Bleachers Brew #391 Sen. Cayetano & the UAAP headed for a showdown

This appears in the Monday April 28, 2014 edition of the Business Mirror.

Headed for a showdown

by rick olivares

Once more the UAAP has shown that it is incapable of making the right decisions.

Their recent stand about not doing away of any of its controversial residency rules and instead pushing its junking until the 2015-16 season is not only a slap to the face of Senator Pia Cayetano and other senators who have called attention to the unconstitutionality of the rules but also the student-athletes and sports fans and logic alike.

One of my sources from the UAAP Board informed me that the body believes that Senator Cayetano will not be able to have Senate Bill #2166, a act that provides for the magna carta of student-athletes, by June as she mentioned during the public hearing held last April 9 at the Philippine Senate. They know it will be passed but whether in time for the new school year -- they do not believe so.

When one league member mentioned the possibility of more temporary restraining orders being slapped on the league to enable the participation of affected athletes, one board member was alleged to have said, “Let them file their TROs then.”

It is an act of defiance by the league as a body with certain individuals or schools looking to punish some of their high school athletes for transferring to another league’s college that doesn’t make any sense to begin with. While the league is said to be looking into curbing excessive recruiting practices it beggars the mind why it has taken them this long to consider this. Instead of addressing concerns or problems this league has passed rules ad infinitum not in the spirit of fairness but by putting them at a disadvantage. Good Lord! And these are the people in charge of molding the young!

The schools that cry foul over the recruitment of their high school athletes should take a long hard look at themselves. For one, by bringing in student-athletes from the provinces aren’t they in essence recruited rather than home grown? I checked with a former UAAP player from Zamboanga and in his hometown school, he was a walk-in. There wasn’t anything offered to him. When this school in Manila recruited him, he was offered a basic allowance and a scholarship. I asked him if he thought that moving from Zamboanga to Manila was a better opportunity for him. “Of course,” he said without hesitation. Moving schools is considered an opportunity regardless whether there was an impetus or not.

In my previous commentary about this, the numbers show that not many of these schools’ high school athletes move up to their own colleges. If there is an extension between one’s high school and college, then why do students need to take entrance exams?

In another case of a hasty decision-making and ill informed planning, the league is also looking to implement a one-foreign player rule effective this season.

I believe there is nothing wrong with having foreign student-athletes on their athletic rosters. Limiting them is a good idea but this soon? That hurts some schools that are entering next school year with a certain mindset.

Removing them is a backward way of thinking especially in this age of globalization. To argue that they hamper the development of local big men is narrow-minded.  Why not impose height limits? Even one per team is good enough. If they insist, then conversely, remove even the imports in the pro league because it also doesn’t help local bigs. Maybe we’ll develop enough local centers to play in FIBA. Why not kick out the multi-national corporations and give the local companies a chance while we are at it?

Yet we chafe when our neighboring countries opine about kicking out or saying the Filipino workers are unwanted. Globalization is here to stay. In our own country, just as K-Pop has become popular so has Marian Rivera in Malaysia. There are sizeable foreign communities making the Philippines their home. We deny them that opportunity yet when we go abroad, we ask for ours. There is just so much hypocrisy going around.

In the United States, during the 1991-92 NCAA season, there were approximately 6,833 international student-athletes (ISAs) on rosters of American colleges. That number nearly tripled in 2007 with 16,063 ISAs spread across the NCAA landscape. And mind you, through the years there have been a number of Filipinos playing in American colleges.

In a Vanderbilt University study, the reason for ISAs is the result of several factors: the emergence of the internet, institutional desire for athletic prestige, and the desirability of diversity. To address this, the US NCAA also came up with rules but more on establishing their amateur status as opposed to professional players. While the US NCAA rules on recruitment and foreign players aren’t perfect, they are better than not having any. Unlike the local counterparts that have so much gray area that it is open to interpretation and misuse.

As it is, the new UAAP season will unfold not just with the usual excitement that sports competition brings but also that ever-growing dark cloud of uncertainty of a league that has long since abandoned the spirit of sportsmanship.

Shared experiences: WNBA great Tina Thompson & Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward share the secrets of their success.

This appears on NBA.com

Shared experiences:

WNBA great Tina Thompson & Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward share the secrets of their success.

by rick olivares

Tina Thompson and Gordon Hayward stood in front of the assembly of the top Jr. NBA players from all over the country. The gym at Focus Athletics along Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati fell silent.

It isn’t everyday when one of the WNBA’s all-time best players and one of the NBA’s rising stars (and one who stands at 6’8” at that) is paraded in front of budding young hopefuls.

Tina Thompson and Gordon Hayward both in town for the culmination of this year’s Jr. NBA shared with kids their insights on what has allowed them to make it to basketball’s pinnacle.

Both admitted that hard work, dedication to training in a gym such as Focus Athletics, paying attention to proper hydration, and a willingness to improve is important.

“I always want to win,” admitted Thompson whose pro basketball resume is glittering with silverware and platitudes. “I am from Los Angeles and I grew up watching Magic Johnson lead the Los Angeles Lakers to numerous championships. I think that you need a goal to shoot for. You work towards that goal and do everything you can to achieve those goals. That’s everything in a nutshell but there’s an awful lot of work you put in between. A lot of sacrifices.”

Thompson has the distinction of being the first ever lottery pick in WNBA history when she was selected first overall by the Houston Comets in 1997. By the end of the 2013 WNBA season, the LA native was the only player to have every played in all 17 seasons. She was a nine-time WNBA All-Star, a four-time champion with the Comets from 1997-2000, an All-Star MVP in 2000, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist during the 2004 and 2008 Summer Games.

For Hayward, it was his twin sister Heather who pushed him to be the best he could possibly be. “She was better than me when we were growing up and although it was friendly competition, that drove me. I have to say that my father (Gordon Scott) played a large role in my development. He taught me all the skills necessary for a small man to thrive in the game. I was also looking to try my hand at tennis as a career but little did I know that one day I’d have this growth spurt. And that sort of like was what pushed me to concentrate on basketball. Looking back it was one of the best things to happen to me.”

Most if not all the Jr. NBA kids come from small school in far-flung destinations. It’s something Hayward can identify with coming from a small school in Indiana. “Coming from a small school doesn’t mean that you have fewer chances,”

Hayward led his school (that has a student population of about 2,000 students) to the Indiana State championship. For college, he stayed home and went to tiny Butler University in Indianapolis and led the Bulldogs to the Horizon League championship. The following year, he took Butler to the NCAA title game. Hayward nearly won the championship for his school when his desperation half-court shot hit the backboard and rim at the buzzer. “To be able to have so much success in a small amount of time can get very bewildering. But you cannot rest on what you’ve achieved in the past and continue to strive for the future. It’s a cliché to say, ‘work hard’ and after some time it does fall on deaf ears. That is what separates the best from the others.”

Both Thompson and Hayward said that perhaps the biggest thing they had to work on to get to where they are at is that “mental edge”.

“That will spell the difference when you’re mentally strong because you’re never going to give up,” shared Thompson. “That mental edge provides the confidence to get things done on and off the court.”

When asked if he regretted coming out of college early to enter the NBA, Hayward said that there’s no time to regret anything. “You open yourself up to second guessing and you don’t want that. The best is to move forward.”

“That’s why it’s important for these Jr. NBA kids to work hard and I do mean work hard. It’s for that scholarship. It’s for a pro career if that is where they seem themselves going or for whatever it is in life they want to do. There are valuable lessons from sports. They just have to understand it and apply it.”

UST Juniors and Womens rule Filoil Flying V Opening

This appears on philstar.com

UST Juniors and Womens rule Filoil Flying V Opening

by rick olivares

The UST Lady Tigresses took the “rubber match” of a budding rivalry with the CEU Lady Scorpions, 73-57, for an opening day win the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at the San Juan Arena yesterday.

The two women’s teams played two games in the recently concluded Pilpinas Chinese Amateur Basketball League splitting the series. “Sabi ko sa team namin na panalunin natin to para hindi nila (CEU) masabi na tsamba yung panalo namin last time,” said senior shooting guard Kristine Siapoc who drilled in eight of 12 three-point attempts all from 25-feet out.

Siapoc provided the scoring sock that allowed UST to post a comfortable lead in the first period by going five-for-five from three-point range. The Lady Tigresses posted a 25-11 lead at the end of the first period.

CEU mounted a rally that saw them come back from 17-points down, 30-13, to come within three, 35-32 behind the sterling play of shooting guard Apet Pontejos (16 points) and point guard Demi Lou Villanueva (10 points) with 1:06 left to play in the second period. But the Lady Scorpions momentarily relaxed their press and the man-to-man guarding on Siapoc. UST’s shooting guard hit back-to-back treys to close out the first half for a 41-32 lead.

The Lady Tigresses held off one last charge by CEU before coasting to their first win of the summer tournament.

“Si Tin, eh,” praised UST head coach Chris Cantonjos. “Ayaw magmintis.” The former Growling Tiger said that he is fielding six new players for the next season and that they hope to use the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup as a springboard for the UAAP. “Dito na namin susubukan lahat para sa UAAP.”

Jhen Angeles backstopped Siapoc with 10 points.

UST made it a twin killing when the Tiger Cubs defeated the UP Junior Maroons, 91-86, in Juniors Play. Nicole Luna and Vince Ferrer, younger brother of current Growling Tigers’ star Kevin, scored 19 and 13 points respectively to lead their squad while UP was paced by Enzo Barraquias who top-scored with 27 points.

Talk ‘N Text’s new look

Talk ‘N Text’s new look

by rick olivares pics by mon rubio and nuki sabio

If you’re wondering what has come over the Talk ‘N Text’s suddenly hirsute appearance, then wonder no more.

Almost the entire team is sporting a beard or some facial hair.

I had to ask team manager Paolo Trillo about this considering the humid weather we have been experiencing. According to Trillo, when Richard Howell first came over, he was the only one (aside from Kelly Williams, Harvey Carey and a new-look Ranidel De Ocampo) sporting a beard. Then it became a team thing with four or five others joining in until everyone decided to sport some (more so since their unbeaten streak began).

The exceptions?

Jimmy Alapag and Jai Reyes.

Quipped Trillo, “No matter how hard they try, they just can’t seem to grow any hair on their face.”


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Imagine if TNT still had Jared Dillinger… I wanted to ask JD if he was a fan of the WWE's Daniel Bryan… you think it's a YES?

Breaking down Air21’s historic playoff win vs. SMB

This appears on the PBA website.

Breaking down Air21’s historic playoff win vs. SMB

by rick olivares pic by brosi gonzales

It’s ironic that Air21 head coach Franz Pumaren mentioned that it is the 25^th anniversary of the grand slam year of his old San Miguel ballclub. When Pumaren and his SMB teammates entered the PBA in the Open Conference of 1986, they won only two matches against 10 losses finishing at the bottom of the seven-team standings. The Cheesemakers had talent as they brought up that Northern Consolidated Cement team (of former college stars and national teamers) minus the naturalized players to the pro league but in that first conference, they were clearly going through a period of adjustment.

The next season, they finished third in two of the four tournaments played that year (there was a very short invitational tourney). By 1988, they had won two conference championships signifying their ascent to the top. Then in 1989 came the grand slam.

When Pumaren returned to the PBA, this time as head coach of Shopinas during the 2011-12 season, his team didn’t seem to have a clue as they went 0-14. That must have been déjà vu for the coach as his team of former college stars struggled to find their chemistry, rhythm, and game.

During the 2011-12 season, his team finished 5-27. He lost more games in one year in the PBA than during his eight years in the UAAP coaching La Salle (not counting those seasons where the matches were forfeited for player ineligibility) combined.

There was marked improvement during the 2012-13 season when Air21 went 14-25. There were two quarterfinals appearances last season and this year, his team looks to have finally found that groove. They aren’t all-league beaters like Pumaren’s old SMB teams were – yet -- but they are battling opponents tooth and nail. The Express are no longer an automatic win for foes.

Playing the returning San Miguel Beer (after a stint as the Petron Blaze Boosters) in the quarterfinals of the Commissioner’s Cup gives Coach Franz this odd vibe. Especially since he’s trying to spoil the anniversary of the Beermen’s grand slam by advancing – if possible – the campaign of Air21.

The Express finally won a playoff game by upending SMB, 92-79, in their quarterfinals match-up, last April 22 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, negating the Beermen’s twice-to-beat advantage. And what a match it was.

Air21’s 1^st Quarter storm where the Express played relentless and aggressive basketball for nearly the entire game.

Air21 jumped on SMB from the opening tip. Eliud Poligrates, a coup for this club as he was freed from Talk ‘N Text, dictated the frenetic play by fearlessly attacking the basket and being aggressive against counterpart Chris Ross.

SMB’s point guard was so flustered and harried that he committed seven turnovers to his eight assists.

You know that you’re getting aggressive play from Asi Taulava and with Poligrates playing the same way, it was infectious for Air21. They double-teamed JuneMar Fajardo and got him into early foul trouble.

Stopping SMB’s dribble-drive offense

When Ross or Sol Mercado drove inside the lane, they were funneled towards the big man with another defender sliding in to prevent the drop pass. When the SMB guards kicked the ball out, they were missing shots.

The inevitable SMB comeback

SMB began to come back late in the first period when their coaching staff had import Kevin Jones playing inside more (17 points from the last two minutes of the first period all the way to the second quarter) with Fajardo saddled with fouls and relatively ineffective. They preferred the uptempo pace, something that suits players like Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, and Mercado. 

With Jones almost unstoppable inside that opened up the perimeter for SMB’s players.

Furthermore, Air21 was a little slower in their defensive rotations allowing the Beermen better looks from the outside and the perimeter.

Case in point: at the 1:48 mark of the 1^st period and the score at 26-12 for Air21, Mercado was spotted for an open three. Jonas Villanueva was a second late in rotating out to Mercado who hit the triple.

During SMB’s next possession, Lutz found Jones for an and-one inside. Then Mercado closed out an 8-3 run to end the first and get back into the game 29-20.

Shooting blanks

Just when it seemed they had found the plot to the game, SMB began to brick shots.

With about 6:35 to play in the second period, I scribbled down in my notebook, “How big were those two missed lay-ups by Mercado and Jones? Aside from that, SMB missed three three-point attempts and one medium range jumper.

Then Taulava hit a fade away right before the 24-second shot clock expired to give Air21 a 34-22 lead.

The Beermen’s lone bright spot

Let me say this…. Kevin Jones carried the woeful Beermen. He didn’t get much support from his teammates Lutz scored 11 while Arwind Santos added 10 however the former was scoreless in the payoff period while the latter scored eight in the same frame (much too late to dent the lead).

Jones scored 34 points on 14-22 shooting from the field and 5-8 from the line. He also pulled down 15 rebounds with eight coming off the offensive glass. He also chalked up three assists and three blocks.

SMB had no flow to their game. Some players even seemed listless. And they clearly missed the lift of their twin threats in Lassiter (two points in 38 minutes) and Lutz.

Dialing back their game of yore

Taulava, the Big Fella, is far from done. He still has something in that tank. For a while he seemed content to knock guys around with his strength as his game went south. But Taulava has pride. He loves nothing more than to work on his game. And the match against SMB showed vintage Asi.

In that late charge by the Beermen to end the first quarter, Asi took a step back jumper over JuneMar with 46 seconds to play to make it 28-18. Emboldened by that big shot, he drove on their next possession to fish for Fajardo’s second foul.

Asi scored 17 points with 10 coming in the first half.

Sean Anthony played his biggest game since he starred for the Powerade Tigers’ incredible drive to the 2012 Philippine Cup Finals.

The only other player to really get under the collective skins of PBA players in Calvin Abueva and Beau Belga. Anthony is a pest with his physical game and boundless energy and penchant for being Charlie Hustle. They should create a stat just for Abueva, Belga and Anthony on how many tangled arms, cheap shots, elbows, banging inside and for position they account for every match. Anthony topscored for his team with 25 points. He also collected seven boards, one assist, and two steals.

When Taulava and Wes Witherspoon were in the bench, Anthony scored nine consecutive points to close out Air21’s third period for a 63-54 lead. And for good measure, he blocked Sol Mercado’s attempt at a buzzer beater (I don’t think Sean was credited for this).

As good a job Franz Pumaren has done with Air21, he was gracious enough to give credit to his players for this historic win by the long-suffering and title-starved franchise. The third-year PBA coach said that his team sustained their level of play and aggressiveness, kept their composure, and stuck to their system even when SMB made their run.

He tempered expectations and any celebration by noting that the two teams play in two days’ time.

Do you think his Express will continue to rain on SMB’s parade (and grand slam anniversary celebration)?

We’ll find out.