James Harden believes Pinoys have talent to make it to the NBA

This appears in the Friday, July 25, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.

James Harden believes Pinoys have talent to make it to the NBA

by rick olivares

“You’ll have to forgive me. I’m more at ease on the basketball court.”

Houston Rockets guard James Harden eased into a seat at the ballroom of the Hotel Sofitel Manila after the press conference for the NBA 3X Philippines,

Harden is in Manila along with Eric Gordon of the New Orleans Pelicans for the three-on-three competition sponsored by Sprite. It is Harden’s second trip to Manila following his participation in an exhibition match that featured other NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, and Chris Paul among others during the league lockout two years ago.

“I don’t do crowds well,” admitted Harden who after three years of playing the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Sixth Man, blossomed into the Main Man over at Houston. “I’m more at ease with smaller groups of interviews. But I’ll do my talking on October when we play Indiana.”

“But the weather is great. I’m here a little longer. Maybe I can catch some local basketball,” said Harden who admitted to being a hoops junkie. “I hear the national team will be playing tomorrow.” The player known as ‘The Beard’ was referring to the exhibition match between Gilas Pilipinas and Kazakhstan tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum before the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship that tips off on August 1.

The Rockets, will be playing the Indiana Pacers in the first NBA Pre-season game to be played in the Philippines this coming October 10.

Harden, who has four NBA seasons to his credit is rapidly carving out a name for himself as one of the league’s best hoopsters. He’s adjudged the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year 2012. He was an All-Star this past season in addition to being named to the All-NBA third team. And he also has an Olympic Gold Medal as part of the US National Team that defending their crown in London two years ago.

“The gold medal (from the London Olympics) is nice to have,” revealed the six-foot-five native Californian. “If I can win an NBA championship then it will be a nice way to cap my basketball career. It’s good to see the Rockets organization put the parts together for a title run.”

He also observed that with all the flurry of NBA activity of late – from the recent arrival of Muggsy Bogues and LeBron James to the upcoming visits of Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose – in the Philippines, “you guys are on the road map of basketball. I was impressed last time with the talent here. I’d say that if you work hard and who knows you might get a lucky break, we’re going to see a Filipino in the NBA. More and more the game has become global and we’re really seeing the best players around the world in the NBA.” Harden has Turk Omer Asik as a teammate in Houston while he also had Congolese-Spaniard Serge Ibaka as a colleague with the OKC Thunder.

“So maybe soon you’ll be seeing one of your own. And maybe we’ll see him tomorrow in the NBA 3X.’

The NBA 3X will be held at the Music Hall of the SM Mall of Asia from July 26-28.

42 is a rousing walk off home run

42 is a rousing walk off home run

by rick olivares

While working in a private school in Flatbush, Brooklyn, more than a decade ago, some parents would ask me on the side if I could babysit their kids on weekends. If I wasn’t doing anything, I took the job that would usually last several hours. One time, I went to my “babysitting duties” in a Yankee jersey.

The grandfather of this kid I was babysitting was in the house and he struck a conversation with me that I will always remember.

“There was a time when this city was torn between the Giants, the Dodgers, and the Yankees,” grandpa started by way of introduction.

“The Yankees may be on top of the hill right now but that wasn’t always so. Brooklyn was where our Bums ruled. This was Dodger Town. And when that boy Jackie Robinson came over, he made us more damn proud.”

My memories of Jackie Robinson are from those old Time Life magazines that I inherited from my grandfather and those grainy pictures on a well-thumbed Reader’s Digest Sports Almanac that I read and re-read so many times that I memorized almost every single entry. My mom found it ironic that I could compute a player’s batting average but I would falter in my math classes at home (she actually swore that at times, the zeros on my quiz papers resembled baseballs).

I am a dyed in the wool Yankee fan and I love the sport of baseball as only a kid can. Yet I have this fascination with Jackie Robinson (just as much as Joan of Arc, Brit rocker Paul Weller, and Julius Erving). It is a fascination that endures.

I picked up Aaron Rampersad’s excellent ‘Jackie Robinson: A Biography’ (the author was selected by Robinson’s widow, Rachel, to write it and was given unprecedented access to the late baseball player’s papers) and it has a special place in my massive collection of books and magazines.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the film ‘42’ online. I thought that it would be shown locally but it turns out (it was confirmed last night) that it won’t. When US Ambassador Harry Thomas invited me to the special premier at the Mall of Asia last Wednesday, July 24, I leapt at the chance even if I was under the weather.

Not only was it a baseball film but it was also a period piece. I’m a sucker for those and love how at least on film, people today got a look at what the old Ebbets Field looked like not to mention those vintage cars, radios, clothes etc. I can only imagine how those Brooklyn old-timers felt seeing this film. Did it bring back a lot of memories? 

After reading Ampersad’s book, I felt as if Robinson had really come alive through '42' lead Chadwick Boseman (who also resides in Brooklyn) who at once channels the wonder, fear, playfulness, and guardedness of a black man of that era.

Writer/director Brian Helgeland (LA Confidential and Mystic River) cites just enough of the racist abuse and challenges of the time as well as what Robinson went through without wearing the viewer down with repetitiveness. The Ben Chapman/Philadelphia Phillies incident is particularly disturbing. And just as Dodgers owner branch Rickey predicted, that incident created a lot of sympathy for Robinson and that scene also wins over the audience (if you haven’t been won over from the start).

Harrison Ford’s portrayal of Dodgers’ gruff visionary owner Branch Rickey at first seems odd. Maybe it is because when I see Ford, I see Han Solo and Indiana Jones. At times, I wonder if his portrayal of Rickey is forced but when I look at those old photos of the late baseball man then maybe Ford is spot on too with his portrayal.

When Robinson presses Rickey for a second time on why he is doing this for him, he admits (truthfully and in reality) that he is making up for not standing up for a former black teammate Charles Thompson who was broken by the racism in the first decade of the 20^th century while he was managing Ohio Wesleyan University.

As Robinson would later say at Rickey’s funeral, he was only one of two men who did more to break racism in America and the other being Abraham Lincoln.

Nicole Beharie plays Rachel Robinson and she holds her own against the other protagonists. There’s a quiet strength about her character who is real life was the emotional bedrock of Jackie.

I love how the film flows through all the myriad of characters featured – Rickey, journalist Wendell Smith, Rachel Robinson, and the Brooklyn Dodgers players – without becoming convoluted. The aforementioned three are his confidants and help him overcome the difficulties of that first season.

There are light moments that ensure the film doesn’t become too tightly wound. When Ralph Branca asks Robinson why he doesn’t take showers with his teammates it is at once awkward and comical. But just when you think everything is hunky dory with the Dodgers, when Robinson joins his teammates, teammate Dixie Walker hastily leaves while looking peeved.

I am glad that the Pee Wee Reese moment where he drapes his arm around Robinson in a show of solidarity during a game at Cincinnati is given the proper respect. That moment is forever immortalized in a statue at the home field of the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park at Coney Island.

The baseball action is just right and it stops short before the World Series with the New York Yankees that season. The reenactment of the duel between Pittsburgh Fritz Ostermueller and Robinson is the climax of the film (more on this later). And Jackie’s homerun to send the Dodgers into the World Series is one of sport’s most incredible and thrilling moments.

I have to admit that I wondered what it was like at home plate for Robinson. In the film, Pee Wee Reese shakes his hand as he crosses the plate. Didn’t his teammates mob him at the plate?

However, I’d like to score Helgeland for a couple of mistakes that they glossed over for whatever reason.

It was the late great writer Wendell Smith (excellently played by Andre Holland) who chronicles Robinson’s season with Brooklyn. It was Smith who recommended Robinson to Rickey. In the film, Rickey picks out Robinson from a pile of dossiers.

Then when Robinson leaves Daytona for New York, he tosses a baseball to a young Ed Charles. That incident happened minus the tossing the baseball.

Third, there’s the duel between Ostermueller and Robinson. When the pitcher hit Robinson, it was on the arm and not on the head. Furthermore, he was a lefty but in the film he was a righty. Furthermore, the Dodgers were ahead of that match against the Pirates. Robinson’s home run against Ostermueller came in the fourth inning. In a subtle manner, Helgeland shows Reese congratulating him at home plate indicating the game isn’t over. But nevertheless, it was a momentous and thunderous home run.

I know it’s a Hollywood film but I wish they nailed these things right down to the last detail.

And at the very end of the film right before the credits, they showed modern baseball players wearing the number ‘42’. I wondered first why the Yankees’ Derek Jeter was shown but then realized that it was because of his biracial lineage. But I wonder why Jeter’s teammates Robinson Cano (who was named after Jackie Robinson) and Mariano Rivera (the last active baseball player to wear the #42) are not shown.

I think they should have also mentioned that Dodgers moved to Los Angeles following the 1957 season. Furthermore, Ebbets Field is now an apartment complex now known as the Jackie Robinson Apartments. And having written that, they should have also shown the Reese-Robinson statue at MCU Park.

My points aside, I loved and enjoy ‘42’. If you aren’t a baseball junkie like me who knows these little tidbits it will not detract from the film. And it makes a perfect addition to other similar films like ‘Remember the Titans’.

It was an even better thrill to be watching it with an audience that loves and breathes baseball. In attendance were youth, college, and seniors baseball teams. Some sports officials and a few local politicians with an affinity for the game.

Thanks again for the invite, Mr. Ambassador.

Batter up!

LeBron James tells Philippines he’s not done yet

This appears in the Wednesday, July 24, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.

LeBron James tells Philippines he’s not done yet

by rick olivares

Barely two months after a grueling seven-game NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs, it was a visibly tired yet game LeBron James who met members of the Philippine and international media during a press conference held at the Shangri-La Manila Ballroom yesterday.

James, the two-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat, flew on a private jet chartered by Nike. He arrived Monday afternoon for a one-day visit to this basketball mad republic. Aside from the press conference, James graced a basketball skills session with college athletes from Ateneo, FEU, and La Salle among others at the Mall of Asia Arena.

His arrival triggered a fan mania unseen yet in these shores. Thousands of fans stood in line for as much as 48-hours at the Nike Park at Bonifacio High Street to acquire two tickets to see James.

The 6’8” James, who is rapidly adding to what is already an impressive basketball resume, said that he heard about the Philippines from his Fil-American head coach Erik Spoelstra. “It’s a great pleasure to be here,” said James. “He (Spoelstra) said that basketball here is huge and the fans are very passionate.”

The four-time NBA Most Valuable Player described the back-to-back championships as “emotionally draining.”

“A playoff game is five times more difficult than a regular season game,” bared James. “The emotions ran high and low through both series (against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs). My first series last year against OKC, we lost Game 1 so my emotions were very low at that time. But I kept my cool and we won four straight and I showed my emotions after the game. This year, I was on the floor the whole time against a great San Antonio team. And they really pushed us. It was basically a sigh of relief that we were able to accomplish that goal.”

James also said that he isn’t done yet with winning. “I am 28 years old and have been in the league for 10 years. And I have a lot more that I want to accomplish. The word ‘legacy’ is always difficult. When I hang up my jersey, my resume, my game speaks for itself.”

He also added that he learned to play the game the right way as a youngster. “My little league coach Frank Walker taught me to play the game the right way. That no matter how good one individual one is it takes a team to win a championship. He laid the DNA of how to play the right game of basketball in me. You never think about that. You never understand that the game is bigger than it is. So my whole dream was to get better each and every day and I had a dream about wanting to play in the NBA.”

And LeBron James did get better. He is one of nine players to win a Most Valuable Player Award in the regular season and in the Finals (Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tim Duncan are the two other ones).

Yes, we're going to have UAAP Matches at the Smart Araneta Coliseum

UAAP Action at the Araneta Center

Men’s, women’s and junior’s games slated at the Big Dome

The exciting second round of eliminations at the Smart Araneta Colisem will be schedules as follows:

All the top UAAP basketball teams for men’s, women’s and junior’s division will converge at the Big Dome for the much-awaited 76^th Season finals on October 2 and 5.

NCAA's statement on the Franz Dysam shooting

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) condemns the attempt on the life of Colegio de San Juan de Letran Men’s Basketball player Franz Dysam and the killing of Ms. Joanne Sordan.

Such violence has no place in our society.

We are appealing to those who may have any information on the incident to come out and help the authorities to bring those responsible to justice.

The member schools of the NCAA have always held the welfare of their students with utmost importance. It is in this regard that we join Colegio de San Juan de Letran community in seeking for the immediate resolution of the case and praying for the speedy recovery of Franz.

We also extend our condolences to the family of Ms. Joanne and pray for her repose.

10 Questions for Fabio Cannavaro

10 Questions for Fabio Cannavaro

Q: If you can cite your most memorable moments in your football career, what would they be?

Fabio: Of course, the victory in the World Cup (in 2006). There’s the Player of the Year Award and winning with Real Madrid.

Q: How does it feel to be only the second defender to win a Ballon d’Or award?

Fabio: It is a very good feeling. Before the award was only given to attackers who people think are the only ones who sell tickets. But defenders also win games. However, in the case that I won the award, people look at defenders differently now.

Q: Tell us about your road to becoming a professional football player.

Fabio: It is very simply. At 12 years old, I went to the youth team of Naples that is just 100 meters from where I live. I worked hard until I made the first team. The rest is history.

Q: Who were your football idols when you were growing up?

Fabio: I started out as a midfielder and my idol was Bernd Schuster, a German football player who was also a midfielder. He was later my manager with Real Madrid and it was fun playing for him. We won the league title. When I was 16 or 17, I was switched to defence and my reference was Ciro Ferrara (who I played with Naples and Juventus).

Q: How did you get your nickname as “the Berlin Wall”?

Fabio: I do not know how it is born. I think it was because of an English commentator. Maybe it is because we did not concede any goals during our run to the world championship. Only a penalty and an own goal.

Q: How has life been after you retired from football? What are you doing now?

Fabio: For the moment it is to become a coach. I passed my FIFA Master’s Course and now when I start with my club in Dubai (Al Ahli), I hope to win a championship as a coach and later as coach of Italy!

Q: What can you say about today’s crop of football players?

Fabio: Each generation has its pluses and minuses. Certainly now, a top player should not only think of playing but also is continually distracted by media, events, and sponsors. Back in my day, at the beginning of my career, we thought of only to play.

Q: What do you know of football in Asia?

Fabio: Certainly growing. Japan and Korea prove it. It’s potentially huge. Like all sports, it very much depends on the quality of the coaches in the youth teams.

Q: What have you heard about football in the Philippines?

Fabio: That it is growing!

Q: What are you looking forward to the most in the Clear Dream Match?

Fabio: It is to coach the players to train hard, show the game respect, and to enjoy themselves and the game.

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More info on the Clear Dream Match 2 and the press launch

The Blue Eagles defeat UP to put themselves back in the fight

The Blue Eagles defeat UP to put themselves back in the fight

by rick olivares

The Ateneo Blue Eagles notched their second win (in six outings) with a 72-64 win over the luckless University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons last Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Blue Eagles were in control for most of the game and were looking for a blowout win when the starters came off and the third stringers were unable to hold on to the lead. The cavalry charged back in and stopped the rally.

It was a huge win because it kept the team out of the cellar and in a position to climb back into the chase for a Final Four slot (more so with the loss of UST to undefeated FEU in the main game of the Sunday double header.

FEU 6-0

UST 3-2

Adamson 3-2

NU 3-3

La Salle 2-3

UE 3-3

Ateneo 2-4

UP 0-5

Here is what I liked and thought of the game against the Maroons:

1.    Kiefer Ravena is still not fully in the flow of things YET he played his best game thus far. The Phenom compiled 15 points (to lead Ateneo) albeit on 6-15 field goal shooting, 2-4 free throws as well as 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 turnover.

You could see he struggled with his timing flubbing shots he normally makes. But as the game went on, he began to play better. And he did it on defense.

Against UE, he was torched by Roi Sumang and Dan Alberto but that was also because he was a step slower. Well, he still was but you have to like the kid’s iron will. He simply raised the level of his game.

Post-match, I asked Ravena if he liked what he was doing (his effort and movement) on the court and he said he is far from 100% but he’s getting there. The break between two rounds would do him well.

2.    The center duo of Frank Golla and JP Erram played terrific and were key.

For Ateneo to have a fighting chance, much resides in the ability of Golla and Erram to stay on the court. They stayed out of foul trouble (Golla had only two while Erram none) and as a result, Ateneo coach Bo Perasol was able to shuffle them in and out for rest and timely substitutions.

1.    Chris Newsome stopping Samuel Marata was massive. Marata got hot in the last few minutes but that was with Newsome on the bench seemingly done for the day when the bench could not hold the lead.

So far, New has made a name for himself as a dynamic defensive stopper and an exciting talent. I think he did very well against Ray Parks, Terrence Romeo, and Jeron Teng before he ran into a bit of trouble with Jericho Cruz before putting the clamps on Roi Sumang. Against Marata, the UP sniper had lots of trouble until he had a smaller guard on him.

Who doesn’t wait with bated breath for that slam every game? Last time I felt like that JC Intal was still in his dress blues. The alley-oop connection between Juami Tiongson and Newsome was sudden and explosive. The perfect rally killer.

2.    Don’t laugh, but I felt that Ateneo stopped UP’s bench cold. Yes, Jason Ligad scored 10 points but other players like Martin Pascual, who does a good job of hitting some big and timely shots for the Maroons, didn’t do jack. JR Gallarza can be such a firestarter for this team but he was taken out of the game real quick. Moriah Gingerich is good for a few minutes and a trey here and there but he was stopped as well. Those three have played well for UP in their last outings. Unable to get any headway, that forced their starters to play longer minutes.

Of course, you’d want players like Raul Soyud and Chris Ball to get more minutes but while Ball, Marata, and Ligad raised their scoring averages, Soyud did not.. Furthermore, they lost the rebounding war 51-40 (UP averages 41.8). And those extra boards meant that Ateneo had 12 fastbreak points (they average 7.0) and 14 turnover points.

1.    Ateneo let UP play mostly one on one. The Fighting Maroons average a league low 10.5 assists per game. Against Ateneo, they only had eight dishes while the Blue Eagles, who average 13.4 finished with 17.

2.    Ateneo shot more free throws. Despite missing Greg Slaughter, Nico Salva, and Justin Chua, the Blue Eagles are second in the league in free throw shooting (despite shooting fewer attempts). They had made 74 of 101 attempts for 73.3% (FEU is tops at 72-96 that is good for 75%). But on overall attempts, Ateneo is fifth, they just make their shots more than the other teams that is why they are second.

When Kiefer Ravena gets healthy. When Ryan Buenafe loses some more weight. When JP Erram raises his confidence this team will attack the lane more. You saw that against UP. Now we will see how they fare against a taller UST team.

I have to admit that this win was huge as it prevents the blue and white from falling into the cellar. It would have been disastrous to lose that game. But Ateneo played controlled basketball and generally executed well.

FEU is moving away from the pack. Let them. Right now, no one team really has a lock on the three remaining seats for the Final Four bus. The important thing is to secure that seat.

There’s one last assignment before a two week break (due to the FIBA games) but that is not an easy one – UST.

2013 FIBA Asia: Qatar, Japan fly into Manila with questions

This appears in philstar.com

Qatar, Japan fly into Manila with questions

by rick olivares

With West Asian powerhouse Lebanon out of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship as a result of a four-year suspension, Group B of the tournament will only have three teams with FIBA opting not to invite either Iraq or the United Arab Emirates as was initially speculated.

Group B will now only have Qatar, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Japan is ranked 35^th in the world by FIBA followed by Qatar at number 36. Hong Kong is at number 71.

Qatar and Japan are perennial qualifiers for FIBA Asia while Hong Kong is back after its last appearance in the 2007 edition that was held in Tokushima.

Qatar is considered to be a dark horse contender at the 27^th FIBA Asia Championship. New head coach Tom Wisman will have his work cut out for him as Qatar lost a pair of exhibition matches to Tunisia 76-64 and 68-35 before their trip to Manila.

“We didn’t play the first match well and the team suffered from many shortcomings. To me, the results of these games aren’t that important as I’m just trying out new permutations and combinations,” Wisman explained. “We changed our tactics in the second match and it proved to be effective. The team performed much better. But we’ll sit down and analyze where we went wrong. I should say I’m not too disappointed with the players’ overall display,” said Wisman.

Ironically, Wisman, an Australian national, was the former head coach of Japan and was tasked with helping the land of the Rising Sun achieve Olympic qualification for the 2012 London Summer Games. Despite masterminding Japanese team Link Tochigi Brex to the Japan Basketball League title in 2009-10, Wisman found Olympic qualification a much more difficult task.

Japan is flying into Manila in a somewhat dispirited state after finishing the recently concluded Jones Cup with a 0-7 record.

Wisman’s replacement as Japan coach, former national player, Suzuki Kimikazu, is optimistic about Japan’s pursuit of berth in the 2014 FIBA World Championship in Spain with JR Sakuragi rested and healthy.

“Sakuragi plays an important role for this team.” Suzuki said. “Several national teams have naturalized players as centers, so we need Sakuragi.” In a follow up.

Japan will field a young team led by Sakuragi, Kosuke Takeuchi, Takahiro Kurihara, Daiki Tanaka, and Ryota Sakurai. Also in their roster in their young 6’7” small forward Yuta Watanabe who will be attending St. Thomas More Preparatory School in Connecticut in the United States after the FIBA tournament in hopes of playing for a Division One school.

Suzuki is hoping that Watanabe will show his worth for the national team despite admitting several months ago that the young prodigy is not ready for seniors competition. “It’s now or never for Watanabe,” pronounced the head coach.