The Sweetest Tweets supersized, featuring Rod Nealy’s farewell, the Jones Cup, fashion advice from Chot Reyes, and much more
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!
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!
Posted by jaemark
on July 21, 2010 at
15:23
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Tags: Barako Energy Coffee Masters, Basketball, Coca-Cola Tigers, Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine sports media, Quinito Henson, Rain or Shine Elastopainters, San Miguel Beermen, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Sta. Lucia Realtors, Talk N Text Tropang Texters, The Sweetest Tweets
Tags: Barako Energy Coffee Masters, Basketball, Coca-Cola Tigers, Philippine Basketball Association, Philippine sports media, Quinito Henson, Rain or Shine Elastopainters, San Miguel Beermen, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Sta. Lucia Realtors, Talk N Text Tropang Texters, The Sweetest Tweets
Friday bullets, starring Charles Tiu, Ray Parks, and of course, more Kris and James
Nice, rainy Friday, with a couple of huge PBA games tonight: Rain or Shine versus Ginebra for an outright quarterfinals spot, and Derby Ace versus San Miguel for an automatic semifinals berth. Just how important is that semis spot, particularly for Derby Ace? My main man, Ryan “The Genius” Gregorio has never lost a semifinals series in his PBA career.
Meanwhile, some good reads to tide you over till tipoff:
Meanwhile, some good reads to tide you over till tipoff:
- Charles Tiu, the younger brother of Smart Gilas team captain and all-around good guy Chris Tiu, wrote a good blog post on Yahoo! about the recently-concluded Manila invitational tournament. He’s a little biased, sure, but his post has got a lot of great tidbits for Gilas fans: “During the awarding ceremonies, I approached Coach Mario Palma and told him that as an Asian, I wish that his team will do well and represent Asia well in the World Championships. Without introducing who I was, he said thank you, gave me a hug and told me to give my brother a hug (he said we look alike and that’s how he knew) because he was a great player and he wasn’t able to congratulate him. I couldn’t have been any prouder after hearing a coach like that have such high regard for my brother.”
- The Philippine Star’s Joey Villar reported yesterday that Ray Parks, son of legendary PBA import Bobby Parks, will be suiting up for NU next year. Is that accurate? Doesn’t the UAAP have a two-year residency rule for players coming from foreign high schools? Parks has been playing high school ball in Tennessee.
UPDATE: Ray is in the Philippines right now, and it isn’t clear whether he’s going back to Tennessee’s Melrose Academy for senior year in high school. If he spends the year in a local high school, then he’d be eligible for the UAAP next season. I think. - Ugh. GMANews.TV reports that Air 21’s Lito Alvarez is likely to be named the next commissioner of the Burea of Customs. I hope he doesn’t run the bureau the same way he ran Air 21, where he sold players and helped richer teams cheat by acting as conduit in lopsided trades. The appointment feels like a political ploy; Alvarez’ boss, Bert Lina, was BOC commissioner for several months before he resigned from the Arroyo cabinet along with the Hyatt 10. If there’s any bright side to this, at least Alvarez will be out of the PBA. I hope he stays out. Hell, I hope Air 21 sells its useless franchise already.
- The Queensberry Rules is my favorite boxing blog bar none, and I really enjoyed the latest piece: The Six Deadly Sins of Internet Boxing Writing. It doesn’t just apply to boxing though, but all kinds of Internet writing. Good read for both fans, who should know what to expect from Internet writers, and for aspiring writers and bloggers.
- Finally, happier moments for Kris and James, which happened just this March. Makes you wonder what the hell happened between then and now.
Posted by jaemark
on July 2, 2010 at
15:39
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Tags: Air 21 Express / Burger King Whoppers, Basketball, Boxing, Chris Tiu, Derby Ace Llamados / Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, James Yap, Philippine Basketball Association, Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Video
Tags: Air 21 Express / Burger King Whoppers, Basketball, Boxing, Chris Tiu, Derby Ace Llamados / Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants, James Yap, Philippine Basketball Association, Ryan "The Genius" Gregorio, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Video
Putting the Smart Gilas victory over Jordan in context
I mentioned earlier that I had been planning to write about the Smart Gilas victory in the recently-concluded pocket tournament over Jordan. However, like everything else, including her brother’s inauguration, it had to take a backseat to an issue concerning Kris Aquino. I apologize for that.
Anyway, here are the things we learned from the invitational, apart from the fact that Mac Cardona punches like a chick:
Anyway, here are the things we learned from the invitational, apart from the fact that Mac Cardona punches like a chick:
- Mac Baracael was the hero of the final game against Jordan, and at this point, I think we could safely say that he’s they key to Smart Gilas’ upsets. This was also the case during the team’s successful campaign last January in Dubai, when Baracael caught fire and led the team to several upsets. When he’s shooting well, he opens up the Gilas offense, which is predicated on spacing and ball movement, making the team very hard to defend.
That said, I can imagine why Toroman is still looking forward to having Kelly Williams on the team; in the first Jordan game, the visitors repeatedly took advantage of Baracael in the post and off the boards, and Toroman was forced to take him out and go with an awkward twin tower combination of Marcus Douthit and Greg Slaughter. It’s feast or famine with Baracael, and we’ve been fortunate that so far, it’s been more feast. - Marcio Lassiter is pretty good, reminds me of Jeffrey Cariaso.
- Dongguan coach Brian Goorijan gave high marks for the Gilas offense, but I think two things that really make the Gilas so effective on the offensive end doesn’t necessarily have to do with putting the ball in the basket: they never turn the ball over, and they always have floor balance. International teams like Jordan and Iran make a lot of hay off the break, but the Gilas offense is geared to prevent just that. This is also the reason the Powerade team looked so bad against these international teams in the Jones Cup; poorly-prepared teams tend to turn over the ball a lot, which leads to a lot of easy baskets on the other end.
That’s almost never the case for Smart Gilas, or at least, its man-to-man offense. Their zone offense, however, could use a little more fine-tuning. - Elsewhere on the Internet, people have been bagging on Gilas about their defense. I tend to disagree; I think they have a great defensive system in place, one that even Talk N Text has adopted too. They do a great job of cutting the court in half, preventing all-important swing passes from the strong side to the weak side, and clogging the middle effectively.
They could still do a better job of cleaning up the defensive glass, and it would help if they forced a few more turnovers. But I’m not sure they can do that with the personnel they have on the team currently. They just don’t have the size or the length to do both at a high level. - Sure, they only played against a Dongguan team that was still trying to find its way, but the Talk N Text Tropang Texters looked like the best team in the tourney; their offense was very crisp, and they were much more active and effective on defense.
It makes me wonder: Are we underrating our PBA teams? Even Ginebra, which has been mediocre in the ongoing PBA Fiesta Conference, was able to stay toe-to-toe with Jordan, despite the fact that they looked like they were treating the game like a half-assed scrimmage. I’m not talking about star-studded PBA-organized national teams, but PBA teams per se. Are they better than we give them credit for?
It also makes me curious about just how effective some guys who probably wouldn’t have a chance to get picked for Asian-level competitions would do. Will LA Tenorio be able to get in the lane and loft floaters against Asian teams? Will Marc Pingris’ madman act work against bigger and heftier opponents? Can Sol Mercado barrel his way to the ring? Will opposing point guards in Asia panic when Paul Artadi harasses them in the backcourt?
The kneejerk answer is no… but unless we see it on the court, we’ll never know, wouldn’t we? - Then again, JC Intal probably wouldn’t be able to get to the lane so easily if Jordan’s injured big men made the Manila trip. Rasheim Wright is reportedly also still recovering from a knee injury. The Gilas victory over Jordan is impressive, but I hope no one’s getting over-confident over the result.
- Also, the refereeing was clearly slanted in favor of the local teams; the foreign teams probably didn’t mind so much, because these things are par for the course for these types of tournaments. But for a country that always rails against bad officiating, man, we sure can eat up loads upon loads of lutong macao if it benefits our team.
Posted by jaemark
on July 2, 2010 at
03:07
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Tags: Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, Basketball, Kelly Williams, Mac Cardona, Marc Pingris, Philippine Basketball Association, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Talk N Text Tropang Texters, Video
Tags: Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, Basketball, Kelly Williams, Mac Cardona, Marc Pingris, Philippine Basketball Association, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team, Talk N Text Tropang Texters, Video
Smart Gilas Insider thoughts: Marcus Douthit, Brian Goorjian, and the Jordan zone
Editor’s note: One of the most valued commenters on this blog is a man who identifies himself only as GilasInsider. After communicating with him privately, I was able to verify his identity as someone close to the team, and he has since been sharing his insights on this blog for the benefit of the fans of the developmental team.
Late last night, he sent in this email, ahead of tonight's game between Gilas and the Jordan national team.
I spent a lot of time with Coach Rajko Toroman today. He had a long conversation with Brian Goorjian, coach of the Dongguan Leopards, who led the Australian national team to 2 Olympic berths, and 2 World Cup appearances. Coach was pleased to find out how highly Goorjian thought of our team. Goorjian said that no one can play man-to-man with us, which is why Dongguan kept playing zone defense against us, and why Jordan practically played zone for 30 minutes in its victory against Gilas.
Goorjian has only been with this Chinese team for 6 weeks, and he said he will replace both of his team’s imports. He claimed he could have beaten Talk N Text, but one of his imports, point guard Kevin Kruger, didn’t play because he was too tired from the Gilas game, wherein he also suffered a major cramp.
Also, one of their players, #7, a Chinese national team mainstay, said he was too tired that he didn’t want to play anymore. (Ed: Dongguan lists #7 as Zhang Kai, a 6’11” center who made it to the 2008 Sacramento Kings training camp as a free agent.) But during halftime of their game versus TNT, he asked Goorjian to let him play, but the coach simply ignored him and kept him on the bench.
All of these, of course, were related by Coach Rajko, who seems to think very highly of Goorjian, and of Mario Palma, who is coaching Jordan.
Coach really likes Marcus Douthit, who will most likely be signed. He loves Marcus’ shooting and his basketball IQ. His only problem with Marcus is that he doesn’t show enough energy; he needs Douthit to be an energy player for Gilas so the other players can feed off it. So far, it’s been lacking.
Douthit is also being offered contracts by a Spanish team and a Russian team. Let’s hope he chooses us. We should know by early next week whether he will sign with us or not.
Gilas players seem confident they can beat this Jordan team tonight. They will have some adjustments for the zone defense of Jordan, although without practice it may be hard to execute.
One reason their zone offense versus Jordan was ineffective was because Douthit only knows one of their zone plays, so that was the only play they kept calling. When the Jordanians adjusted their defense to counter that play, we had a hard time beating it. But our rally in the last 5 minutes of the game was a good sign for us.
Let's hope for the best tomorrow.
Late last night, he sent in this email, ahead of tonight's game between Gilas and the Jordan national team.
I spent a lot of time with Coach Rajko Toroman today. He had a long conversation with Brian Goorjian, coach of the Dongguan Leopards, who led the Australian national team to 2 Olympic berths, and 2 World Cup appearances. Coach was pleased to find out how highly Goorjian thought of our team. Goorjian said that no one can play man-to-man with us, which is why Dongguan kept playing zone defense against us, and why Jordan practically played zone for 30 minutes in its victory against Gilas.
Goorjian has only been with this Chinese team for 6 weeks, and he said he will replace both of his team’s imports. He claimed he could have beaten Talk N Text, but one of his imports, point guard Kevin Kruger, didn’t play because he was too tired from the Gilas game, wherein he also suffered a major cramp.
Also, one of their players, #7, a Chinese national team mainstay, said he was too tired that he didn’t want to play anymore. (Ed: Dongguan lists #7 as Zhang Kai, a 6’11” center who made it to the 2008 Sacramento Kings training camp as a free agent.) But during halftime of their game versus TNT, he asked Goorjian to let him play, but the coach simply ignored him and kept him on the bench.
All of these, of course, were related by Coach Rajko, who seems to think very highly of Goorjian, and of Mario Palma, who is coaching Jordan.
Coach really likes Marcus Douthit, who will most likely be signed. He loves Marcus’ shooting and his basketball IQ. His only problem with Marcus is that he doesn’t show enough energy; he needs Douthit to be an energy player for Gilas so the other players can feed off it. So far, it’s been lacking.
Douthit is also being offered contracts by a Spanish team and a Russian team. Let’s hope he chooses us. We should know by early next week whether he will sign with us or not.
Gilas players seem confident they can beat this Jordan team tonight. They will have some adjustments for the zone defense of Jordan, although without practice it may be hard to execute.
One reason their zone offense versus Jordan was ineffective was because Douthit only knows one of their zone plays, so that was the only play they kept calling. When the Jordanians adjusted their defense to counter that play, we had a hard time beating it. But our rally in the last 5 minutes of the game was a good sign for us.
Let's hope for the best tomorrow.
Posted by gilasinsider
on June 27, 2010 at
00:42
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Tags: Basketball, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team
Tags: Basketball, Smart Gilas RP National Basketball Team
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