Since the end of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, the Internet has been abuzz with blind items and rumors about trades that were being discussed by teams around the league. The first domino fell last night, as Waylon Galvez of the Manila Bulletin reports that the Alaska Aces have sent do-everything forward Joe Devance to the Air 21 Express in exchange for the talented if underachieving Jay-R Reyes, pending approval from Commissioner Chito Salud.

Continue reading "Alaska trades Joe Devance for Jay-R Reyes"

Listed below are ten statements about the PBA Commissioner's Cup, which kicks off tonight with the Ginebra-Meralco game in Laoag City. In the comments, leave a post on whether you think each statement is true or false, and a short explanation why this is so.

Continue reading "True or False: 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup"

I was having dinner last night with the boys from the excellent Patay ang Butiki blog, and we invited GMANews.TV’s intrepid sports reporter Rey Joble to join us, since he just worked next door. As soon as he walked in to the restaurant, his phone started buzzing with all kinds of calls and text messages from PBA insiders telling him the details of a big trade by Rain or Shine, Air 21, and Meralco.

Here are the details of the blockbuster deal:

Air 21 gets: Jay-R Reyes (Rain or Shine), Reed Juntilla (Meralco)

UPDATE: Fidel Mangonon III reports on Twitter that Air 21 will also be getting two first round picks from Meralco (2011 and 2013).

Meralco gets: Sol Mercado (Rain or Shine), Paolo Bugia (Rain or Shine), Erick Rodriguez (Air 21)

Rain or Shine gets: Ronjay Buenafe (Air 21), Ronnie Matias (Air 21), Beau Belga (Meralco), 2011 first round pick (Air 21), 2013 first round pick (Air 21)

Continue reading "Breaking down the blockbuster: Mercado to Meralco, Reyes to Air 21, Buenafe to RoS"

In his column yesterday, Quinito Henson wrote about the flap caused by a tweet by Sol Mercado criticizing him. If you’re not on Twitter (and if you’re a PBA fan in this day and age, you really need to be on it), here’s what happened: Mercado was watching the broadcast of the Talk N Text-Derby Ace matchup which Quinito was announcing. After a stepback move by James Yap, Quinito compared the reigning MVP to Michael Jordan, which pissed off Mercado; he swore he wouldn’t watch another minute of the game until the PBA hired an announcer who actually knew what he was talking about.

Continue reading "Quinito Henson vs. irreverent Twitter users"

Veteran coach Yeng Guiao has left the Air 21 Express to join the Rain or Shine Elastopainters. The news was confirmed to GMANews.TV by current Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia, who will slide down to become Guiao’s deputy on the bench.

Continue reading "Yeng Guiao ends tumultuous run with Air 21, takes his talents to Rain or Shine"

Spent last night in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat. We were actually able to catch the Alaska-San Miguel game over dinner, and to my surprise, the veteran cameraman we were traveling with used to shoot and direct PBA games. We basically watched the game from his technical perspective, which was awesome. He said that covering the PBA live was the hardest gig for any cameraman because of the pace of the action; if you could do camera work for the PBA, you can do it anywhere else.

Btw, how about that game? Pretty awesome, wasn't it? And it was exciting even if the referees actually called fouls.

On to part 2 of my first impressions. If you missed it, check out part 1.

Continue reading "2010 PBA Philippine Cup first impressions, part 2"

The premier issue of Baller, the new magazine of the PBA is out now, and unlike most other “official” PBA stuff, this actually doesn’t suck. It helps that the project was developed and conceived with little interference from the league, and the people at the helm are experienced publishing industry veterans who knew how to put out a magazine. In fact, the man running it is Eric Ramos, the award-winning writer and former editor-in-chief of FHM Philippines, Pump, and Maxim Philippines.

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At the start of the 2010 rookie draft, the PBA played yet another video tribute for Customs commissioner, former PBA board chairman, and former Air 21 team manager Lito Alvarez. With a smug grin on his face – you know, like he had just gotten away with cheating on a round of golf – Alvarez claimed proudly that because of his “savvy” moves, it was the first time that a team, Air 21, had the top three picks in the rookie draft.

Continue reading "Air 21 leads the clusterfuck that was the 2010 PBA rookie draft"

I had wanted to do a mock draft for the PBA rookie draft that’s happening tomorrow, like I did last year, but I didn’t have much time. I had actually been in Davao these past few days for a project for the day job – we were documenting a seminar for human rights workers from the Visayas and Mindanao, people doing the Lord’s work – and it was the farthest thing from having a blog where I write awful things about PBA players.

Continue reading "Quick thoughts on tomorrow’s PBA draft"