South Korea made the Team Pilipinas snipers look like the Wonder Girls (*point-clap-clap-point-clap*) tonight as they held the Philippines to miserable shooting all game long. Willie Miller, Jayjay Helterbrand, James Yap, and Gabe Norwood threw up enough bricks to build a full house (heh), while Korea capitalized on missed rotations by the Philippine defense down the stretch en route to winning their third straight game in the competition.

Continue reading "Fiba-Asia Championships: Korea wants nobody, nobody but chu, hands Team Pilipinas its first loss"

It’s back to the drawing board for Yeng Guiao and his troops, after perennial Asian powerhouse Lebanon handed Powerade Team Pilipinas their fourth loss in 5 games in the 31st William Jones Cup in Taipei, 95-83. NBA journeyman Jackson Vroman and veteran center Brian Beshara flustered the Philippines, scoring 24 and 29 points, respectively, including 38 of the team’s 50 points in the first half.

The twin tower combination came out firing in the first quarter, which ended with a 30-19 lead for Lebanon. The Nationals were kept at bay for most of the second quarter before James Yap strung together 7 quick points to end the half to cut the lead down to 8, 50-42.

Continue reading "Jones Cup day 5: Lebanon’s twin towers frustrate Powerade Team Pilipinas"

The Burger King Whoppers and the Rain or Shine Elastopainters each booked a seat to the PBA's final four last night, joining early qualifiers San Miguel and Ginebra.

Continue reading "About last night: Burger King, Rain or Shine complete PBA Semifinals cast"

The Ryan Gregorio coaching watch continued last night, and the embattled coach extended his team's season with an 84-82 squeaker over Rain or Shine. Meanwhile, Yeng Guiao weaved his magic as the Burger King Whoppers dominated from start to finish to tie up its own series versus Sta. Lucia, 94-81.

Continue reading "About last night: Purefoods, Burger King even up in the PBA Fiesta Conference quarterfinals"

I was back at the Araneta Coliseum last night to watch the kickoff games of the 2009 PBA Fiesta conference quarterfinals, featuring a couple of best-of-three pairings: Burger King vs. Sta. Lucia and Rain or Shine vs. Purefoods.

Continue reading "About last night: Sta. Lucia and Rain or Shine draw first blood in PBA Fiesta Conference quarterfinals"

Two more teams bit the dust last night in the PBA wildcards, with Sta. Lucia and Purefoods knocking off Coca-Cola and Talk N Text respectively.

Continue reading "About last night: Sta. Lucia and Purefoods complete the PBA Fiesta Conference quarterfinal cast"

The classification phase of the PBA Fiesta Conference ended last night with two tiebreaker games: the Coca-Cola Tigers beat the Alaska Aces, 81-74 to gain 8th, while the Barangay Ginebra Kings beat the living crap out of the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 114-71, to get the 2nd seed.

Continue reading "Win or go home: Sorting out the PBA Fiesta Conference playoff clusterfuck"

GMA News reports that former Best Import awardee Marquin Chandler is back to reinforce the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants for the PBA Fiesta Conference campaign. The mercurial Chandler led Purefoods to the finals of the 2005-06 edition of the tournament, and Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio is hoping to duplicate that success.

Continue reading "Marquin Chandler returns, but can he end Purefoods' slide to mediocrity?"