three signs that something is wrong with philippine basketball

(1) Pro coaches are now being hired based on how well they speak English. For all the good traits and skills that Alex Compton brings to the table, couldn't Coke (or the writer of this story) focus on anything other than his twang?

(2) The RP Patriots--the country's own representative to the Asean Basketball League--has just lost against the lowly Kuala Lumpur Dragons. That would have been ordinary news, except that "Malaysia" was led by Filipino imports (and former UAAP stalwarts) Roel Hugnatan, Rudy Lingganay and Toto Bandaying.

(3) The so-called "Dean of RP Hoops" has just "predicted" a heart attack for Floyd Mayweather Sr. Yes, the Mayweathers have just become far greater threats to national security than the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf combined, but it makes you wonder if that is really enough reason to print that particular "foresight" on a national broadsheet. And oh, as if that is not enough, Mr. Henson also prepared a trashtalk sheet for the younger of the Floyds.

random round-up: 10.13.09

So, it finally took Manny Pangilinan's "divine intervention" to sort out this Japeth Aguilar mess. How messy was it? Well let's just say that practically, Aguilar's rights went from BK to Smart Gilas to BK to Red Bull to Talk N Text then back to Smart Gilas--all in about a month's time.

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Speaking of Japeth, he and Rico Maierhoffer should consider enlisting in the rescue teams for flood victims. They probably won't need rubber boats to reach out to the victims.

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The NBA off-season has been pretty quiet recently, with the only significant news this past week being that of Andre Miller lashing out on his "reserve role." I wouldn't be too happy if I'm Steve Blake.

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Quiet or not though, it's about time we all get ready for the brand new fantasy hoops season that beckons. I'm betting a lot of people are more excited with that than with the actual games themselves.

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Me? I'm also excited with this.

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Apparently, a pro team in Indonesia is parading an import who goes by the name Rensy Bajar. In the inaugural game of the Asean Basketball League, the Indonesians faced the Philippine Patriots. Does that make Bajar the "Un-patriot?"

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Is it just me or does it feel like the current NCAA season has been extended to 82 games? And apparently, they're still not done with the qualification round.

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Over at the other side of the college fence, is this Ateneo team really that strong or are the other teams just a tad weaker? How do you think would they have fared against the champion teams of Cortez-Cardona-Ritualo, Santos-Miranda-Isip, or maybe even against Ateneo's own 2002 squad of Villanueva-Fonacier-Alvarez? Frankly, I think they could beat those, but they probably would not be able to in a best-of-three affair.

at long last

Let me begin by stating how (mostly) bored I am with the current UAAP season. I cannot remember going to these many games and not feeling any thrill --or feeling very little thrill--over the outcome.

You see, Ateneo has been lording it over in Season 72 that the only question left in their every game is how much garbage time...err...playing time will Vince Burke get.

To some, building these 30-point leads is loads of fun. But if you ask me, it gets tiring after some time.

I've always been a fan of underdogs, and I've never been used to being "spoiled" by this much. Call me a lunatic but I must admit that at some point in the season, I was really wishing that the games were more tightly contested, even if it means sending an "L" along Katipunan's way.

That never happened, as you probably know by now. Very few games--and opponents--offered a legit challenge to the defending champs.

But of course, you can't blame them for that. It's not their fault that they ran roughshod over the competition.

But that is also precisely the reason why I've been waiting for the Playoffs to begin (more like the Finals really, since I had doubts that UST could offer a stiff challenge after running their offense through 2 players the entire year).

Now I don't want to sound like an arrogant bastard to the opposing fans here, but God knows how long I've been waiting for someone or something that would give Rabeh Al-Hussaini and company a run for their money.

And as such, it wasn't surprising that I found myself grinning from ear-to-ear when the Eagles were smothered by the silky smooth hair of Lawrence Chongson last Sunday.

Okay, I wasn't really grinning (lest I get shot by Dick Gordon), but I also wasn't carrying a long face. Bottomline is that finally, after 17 matches and 40,800 seconds of playing time, we've got ourselves a ballgame.

And that is exactly how I like it.

the random round-up

Adrian Wojnarowski apparently does not like how Michael Jordan acted like Michael Jordan during his induction to the Hall of Fame. Well, some things are just hard to change, especially if those same things turned you into the greatest player of all time.

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For all the talks about how Allen Iverson could potentially mess up the Memphis Grizzlies, I have a feeling that his signing could actually bring something good to the table. Besides, how can you mess up something that's already as messed up as these Grizzlies?

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If he were anything, Jason Williams was the epitome of cool. Now that he's back with the Magic, you can say all you want about him being slow and being a liability on defense, but you can never take the coolness out of WHIT EBOY.

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How in the world can Stephon Marbury have only 32,000 Twitter followers? Twitter must have reset that count after he reached whatever maximum limit is allowed, right? RIGHT?

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Watching the finals of the FIBA- Americas last Monday reminded me that before Ricky Rubio, there was this guy. Ladies and gentlemen, let me reintroduce Mr. Carlos Alberto Arroyo.

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Incidentally, that same championship match also reminded me that before Napoleon Dynamite, there was Daniel Santiago.

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To cap things off on the FIBA- Americas, I still don't understand how Brazil's Anderson Varejao a.k.a. Sideshow Bob is worth 50 MIL in the NBA. The Cavs must have seen something with that hair.

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And oh, before I forget, Juan Manuel Marquez admitted on HBO's 24/7 that he drinks his own pee during training. He also chews on his own poop during his sparring sessions. (Okay, that second one was made-up, but still? Extracting vitamins from your urine?)

the day japeth aguilar upstaged ricky rubio

There definitely is something fishy going on with this Japeth Aguilar situation. You can say all you want about "wanting to help the country" and "sacrificing a career in the pro league," but all those big words are just secondary to the biggest one of them all: MONEY.

I'm pretty sure there are "forces" out there who led to this (with Ronnie Nathanielsz as your manager, anything is possible), but the poor kid will certainly be the one facing all the rap here. At the end, it's not exactly the decision that will forever be criticized but the flip-flopping involved.

But what's done is done, and there is only one thing left for me to say at this point: Boy, I can't wait to watch Smart-Gilas play Burger King in the All Filipino Cup.

While I imagine that, you can read the rest of the press release here.

two quick things on the quickest man alive

One: Usain Bolt is damn good.

The fastest man on the planet, Bolt has turned the sprint competitions into a one-man show. And in case you haven't heard of his latest exploits, go google them up. It won't be long before he runs to 100-m faster than Google returns your search results.

Two: Usain Bolt is damn good--and he damn knows it.

Quotes such as "I'm on my way to being a legend" and "I've written history, pretty much" are quotes you can't just throw around without having walked the talk. In his case, Bolt didn't just walk, he breezed through it.

you know it's another boring day

When this continues to remain as the headline on Y!Sports.