I haven't really followed the PBA as much as I did when the old Ginebra team of Marlou, Noli, Vince, and Bal ran their opponents ragged.
The hype preceeding this season -- a new Commish, very intriguing rooks, and the transfers -- were the ingredients that stirred my interest.
I seen a few of the games and here are just some random thoughts...

The Alaska/Sta. Lucia game
- An almost all-Fil Am lineup vs. a homegrown one.
- Yes, there is life after Kenneth Duremdes. John Arigo could really be their new take-charge guy.
- Cortez had an okay debut; he seemed tentaive at times, just feeling his way in. But he'll be an integral part of this team soon enough.
- Mali diskarte ni Al Chua. I do'nt know why he (and Norman Black) buried Nitoy Adriano in the bench. He should start to get back that confidence. As it is, their entire production is confined to the starting unit. He should sit some of those starters to bring some firepower off the bench. It was again obvious in their second game na mali diskarte talaga ni Al.

Ginebra vs. Purefoods / Ginebra vs Sta Lucia
- No more excuses for Allan Caidic. He now has the crew to bring Ginebra back to elite status. Looks like Jun Limpot has been reenergized by the addition of menk and Adducul. He needs to prove that he's worth all those big bucks they're paying him. Glad Lago and Crisano are back with them, but they need to play Crisano even more. Sayang yung energy that he brings.
- Man, no one can stop Mark the Spark one-on-one. Unbelievable first step.
- Adducul is still feeling his way in but Sunday Salvacion ... the next Kenneth Duremdes is on the floor.
- Andy Seigle. This guy should go back to wherever it is he used to work. No way is he even in the class of Dynamite Danny. A poor man's Dennis Espino minus the offense. He's just plain offensive.
- The Captain should retire.

wasn't able to see the Red Bull and Coca Cola game. heard good stuff about Rico and Jec though. The Blue Eagles were there to support them daw? Cool, huh.

any observations? just rambling on as i have to finish a marketing and advertising plan that needs to be approved on tuesday.

let's hear from you.

i think this year the changing of the guard has really come to pass. one by one, the guys who shone brightest during the PBA's glory years are fading from the spotlight like jojo lastimosa, alvin patrimonio, glenn capacio, ronnie magsanoc, benjie paras, even the bullgoose loonies of the old ginebra. taking their place, however, are some of the most telegenic players ever, like they were computer-generated for the information age. players like mike cortez, rico villanueva, rommel adducul, and all those fil-ams infiltrating the PBA ranks are the stuff of marketers' dreams. not only are they good, they look good doing what they do best. i sense a PBA renaissance in the offing.

i noticed that the coaches have finally gotten the hang of zone defenses and the offenses designed to bust them. dun sa mga larong napanuod ko, i think shell and coke execute the best continuity patterns. ditto red bull but they didn't shoot well enough to merit my attention, hehehehehe!

when red bull and coke played separate opponents last friday at the makati coliseum, i estimated the crowd to be around 70-75 percent female. i wonder why

ha! my sentiments exactly!!!

I saw the Red Bull and Fedex game.

Rico did fairly well. He was quickly sent in to replace Nelson Asaytono. Fedex led most of the way. The turning point came when Red Bull applied its defense. For this purpose, Harp and Pennissi were pulled out. Rico played center. Red Bull overtook the Fedex lead and posted a substantial lead of their own. Fedex started to catch up when Rico was pulled out, Rico was fielded in the last two minutes to preserve the lead. He ended up third scorer with nine points. I think he also had seven (7) rebounds and three (3) blocks.

He has defeinitely found his niche in the team. Kitang kita ang sipag niya sa depensa. He really gave Ferriols and Yancy De Ocampo a hard time. His spin move is simply too fast that Yancy and Ferriols had no choice but to foul him. He floats on defense very well against the taller Fed ex centers. He really knows how to position on defense. He even blocked Ferriols once. Ferriols was visibly pissed off in the ensuing plays.

The coaching staff of Red Bull clearly appreciate the value of Rico. Red Bull needs him on defense that they even pull out Harp and Pennissi in favor of Rico. Red Bull is so confident on Rico that they even fielded him for the last two (2) minutes with Fedex threatening through its press. With his great defense, his offense will surely follow. His numbers would show how reliable he is and his performance is definitely better than Adducul's. If you observe his interaction with is team mates, you can also sense that they are fond of Rico. He really seems to have a sense of humor. You can see him horsing around with the other players, specially Miller. It looks like he has a bright future in this team.

Yup, there were more women than men. A lot of the men were more women also. You can also hear a couple of fans shouting his name. LA, Magnum, Rich, Sison, et al., were also on hand to support both Rico and Gec.

BK: I agree with you regarding Andy Seigle. I don't even think he's that talented offensively. He only scores because he's taller than the guy who guards him. He's too slow and has no athletic ability. Purefoods is better off without him.

I watched the PBA games last Friday at the Makati Coliseum. It's fun watching live again after a few years of sticking to the TV only. The San Miguel-Coke game was very entertaining inside the arena. There was even a point wherein the fans weren't paying attention to the game because of a near-fight in the gallery.

Red Bull, Alaska, and Ginebra are the teams to watch out for. Salvacion is playing extremely well for the Gin Kings and is fitting in Caidic's rotation perfectly while Limpot is putting up MVP numbers. Alaska has a lot of athletic players and shooters while Red Bull has the size to dominate the lane and the boards. I'm not really impressed with Talk and Text and their rookie, Harvey Carey.

i was able to watch parts of the first five games and for somebody who have never really been interested in the pba thats a big deal... anyway, i think that the rookies did make a big difference this year... pero sa fedex, its still the older ones who carry the team... sobrang galing nila laure and tubid for shell. i think under-utilized si adducul. rico is doing ok and i was glad to hear one commentator say that gec and another rookie "certainly derserve to be in the pba"...

I also started watching the PBA regular season again this year (most probably due to the new rookies). It seemed to me that the past seasons have really been boring (this is IMO) due to players playing at a dull, set pace. I do hope that the influx of college players, former MBA, and PBL talents bring over the intensity and heart they had and keep it as they move on in the PBA.

The TNT rookie (Carey) seems to be overhyped based on his intial performances... they would have found moer use with Rico V. IMO.

Tubid (one of my favorite antagonists to the Ateneo team last year) has been doing quite well as well.

I think harvey carey will be a chris jackson-type of player. he's not the type to post up impressive stats but his blue collar work ethic is reportedly infectious. it remains to be seen, though, whether talk n text was right in picking him ahead of rico villanueva.

another thing: i thought the benjie paras tribute at halftime of the purefoods-shell game was unexpectedly hilarious! i really couldn't get over the sight of benjie standing at midcourt receiving 14 roses from fellow players to represent the number of PBA seasons he played in. akala ko tuloy nag-de-debut! tapos dumating pa si dagul ng kool ka lang, mwahahahahahahahaw!

i agree. talk and text was stupid to let og of rico who is a possible franchise player. u can see his instant contribution in the fedex game when the red bull old players were playing listlessly, guiao put in rico and hurdled a 10 pt deficit. he was just unforgivable on defense. if defense could be scored, he should have got 21pts instead of only 9. he knows his role very well and provides the much needed spark.

actually the pba was a dead league the past 3 yrs. the rookies this season has infused new blood to a dying league.

gec chia did fairly well on hustle and defense. however, he was not looking for any attempts. he did commit some errors though. if he wants to stay in the pba, he has to improve his dribbling coz he lacks that to be a good point guard. but i know he will hurdle that. he is known to beat the odds. he can be a nightmare for opposing point guards coz he has the best lateral movement , has cat quick instincts and long arms.

The new / balik PBA sportscasters (Sev Sarmienta, Norman Black, Alex Compton, et al) are a welcome development.

Teams to beat are Red Bull, Ginebra and Alaska.

is harvey carey a joke? he missed his first 6 freethrow attempts. it was a block party for ej feihl going against carey.
anyway, too early to tell, nice work on the boards though.

hands down to sev alex, and norman.

SEV: at my time, you were a big man..
NORMAN: hindi nah, puro mah-lah-keeng tao na ditoh

Nice to have Mico Halili on board as well. Honestly, I wasn't sure about the tandem of Mico and Alex yet one can't fault them for their honesty.
Maybe what these sportscasters should realize is that they shouldn't be trying to sensationalize the game because the fans aren't stupid. They should add to the game and not come across as translators unlike some.
Maybe its good that they brought back some old hands but man, get Anthony Suntay outta there!
Can't wait to see Rico's next game!

it's coca-cola vs. shell today.

seems like rainier and jec are manning each other

i heard Gec played really well a while ago

ang ganda na ng PBA.. exciting dahil sa mga bagong dating na rookies..

yun nga lang.. di maayos yung mga commentators.. i luv noli eala as commentator.. at yung signal o coverage ng ibcnbn ay malabo..akala ko ba state of the art at pinagkagastusan ang equipment nila?

yup. the equipment and coverage could certainly be much better, but it will get better. no doubt about it.

as much as i love seeing sev sarmenta back in the broadcast booth, since its a new era in the league, the pba should have jettisoned every last vestige of the viva-vintage announcers etc. so it would be a fresh start.

espn's new coverage of the NBA has brought a streetwise feel to the games, kudos to espn for that brave bold approach. it's like the way slam magazine covers hoops, in yo face.

maybe the pba should do the same. or then again, maybe it shouldn't.

pwede patanong lang talaga: bakit naman si harvey carvey pa ang pinili ng tnt at hindi si rico?!?!?!

i think gec chia was able to score 6 pts in the game against shell, while sison had none...

yan ang palaisipan ng bayan. only frankie lim knows...

Taulava had a major influence in the decision to draft Carey. He was said to have been impressed with Carey during the rookie camps a week or two before the draft day itself. Who knows, maybe with Asi back after the suspension, they would play well together?

i was really surprised that talk n text bypassed rico for carey. well, its their loss.
i recall seeing carey work out and play at moro lorenzo around january along with jeff cariaso and asi taulava (it seems a lot of pba players do their workouts there) and we kinda thought he was a good rebounder. scoring-wise, we weren't sure as even the regular moro habitues would score on him. but then again, he was pacing himself less someone accidentally injure him.

hehe...

i think nasagot na ang tanong ko: carey (if i am not mistaken) scored about 12 points kagabi...

commentators? well, why dont they bring the javier trillo tandem? its by far the most hilarious and wacky team up among all the commentators whether u compare the pro and amateur commentators. sayang. they really had chemistry. hope abs-cbn brings them back next season. i just love their verbal tussle.

dapat meron ding WPBA!! there are lots of women out there who can play well!! sana maisipan na staff to put up a women's league!!

*off-topic*

A few years back, the PBL decided to put up a women's league, which drew the top players from the UAAP, WNCAA and even the national squad. There were even five Ateneans who made it to various teams. Sadly, the WPBL lasted only two seasons. PBL team owners probably weren't that eager to set aside funds for a sister team. In fact, many of the girls remained unpaid even after the end of the second season. Plus I think it was hard to get sponsors - perhaps they felt that most of the players were "unmarketable" since majority were, well, boyish-looking. (I'm sure it didn't help that some of them had a fistfight after one of the games!) Organizers tried to remedy the problem by entering some "models" in the initial draft. The girls didn't know shit about basketball but amazingly got drafted! Naging patawa tuloy. Pati TV coverage nakakatawa. Commentators like Dennis Eroa would repeatedly make comments about the players' appearance ("mukhang naka-lip-istik sya partner!) instead of focusing on the game itself.

I think now would be a good time to put up a women's league. There is greater acceptance of women in the sport now, and people are starting to take these athletes seriously. Nawawala na rin yung stereotype na lahat ng female ball players, tibo or tomboy. Meron pa rin of course (which shouldn't even be an issue, but that's another discussion…), but there are enough "marketable" players to satisfy sponsors and spectators. What makes it even better is that these girls aren't just pretty, they got skills! There's Camille Dowling of UP, the Manalo twins of La Salle, Ateneo's Caynap, Dy, La Rosa and Tanchi, high school stars like Kat Quimpo of DLSZ and Assumption's Casey Tioseco, etc etc etc. So if the PBL or the PBA is thinking of putting up a league, my advice is go! Pero sana they take it seriously; don't make a mockery of the draft, and no more lip-istik comments. AT! Wag na wag niyo kukunin na analyst si Dennis Eroa. Utang na loob.

--------

Ok, back to the PBA.

high time.....

parang wnba....

exactly!!

i like the PBA too.. the best yung controversial game ng tnt-ginebra..

i'm a ginebra fan, pero talaga kasing counted dapat yung shot ni asi non.. .1 of a sec, wala na sa hand nya yung ball then buzzer tas nashoot so counted di po ba?

tsk tsk tsk wawa talk and text... pero sana magrematch nalang. tas disregard yung game..

wawa talaga ang tnt... pero i dont think kelangan ng replay... there was a bad judgement call pero yun ang rule diba? "the referee's decision is irreversible..."

sayang naman yung ginawa nila eric menk and alapag nung game na yun, they worked very hard pa naman...

oo nga eh...... pero the rematch is on april 22 na....... la ng magagawa..... go jimmy.....

Tama lang yung rematch. The shot clearly counted sa replay and TNT would've won. Hindi siya judgment call in the sense na may foul pero hindi tinawagan...technicality siya eh. There was time left and the shot should've counted. But i believe the PBA should rewrite its rulebook so that in future cases, this would be avoided

Truth---im an ATENEO supporter...Go Wesley!!! and ofcourse, im not a supporter of dlsu... but since ALASKA is my favorite team in the P.B.A. i kinda like mike cortez already, he's just one of my favorite players aside from John Arigo... but i still watch P.B.L. and supports the team where Wesley, Rich, Larry and Tenorio plays...
GO ATENEO!!! Ateneo is still the BEST for me...

pahabol... sayang nga lang minsan ko na lng napapanood game ng team ni enrico. pti na k chia. pti na k rain sison..

[ April 03, 2003: Message edited by: luckyone ]

definitely, rico is very deserving to be in a "high-ranking" group in PBA. how could an MVP be placed on a "low-scoring" team?! just read and look at my signiture. that's why. :cool:

havent been able to watch any of the games lately, anything new happened???

kailan ba yung all-star game? maglalaro ba si rico dun?

may 30 ata. mei crispa - toyota rematch kase.

i heard about the news during last night's 2nd game. around 6 more guys failed the random drug test and there were quite a few surprises ... jun limpot, noli locsin to name a few.

i've been an on-and-off ginebra fan and this news blows. rommel adducul hasn't shown the type of game he displayed in the MBA or in Baste but I guess we just have to give him time, right? i was a die-hard ginebra fan before but followed the team sporadically since allan caidic took over. he's done a lousy job though not all the team's problems can be attributed to him. but you know taht saying about coaches losing games ... just when ginebra managed to squeak into the next round. well, eric menk, his bad pogo haircut and all, will just have to lead the team. caguioa still needs to temper his game, sunday needs to be more consistent, and adducul has to show up. allan should use walqvist more (sayang, he's a serviceable player pa naman).

back to the drug bust ... am not up to speed (pun not intended) with the PBA's rules, but how long will the suspensions be for the players? and if they are suspended, what happens to the team's bids for a championship?

red bull loses quite a lot with davonn harp out. this will mean more time for rico but he still does need a lot of seasoning.

i'm glad for the changes that commish noli has put in place. am just unhappy that drugs has once more reared its ugly head.

their cases will be reviewed in sept. (except dorian pena, next year na siya).

sayang sila. who composes the all-star teams, by the way? sabi nila, mas mabenta pa yung crispa-toyota kesa sa all-star game mismo.

I think the question now is, sino ba ang HINDI nag-d-drugs sa PBA?? Tsk tsk tsk, sad development indeed.

But I'm wondering, who conducts the random drug testings? And how accurate are they?

if sen. jaworski is insinuating anything about the credibility of the drug tests initiated by commish, then he should have taken his own advice and not gone public himself.

i'm not defending noli eala and the results of the drug test, what i'm saying is that i think our senators should concern themselves with more serious matters than worry about guys who make more than P200thou a month and smoke pot or whatnot on the side. in fact, a lot of those buffoons in the senate have no cred at all, jaworski being one of the worst of them all.

of course it's sad to hear guys like limpot failing the test. now maybe there should be another test, maybe not. but whatever, lets leave it to whatever sports commissions to verify the findings. now whether limpot is guilty or not, those who fell for his emotional statement must remember, when did drug users ever freely admit to using them?

that was some game between talk n text and alaska, huh.

some random thoughts about the series...

1) i really wanted talk n text to win for several reasons: i've got a couple of good friends on the team in bong ravena and patrick fran, it's coached by joel banal, its got asi taulava who's an ateneo fan, it's backed by MVP, and lastly, i think they're long overdue for a crack at the finals.

2) jimmy alapag is gonna be the best point guard in the league real soon. along with mike cortez. while cool cat has established himself as a keeper in this man's league, he doesn't seem to hit those shots that he would normally make when he suited up for dlsu. in fact, he seems to get blocked a lot more. yeah, i know he's facing stiffer competition with taller players in his face, but still.

3) okay lang din sa akin manalo ang alaska coz i really like their line-up. but maybe this once, give the chance to let tealk n text win.

4) it was really a great series. in fact, the outcome wasn't a sure thing until the final second would tick away.

and now that talk n text will be facing coca cola in the all filipino finals, its the ex-Blue Eagle coach versus the current coach. with both teams having ateneo alumni for backers.

this one's gonna be a doozy. my prediction....

Coca Cola in 6; Talk n Text in 7



"Weasley is Our King" has got to be one of the most hilarious scenes ever in Harry Potter.

As for Ateneo in Season 66: Wesley is Our King. Go Ateneo!!!

[ June 29, 2003: Message edited by: Bleachers King ]

i think coca-cola will still be the champion dis all-filipino cup coz dey hav a pretty strong team.. talk n text is also good but dey lost d 1st 2 games so small chance..

noticed a couple of things prior to the start of the coke/tnt series but never had the time to post it.

1) the alaska connection - for coke, its chot reyes, biboy ravanes, poch juinio, johnny abarrientos, jeff cariaso. for tnt, it's joel banal, aric del rosario, frankie lim

2) the ateneo connection - for coke, it's chot, nash racela, jec chia, andrew cruz. for tnt, it's manny p. and joel banal. did i miss anyone out? i'm not sure if that's virgil villavicencio on the tnt bench but if its him, then he's part of that connection.

Some Atenean news on the PBA front:

Jec Chia's back in the Coca Cola line up

and

Rico has been playing very well since Davonn Harp was suspended indefinitely.

Olsen well is Olsen. 'nuff said.

another thing, gec chia has regained his shotmaking confidence and has gone back to his pesky, annoying defensive attitude. he guarded olsen in stretches and i even saw the san miguel PG dig a couple of "friendly" elbows to gec's chest. way to go, welcome back!

andrew cruz is with the coca-cola tigers???

oh, well... sayang talo ang coke kahapon... sana umabot pa sila sa semis ng invitationals...

as a practice player.

oh, ok...

gusto ko lang sabihin na sobrang pangit ng asian invitationals. di kasi magaling yung foreign teams and medyo, actually di medyo, talagang kinakawawa yung "philippine team"... the other countries must not be taking the pba seriously, kaya ganun na lang ang mga teams na pinadala nila... oh, well... sayang lang maganda sana yung concept...

May insight yung kaibigan ko tungkol dito eh. Parang ginawa itong tournament na ito para pataasin ang morale ng mga PBA players. Syempre masarap ang pakiramdan ng makalamapaso ng foreigner. hehehe. Kakaiba no?

di naman ako super basketball fan or expert analyst, pero sa na-oobserbahan ko lang, parang half-hearted and paglalaro ng pba players nowadays... di lang sa invitational cup kung di sa nakalipas na conference na rin... sana lang mabalik yung dating enthusiasm nila for the game and sana di ma-reduce into a commercial venture lang ang pba... sayang!