Basketball Sunday

Today was another great day for Philippine basketball. This hoops crazy country was lucky to witness games at all levels - collegiate, professional and international.

UAAP Games:

1PM UST vs UP, 66-49.

3pm ADMU vs FEU, 69-49.

Jones Cup:

7pm PHL vs TWN, 90-78.

PBA Governor's Cup Finals:

7pm Petron vs Talk n Text, 89-88.

Thank you Danny I, for ending this day with a bang! Kudos!

The GUIDON – One year off: Ryan Buenafe’s mea culpa

The GUIDON – One year off: Ryan Buenafe’s mea culpa

Overhyped?

Photo from: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/five-things-we-learned-after-ateneos-round-one-defeat-of-la-salle

The Phenom has arrived.

Check his stat line: 24 points (22 in the first half), 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. He torched Simon Atkins for god's sake.

Overhyped? I don't think so.

Maroons win!

photo from interaksyon.tv

Had the Final Four start today, the Fighting Maroons would have made it. haha

Cheers!

UAAP Season 74 1st round schedule

UAAP 74 FIRST ROUND MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Source: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Official-ABS-CBN-Sports-Page/283004042268

Sunday, Jul 10

Araneta Coliseum

12:30pm Primer

1pm FEU vs DLSU

3pm ADMU vs AdU

Thursday, Jul 14

Araneta Coliseum

1pm NU vs UST

3pm UE vs UP

Saturday, Jul 16

Araneta Coliseum

11am AdU vs FEU

3pm DLSU vs ADMU

Sunday, Jul 17

Araneta Coliseum

1pm UP vs NU

3pm UST vs UE

Thursday, Jul 21

Araneta Coliseum

1pm ADMU vs NU

3pm FEU vs UE

Saturday, Jul 23

Araneta Coliseum

1pm DLSU vs UP

3pm UE vs ADMU

Sunday, Jul 24

Philsports Complex

1pm NU vs FEU

3pm UST vs AdU

Thursday, Jul 28

Philsports Complex

1pm AdU vs UE

3pm NU vs DLSU

Saturday, Jul 30

Araneta Coliseum

1pm UP vs ADMU

3pm UST vs FEU

Sunday, Jul 31

Philsports Complex

1pm DLSU vs UE 20

3pm AdU vs NU

Thursday, Aug 4

Araneta Coliseum

1pm UP vs FEU

3pm ADMU vs UST

Saturday, Aug 6

Araneta Coliseum

23 1pm UE vs NU

3pm DLSU vs AdU

Sunday, Aug 7

Araneta Coliseum

1pm UST vs UP

3pm FEU vs ADMU

Thursday, Aug 11

Araneta Coliseum

1pm UP vs AdU

3pm UST vs DLSU

Setting expectations for the Blue Eagles

This season will serve as a banner year for the Ateneo Blue Eagles. Coming in as 3-peat champions, there is no doubt in my mind that this team is expected once again to contend. More than that, the team boasts of perhaps the most sought after class of rookies. Make no mistake about it, the team is coming back with TONS of expectations from the school, the rest of the league and even the whole basketball community but do keep in mind that despite all these HYPE, there are things that everyone should consider coming into this season:

1. With so many new players and technically only Eric Salamat and Jumbo Escueta leaving the team, incorporating these new players into Coach Norman's system may take time. Only Greg and Kiefer have played significant minutes in the summer leagues among the 5 newcomers. Expect Coach Norman to seldom use the Tallo + Capacio + Pessumal triumverate this year.

2. Between Greg and Kiefer, the phenom seems to have already found his role smoothly. Greg is just HUGE but right now there seems to be some uneasiness with him in the fold - especially on offense. Versus DLSU, Greg overwhelmed 6'8 Van Opstal on the boards and on defense but the Ateneo offense couldn't get its flow when he was down under. Expect him to dominate on the boards and on defense this year. Other than that, don't expect him scoring 30+ points per game just because he's a 7-footer.

3. Seems like Finals MVP Ryan Buenafe and Beda Boy Art Dela Cruz won't be seeing action at all this season. Or maybe never. That's a statement I'd rather not speculate on because of the rumors but yeah, expect these two guys not to appear on this year's roster and that gives us a big hole at the 3 position. Captain Bacon Austria is expected to be on the floor more often and Nico Salva just might spend more time at the three position.

4. Ryan Buenafe was Ateneo's "finisher" last year. Who'll clean the Blue Eagles mess or basically bail them out whenever necessary? Who's going to be Dirk? HAHA! Expect Nico Salva and Kiefer to fill in for this. That pick-and-roll between them will be deadly and unpredictable.

5. Lastly, despite all these "Ateneo domination" proclamations, expect this year's season to be even more competitive than last season. Expect UP to steal some games versus top-caliber teams. Expect NU to make the final four. Finally, expect FEU to top the eliminations with Ateneo following - just like last year. Let me know if this doesn't happen.

So here we are again. It's June and we're a month away from UAAP's opening day. Coming from the blue side, yeah, I see Ateneo as my own sentimental favorites. But wait, I see FEU dominating the year once again.

Predictions

Final Team Standings

1) FEU

2) Ateneo

3) NU

4) Adamson

5) DLSU

6) UST

7) UP

8) UE

Final Four

FEU in 2.

Ateneo in 1.

Finals

Ateneo in 3.

I'm no expert but this is the way I see it.

One big fight!!!

Coming out party for the Phenom

TJ Manotoc said it best: "This Phenom is FOR REAL"

I haven't seen a rookie dominate his debut game so well that he became the best player of the game with an amazing stat line: 25 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. He was so great that Greg Slaughter's performance was almost overshadowed.

Watch out UAAP. Barring any injury, this kid's going to be big! He is FOR REAL!

2011 FilOil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup schedule

A repost from inboundpass.com (by Christian Soler):

The 17 competing teams are split into two groups. Squads from the same group play each other in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group advance to the crossover, knockout quarterfinal round. The semifinals and finals are also knockout affairs. All games will take place at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan City

April 9, Saturday

1 pm: Opening Ceremonies
2 pm: *Ateneo vs San Beda
4 pm: *DLSU vs UST

April 13, Wednesday

1230 pm: EAC vs Letran
215 pm: San Beda vs Arellano
4 pm: NU vs UST

April 15, Friday

1230 pm: Mapúa vs CSB
215 pm: UP vs Letran
4 pm: UE vs JRU

April 16, Saturday

1230 pm: UST vs San Sebastian
215 pm: FEU vs Adamson
4 pm: NU vs San Beda

April 25, Monday

145 pm: UP vs FEU
330 pm: San Beda vs Lyceum
515 pm: Arellano vs DLSU

April 27, Wednesday

1230 pm: Adamson vs UE
215 pm: Lyceum vs Ateneo
4 pm: DLSU vs San Sebastian

April 29, Friday

1230 pm: Arellano vs NU
215 pm: FEU vs Mapúa
4 pm: JRU vs Letran

April 30, Saturday

1230 pm: UE vs EAC
215 pm: Adamson vs UP
4 pm: Ateneo vs UST

May 2, Monday

1230 pm: EAC vs FEU
215 pm: NU vs Lyceum
4 pm: CSB vs JRU

May 4, Wednesday

1230 pm: Arellano vs Ateneo
215 pm: Letran vs Adamson
4 pm: San Sebastian vs NU

May 6, Friday

1230 pm: Letran vs CSB
215 pm: Lyceum vs Arellano
4 pm: UP vs JRU

May 7, Saturday

1230 pm: EAC vs Adamson
215 pm: UE vs FEU
4 pm: Ateneo vs NU

May 11, Wednesday

145 pm: CSB vs Adamson
330 pm: JRU vs EAC
515 pm: San Sebastian vs Ateneo

May 13, Friday

130 pm: EAC vs UP
315 pm: Mapúa vs Letran

May 14, Saturday

1230 pm: UE vs CSB
215 pm: Lyceum vs San Sebastian
4 pm: FEU vs JRU

May 18, Wednesday

1230 pm: JRU vs Mapúa
215 pm: CSB vs EAC
4 pm: UE vs Letran

May 20, Friday

130 pm: CSB vs FEU
315 pm: Arellano vs San Sebastian

May 21, Saturday

1230 pm: UST vs Lyceum
215 pm: UP vs UE
4 pm: Adamson vs Mapúa

May 25, Wednesday

130 pm: Mapúa vs UE
315 pm: DLSU vs NU

May 27, Friday

130 pm: UP vs CSB
315 pm: Arellano vs UST

May 28, Saturday

1 pm: Mapúa vs EAC
3 pm: FEU vs Letran
5 pm: San Beda vs DLSU

June 1, Wednesday

1230 pm: UP vs Mapúa
215 pm: Lyceum vs DLSU
4 pm: San Sebastian vs San Beda

June 4, Saturday

2 pm: *San Beda vs UST
4 pm: *Ateneo vs DLSU

June 6, Monday

11 am: A2 vs B3
2 pm: *A1 vs B4
4 pm: *B1 vs A4
6 pm: B2 vs A3

June 8, Wednesday

2 pm: *A1/B4 vs B2/A3
4 pm: *B1/A4 vs A2/B3

June 12, Sunday

4 pm: *Finals

*- Game to be broadcasted live over Studio 23

March Madness Baby!

I'm no regular follower of US-NCAA basketball but man, I've been hearing a lot about the on going tourney and seems like it's one of the more exciting in years. So many close games and very few blowouts (which is a normal thing in tournaments like these). College basketball fans should be in a giddy! NBA scouts are all over the place as well! Exciting times for basketball as a sport. :)

I'm just hoping college basketball goes up to this level in the Philippines. I love the fact that UAAP and NCAA have become so popular that games are now televised LIVE. I remember the time when UAAP games were not televised and only championships were the only one's shown on TV - unfortunately, on delayed telecast!

With the rise of technology and social media these days, game information will forever be available. I remember following Ateneo games over twitter whenever I'm at work - shouting out when Ateneo held on for the win against FEU in the championship. Can't deny that college basketball right now is at it's peak but we need to realize that we're only focusing on the Manila teams and we don't have a "National Champion" - which the NCAA takes pride in unifying all leagues.

We do have the Champions' League (PCCL) and yeah, it has slowly grown to prominence - but I guess it will really take time for all these leagues to be aggregated into just one system. What's happening now is it becomes a "post-season" tournament where teams can strut their wares against opponents from other leagues and the title of "National Champion" doesn't have that attention just yet.

I hope a lot of time and funding can go into the PCCL. I want them to unify rules across all leagues so that when the tournament starts, we're all in the same page, footing etc.

I see Ateneo being the Duke counterpart of the NCAA. How about the other teams? What do you think?