Philippine basketball has started to develop a small but vibrant community on Twitter. The Sweetest Tweets is a round-up of the best messages, in 140 characters or less.



Oh, we’re all going to miss Rod’s tweets while he’s away. I hope his date with Destiny finally goes through.



Yeah, tell ‘em Rick! I completely agree! Sino ba ‘yang mga SBP official na yan?! Mamaya pati mga nanay at tatay nila, isama pa nila sa Taipei!



Hacheche-pache!



I still remember Joey Mente throwing water bottles at the Taiwanese crowd. Iloilo Megavoltz for the win!



I’m sure Cesca Litton is flattered to get compliments from the PBA’s resident fashion expert.



I think Bo Perasol traded for Paolo Mendoza just so they can have isaw at UP after practice with Marvin Cruz.



Yeah! Fire Quinito!



Simpleng yabang lang din ‘tong si Cabaggie, eh noh?



Yeah, this is what this feature is here for, to document Robbie Reyes’ Twilight fandom.



Also, to keep track of James Ty III’s undying love for Jessica “Jessilicious” Mendoza. Keep fighting the good fight, James!

Philippine basketball has started to develop a small but vibrant community on Twitter, and Fire Quinito’s newest feature, The Sweetest Tweets, round up the best messages, in 140 characters or less.



Former Ginebra import Rod Nealy, who led his new team Rain or Shine to back-to-back wins in the ongoing Fiesta Conference, is apparently not a fan of Ginebra’s Denham Brown, who was cut, or should I say exported, by the team this week.



Barako center Robby Reyes shows a little sense of humor after a game wherein Derby Ace import Cliff Brown served him a NASTY facial. That one ought to make it to all the highlight reels this week.



Rain or Shine’s Sol Mercado has a request for his co-player of the week, James Yap. Hey, now that James is single, maybe he and Sol could hang out and go clubbing or something.



Ok, I don’t think Rick gets the hang of this whole sports tweeting thing just yet.



Wise words from the guy who runs our national basketball program. Magaling siguro siyang sumulat ng love letter.

Gabe Freeman and Arwind Santos will be teaming up for San Miguel this year

Listed below are ten statements about the PBA Fiesta Conference, which kicks off this Sunday, March 21. In the comments, leave a post on whether you think each statement is true or false, and a short explanation why this is so.

1. Bonbon Custodio will replace Joseph Yeo’s production at Sta. Lucia


2. Barako Coffee/Harbour Centre will finish out of the cellar for the first time in four conferences


3. You will actually care about the Coca-Cola Tigers this conference


4. Yancy de Ocampo will see meaningful minutes for Ginebra


5. Mike Cortez and Renren Ritualo will be an elite PBA backcourt for Air 21


6. Rain or Shine’s Jai Lewis will be the best import for the conference


7. Alex Cabagnot will make it to the semifinals for the first time in his career with San Miguel


8. Talk N Text’s Mac Cardona will lead locals in scoring this conference


9. Samigue Eman will make an immediate impact in the Alaska front court


10. The Derby Ace Llamados will win back-to-back championships

My answers, after the jump.

After a crazy quarterfinal round, the stage is set for the PBA Philippine Cup final four. The cast features 3 teams that belong to the San Miguel Corporation, which again reinforces perceptions by the league’s critics that the PBA is an SMC league. Some even say that the PBA is set up so that SMC teams would always end up on the winning end of most tournaments.

The grand conspiracy argument doesn’t hold much water. If it were true, there’s no way Sta. Lucia would have won the 2008 Philippine Cup over Purefoods in a close seven-game series wherein James Yap was suspended for one game for the same flagrant 2 penalty called on Ranidel de Ocampo last Friday. Imagine David Stern suspending Kobe Bryant on an iffy call in an NBA finals series against a team like the Milwaukee Bucks.

That doesn’t mean to say that SMC teams do not have an advantage. The PBA landscape today gives the rich teams a leg up when it comes to acquiring talent, and each of the SMC teams have taken advantage to build up its arsenal.

By my count, Ginebra, Purefoods, and San Miguel have acquired a total of 19 players through lopsided trades over the past 5 PBA seasons. The trend started prior to the 2006-07 season, when Ginebra and San Miguel ransacked the roster of erstwhile sister team Coca-Cola just before the corporation let go of the franchise. Over the next several years, each SMC team found more willing partners in Red Bull and Air 21 who would let go of their star players for a song.

	Acquired by	From	Season	Notes
Marc Pingris	Purefoods	Air 21	2005-06	Traded to San Miguel for Enrico Villanueva in 2008, acquired back by Purefoods in 2009
Rudy Hatfield	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07	Went off the deep end after leading Ginebra to a Philippine Cup championship
Billy Mamaril	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07
Rafi Reavis	Ginebra	Coke	2006-07	Traded to Purefoods in 2009
Ronald Tubid	Ginebra	Air 21	2006-07
Lordy Tugade	San Miguel	Red Bull	2006-07
Enrico Villanueva	San Miguel	Red Bull	2007-08	Traded to Purefoods in 2008, traded to Ginebra in 2009
Larry Fonacier	San Miguel	Red Bull	2007-08	Traded to Alaska in 2008
Junthy Valenzuela	Ginebra	Red Bull	2007-08
Mick Pennisi	San Miguel	Red Bull	2008-09
Rich Alvarez	Purefoods	Red Bull	2008-09	Traded to Ginebra in 2009
Cyrus Baguio	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
JC Intal	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Doug Kramer	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Homer Se	Ginebra	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Don Allado	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Celino Cruz	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09	Traded to Ginebra in 2009
KG Canaleta	Purefoods	Air 21/BK	2008-09
Arwind Santos	San Miguel	Air 21/BK	2009-10

The data does not reflect the indirect benefits of one SMC team acquiring new star players to its sister teams. For example, San Miguel benefitted when Ginebra acquired Hatfield, Mamaril, and Reavis from Coke, because it opened the door for the Beermen to trade for Ginebra’s Rommel Adducul, who had become expendable. When San Miguel acquired Villanueva, Adducul was shipped to Purefoods. Pingris found his way back to Purefoods from San Miguel this season after the arrival of Santos to the Beermen’s camp.

I also did not include in the table the first round draft picks acquired by the Beermen from Coke during the ransacking. San Miguel used the second overall pick in 2007 to draft Samigue Eman, and the third pick in the 2008 draft to trade for Jay Washington. These were non-trivial assets.

Of course, it’s not just the SMC teams doing this. Talk N Text has been just as brazen about stockpiling talent over the past several years. Another rich franchise, Coca-Cola, seems to be going in that direction.

Meanwhile, the Photokina (Red Bull/Barako Bull) and Lina (Air 21/Burger King) franchises have had no scruples about letting their players go to the highest bidders. Sta. Lucia, a franchise beset by financial difficulty, might be going down the same path. In the PBA board, only Alaska and Rain or Shine might be inclined to pursue changes to the system, and even then they are vastly outnumbered.

There hasn’t been nearly enough outrage from the fans. I tried to incite outrage when Burger King sold off Santos to San Miguel, but it was met by general apathy. The Filipino basketball fan’s mindset is rarely about playing fair, and mostly about getting an advantage at any cost. It runs true from college basketball – seriously, check out the message board discussions on high school prospects by fans of elite schools – up to the pros. Hell, think about how Smart Gilas fans wanted Japeth Aguilar on the team, at any cost, relationships be damned.

We want our teams to cut every corner to get the best players. Should it come as any surprise when they do exactly that?