in their game versus Nepal plus a finishing goal of Matthew Hartmann.

Lee-thal Rain or Shine; New Alaska?

"Lee-thal Weapon" Paul Lee
drive to the basket
(Image by the PBA/Nuki Sabio)
Riding the Momentum
From their last win against the Ginebra Kings, Rain or Shine carried their winning momentum against their next opponent, Powerade Tigers who were also coming from a win against the new Shopinas Clickers.

Before the game started, Marcio Lassiter said that, he will shut down "The Lee-thal Weapon" Paul Lee. Can he do that?

In the first quarter the Elasto Painters still started the game with out Paul Lee. It was a slow start for both teams, Gabe Norwood made a nice up and under to score their first points of the game. Quinahan also made a strong start and they made a short spurt to have a 12-6 lead but Gary David made a 3-point shot to stop the run of the Rain or Shine. Unfortunately for the Powerade Tigers, the stopper of Paul Lee, Marcio Lassiter was stopped with 2 early fouls in the first quarter. Despite Lassiter was slowed down with fouls, the Tigers made their own run and had a 4 point lead, 17-13. Lee entered the game in the 3-minute mark of the quarter and suddenly the complexion of the game changed and he scored 6 points as soon as he stepped on the hardcourt. That tied the game and ended the quarter at 21 a piece.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Helterbrand retiring?

Jayjay Helterbrand
(Image by the PBA)
NO MORE "FAST"?
Will it be the break up of the long time back court tandem of The Fast and the Furious?

There are speculations that Jayjay Helterbrand will retire after this conference.

Ginerba is already using their young back courts like, Rob Labagala, John Wilson and maybe next time, Jimbo Aquino.

UFC 136 Ends with Clear Closure

And still...
Frankie Edgar proved me wrong when I stated that there will be a "NEW" Lightweight Champion and he "Answer"ed me with a very convincing win.

Edgar weathered the storm in the first round when Gray "The Bully" Maynard bullied him and threw a barrage of punches including a knee buckling upper cut and right there everyone thought that it was all over.

5_medium
BUT... the resilient champ survived the attack of Maynard and made his way back and brought his self into the fight again in the following rounds. Edgar moved like there's nothing happened in the first round. He made good combinations that rattled Maynard and in the fourth round...

Saturday, October 8, 2011

UFL 2011-2012 season

Image by the UFL Cup
Tomorrow will be the start of a new journey for the Football Cup. With a better awareness of Filipino Fans it the sport of Football this is no doubt will be a success. Now that Azkals is really in the middle of any sports conversation this will be exciting to watch out.

But before we get so excited about it, our favorite Azkals will not be in one team in this tourney. (Oh! No!) Don't be to worried, this will be more exciting because the talents of the Azkals will be seen not just in one game, because...

Blaze Boosters in solo lead; TNT crushed Meralco Bolts

Alex Cabagnot spins away
from Wynne Arboleda
(Image by the PBA)
2 and 0
Friday game day for the PBA. In the first game of a double header, Petron Blaze Boosters met the returning Barako Bull Energy. It was the highly anticipated return of the "Thriller" Willie Miller but the Blazing Petron denied his explosion to sealed their second win of the Conference.

Barako Bull made the first point, both team exchanged baskets in the early part of the first quarter but after that Petron created an early 5-0 run and gave them a 5-point lead 11-6. Barakos retaliate with Salvador, he scored 6 quality points to kept them in step with the Blaze Boosters. While Miller struggled in the start of the game, he made his first 2 points in the 4:30 mark of the first quarter but that points brought the lead of Petron down to 2 points, 14-12. It was a tight and physical first 12 minutes of the game and it ended with a low scoring ball game, 20-26 in favor of Boosters.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Tony Parker will play for $2,000?

Tony Parker
Image by the NBA
PLAY FOR US "TP"!
During the NBA lockout, San Antonio Spurs' premier guard Tony Parker will play for a ball club in France. It's not as surprising as it looks because we all know that there are players going overseas to compensate their absence in the hard wood.

What surprising though is All -Star and 2007 Finals MVP Tony Parker will play for just $2,000 per month!? Yes! you read it right, it is just $2,000! Oh! My apology, my numbers were wrong, let me correct it, it is merely $1,995 per month. Even more surprising, right?! Parker told to an interview that he will play almost for free.

ASVEL a team in southeast of France will be the team of Tony Parker which he had a 20% stake. (Now, we understand why.) Parker is the Vice President of the ball club and he wants to help the team to advance in the league and he said that if he will play for the whole season, they'll go for the title.

This is a sort of a "love of the game" situation for Parker, because compare to the $12.5 million that he will make this year with Spurs he will still play for just, $1,995, well it is his team anyway. He wants to help his team, who could blame him?

Nevertheless, Parker is a basketball player and he will do what he wants to do and that is play the game he loved, Basketball.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Debut Day in the PBA: First game of the Clickers and First game of Tim Cone as the new Head Coach of Llamados

SHOPINAS DEBUT
As the newest team in the PBA, Shopinas.com Clickers made their debut game against the re-building Powerade Tigers. It may look to be a blow out game in the start but it turn out as a tough competitive game.

As the game started, Clickers showed an early aggressiveness but Powerade slowed them down and Gary David show begin. Explosive start for David in their first game of the season, he scored 12 points in the first quarter alone. Shopinas aggressiveness was gone in the middle of the first quarter when Shopinas main man Ritualo sits down and Powerade used their 2-3 Zone Defense to force the Clickers in low percentage shots. Tigers took that opportunity to run. Powerade ended the first 12 minutes of the game with a big 21-point lead, 37-16.

UFC 136: Two Titles on the Line

Image from MMAmania
The TRILOGY of Edgar vs. Maynard will happen this coming October 8 and the first attempt of Florian to get the featherweight title from Jose Aldo. Who will WIN?

This will be the first time that UFC will have two title fights in one pay-per-view. World Lightweight and World Featherweight Titles will be on the line at the same time for the very first time in UFC history.

Let's go to the history of the four fighters.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

AZKLAS' REDEMPTION

When you need a GOAL who you gonna call? It's CHIEFFY!
All over again Chieffy saved the day for the Azkals.

In the first half of their last game in the Long Teng Cup, Azkals aggressively attacked the defense of team Macau. Ian Araneta had his chance to score the first point of the game in 27th minute of the first half but it was saved the goal keeper of Macau.

Another chance for Mark Hartmann but again a missed opportunity in the first half. After 45 minutes of action Azkals and Macau tied at 0 and 0.

Kobe out or stay?

Where is Kobe going?
An Italian team is still working to get the Lakers prime time player Kobe Bryant. The Virtus Bologna is making a double time effort to get Kobe play for their team. A 10-game deal worth about a little over $3 million during the NBA lockout. Agent Rob Pelinka and Bologna President Claudio Sabatini may have reach an agreement but they are paying so much attention to the smallest details of the deal for the benefit of both sides.

Monday, October 3, 2011

PBA Opening Game decided in the last second

JUST 1 POINT!
In the first game of the Season Brgy. Ginebra Kings met the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and it was a certified thriller! Unfortunately for Ginebra fans, Elasto Painters won the game by just 1 point, 93-94.

In the first quarter of the game, it was no surprise that Co-Head Coach Siot Tanquincen and Jong Uichico started the game with a 3-guard line up but NO Mark Caguioa in the starting five. It was quite obvious that Gin Kings lacked big men in their line up and it was exposed in their game. Nevertheless, Ginebra started the game with a blast, an 11-2 run in the early minutes of the first quarter and established their biggest lead of the game at 7 points.

PBA OPENER: A Thriller! with Hall Famers

Image by the Philippine Basketball Association




The opening ceremony of our PBA is simply impressive.

PBA presented a new theme "San ka? PBA Kampihan na!". The new season of PBA seemed to be more promising and exciting because of the new combinations of players in different teams and the addition of a new team.

Everything went smoothly in the opening of the PBA yesterday, October 2 (Sunday).
The highlight of the ceremony was the parade of the Players and their Muses plus the Induction of 2011 Hall Fame Class led by the "Black Superman" Billy Ray Bates and  "Captain Lionheart" Alvin Patrimonio.

AZKALS: Another Draw?

BLURRED SIGHT FOR THE FIRST TITLE?
Azkals met the Host of the Long Teng Cup Chinese Taipei, yestreday (October 2) for their second match in the tourney, and it ended where it started, 0 and 0.

It was a long hard fought game. 90+3 minutes was the total time they played the game and unfortunately for the Philippine Team they ended again the game in a draw.

Last year's match of Azkals and Taipei in the Long Teng Cup (October 10, 2010) also ended in a draw. Taipei made their point in the first half of last year's game and Ian Araneta made a goal in the extended minutes of the game to tied it at 1-1.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

UAAP Four-Peat History: Four Teams with Four-Peat

Only Four Teams have 'Four-Peat'
in UAAP History
UE Red Warriors
Image by the UAAP Sports
University of the East (U.E.) Red Warriors
Championship run
(1969-70, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75)
This was led by the legendary coach Baby Dalupan and 'The Living Legend' Robert Jaworski

This Four-Peat run of UE was made before the teams of UAAP was cut to 8 teams, it was in 1987 when the 8-team format started. In fact UE Red Warriors had the most number of consecutive championship with 7 straight titles and also the most number of Finals appearance with 16 straight season from 1957 to 1972.

Red Warriors and UST have the same number of UAAP men's basketball championships with 18, the second most wins in UAAP history behind the 19 titles of FEU.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Ateneo's Four-Peat

Image by the UAAP Sports
Not just 1, not just 2, and not just 3...
It's Four-Peat for the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
For four straight years Ateneo Blue Eagles reign as the UAAP Champion. They finished the series in front of 18,817 fans with a sweep, 2-0 against the raging FEU Tamaraws. Blue Eagles ended Game 2 with a blow again, 82-69. It's true that for the Blue Eagles it's really a ONE BIG FIGHT!

Coach Bert Flores made a surprise in the start of Game 2 by putting Bringas and Knuttle in the starting five. It was a fiery and aggressive start for the Tams. Ramos scored the first 7 points of the Tamaraws, they attacked the basket and got fouled, they made 8 of 8 in the free throw line but the Blue Eagles never backed down to the challenge of the Tams. Blue Eagles fought the same aggressiveness level that Tams showed in the start and they forced the Tams to enter in the penalty as early as 5:37 in the first quarter. Eagles maximized the opportunity by scoring 7 of 10 in the line, and they made a short scoring spurt in the last seconds of the first quarter and end the first 10 minutes with a 5 point lead, 23-18.

Azkals vs HKG ends with Draw

Azkals came back from 2 goals down and end up with 3-3 draw against the defending champion Hong-Kong in their first match in the Long Teng Cup in Taipei.

Chieffy Caligdong
(image by goovychicmaet)
IT'S CHIEFFY AGAIN!
This veteran Azkal worked his way to led his team in a draw. Coach Michael Weiss emphasized the strong effort of his winger Caligdong.

Chieffy's two goals put Azkals in the lead for awhile, everyone thought that the Philippines would win this one against the highly favored Hong-Kong.

But Cheng Lai Hin of HK made a late goal to tied the game.

It was a very physical game that the Philippine Azkals fought up to the end. HK made an early surged and led 2-0 in the first part of the game. It was the two consecutive goals of Lee Wai Lim and Cheng Lai Hin that put them in an early lead.

Azkals put their first point by a penalty kick of Phil Younghusband and then followed by another goal by Caligdong that ended the first half tied at 2-2.