2011 PBA Draft: JV Casio top rookie pick, Paul Lee second

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) held its annual Rookie Draft last Sunday, August 28, 2011 with Smart Gilas' JV Casio as the #1 rookie pick.



The Powerade Tigers, the team which had the ball this 2011 PBA Draft to choose the 1st overall draft pick, has selected former De La Salle University (DLSU) player JV Casio from 34 aspirants.



Getting the 2nd pick was the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the team picked Paul Lee from the University of the East (UE).



Here's the results of the 2011 PBA Rookie Draft, starting off with 5'10"-tall JV Casio as the 1st overall pick:



1. Joseph Evans "JV" Casio - picked by Powerade Tigers

2. Paul Lee - Rain or Shine Elasto Painters

3. Christopher Ryan "Chris" Lutz - Petron Blaze Boosters

4. Marcio Lassiter - Powerade Tigers

5. Mark Barroca - Shopinas

6. Mac Baracael - Alaska Aces

7. Jason Ballesteros - Meralco Bolts

8. Allein Maliksi - Petron Blaze Boosters

9. Reil Cervantes - Barangay Ginebra Kings

10. Dylan Ababou - Barako Bull Energy Boosters

11. Magi Sison - Shopinas

12. Pamboy Raymundo - Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters

13. Eric Salamat - Alaska Aces

14. Julius Pacualadao - Alaska Aces

15. Ariel Mepana - Alaska Aces

16. Brian Ilad - B-Meg Llamados

17. Gilbert Bulawan - Meralco Bolts

18. James Martinez - Barangay Ginebra Kings

19. Kenneth Acibar - Barako Bull Energy Boosters

20. Paul Sorongan - Barako Bull Energy Boosters





Photo courtesy of Nuki Sabio / PBA

Smart Gilas vs Chinese Taipei: William Jones Cup 2011

LATEST UPDATE: Smart Gilas wins vs Chinese Taipei, takes 3rd spot, 82-72.





PREVIOUS UPDATE: The final matches in the 2011 William Jones Cup are happening today, August 14, 2011, and the Philippine national team "Smart Gilas" will vie only for the 3rd place slot after it lost to Iran, 59-78, during the semi-finals held yesterday.



Iran, who's the 2009 and 2010 William Jones Cup champion, now heads to its 3rd championship game in 3 years this time against Korea while Smart Gilas will have to face Chinese Taipei in a battle for 3rd place.



Prior to the "Smart Gilas vs Chinese Taipei" game which happens at 5PM and the championship game between Iran and Korea at 7 PM, the teams from Japan (last year's 3rd placer) and Jordan face each other first for the 5th slot.



All three games today will still be held at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan where all previous games were also held.



Last year, Smart Gilas finished in 4th place and if they win 3rd place today, it will be its highest placement in the William Jones Cup as "Smart Gilas" since the Philippines (San Miguel Beer and Philippine Centennial Team) already achieved that feat twice in 2005 and 2007, and even won champion two times, in 1985 and 1998.



Goodluck to Smart Gilas!

PBA vs NBA 2011 Exhibition Game Results: NBA wins over PBA, 131-105

The super exciting matchup of PBA superstars vs NBA superstars happened earlier tonight, July 23, 2011, in Araneta Coliseum and was aired live at AKTV on IBC13.

As part of the 2-game series dubbed as the Ultimate All-Star Weekend, the NBA team (as Smart All-Stars), composed of Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Derek Fisher, Tyreke Evans, James Harden and Derrick Williams, faced our very own PBA All-Stars in the hard court, with the NBA team winning bigtime over PBA, 131-105.

The PBA All-Stars was comprised of James Yap, Mark Caguioa, Jayson Castro, Sonny Thoss, LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Solomon Mercado, Alex Cabagnot, Marc Pingris, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Ryan Reyes, Danny Seigle, JC Intal and Arwind Santos, who even made it to Twitter's Top 10 Trending Topics worldwide.

Here's the scores after each quarter:

1st Quarter: NBA 30, PBA 26
2nd Quarter: NBA 66, PBA 50
3rd Quarter: NBA 107, PBA 78
4th Quarter: NBA 131, PBA 105

NBA's JaVale McGee was the Best Player of the game with a total of 25 points. Here's how the NBA players scored during the game:

JaVale McGee 25 points
Kevin Durant 22 pts
Derrick Williams 19 pts
Tyreke Evans 17 pts
James Harden 16 pts
Kobe Bryant 12 pts
Chris Paul 11 pts
Derrick Rose 9 pts
Derek Fisher 0 pt

The Filipino ballers did their best, but not enough to beat the NBA All-Stars. Arwind Santos also scored 25 big points, just like McGee, but no other PBA players scored as big as his.

Arwind Santos 25 points
Alex Cabagnot 9 pts
Marc Pingris 9 pts
Rabeh Al-Hussaini 8 pts
Solomon Mercado 8 pts
Gary David 8 pts
Gabe Norwood 7 pts
Ryan Reyes 6 pts
Sonny Thos 4 pts
Jason Castro 4 pts
Mark Caguioa 4 pts
Danny Seigle 4 pts
JC Intal 4 pts
Larry Fonacier 3 pts
LA Tenorio 2 pts
James Yap 0 pt

Watch a video of the NBA-PBA game (2nd half highlights, video courtesy of LakersPortal):


The NBA team will have one more game tomorrow, July 24, 1 PM, but this time they will be facing the Smart Gilas Pilipinas national team.

UAAP Season 74 Opening Ceremony (video)

The UAAP Season 74 has kicked off Saturday afternoon, July 9, 2011, with UAAP Season 71 to 73 Champion Ateneo De Manila University as the host.

And unlike in the previous years' opening ceremony, the UAAP Season 74 Opening was held outdoors, at the Marikini Sports Park, and as expected, it rained.

Some non-Ateneans reportedly blamed the host university for holding the Olympic-inspired opening ceremony outdoors and for not anticipating the possibility of rain especially in this rainy month of July.

Watch a video of the UAAP Season 74 Opening Ceremony with rock band SpongeCola singing "Puso":

The UAAP Season 74 Opening Games will be held tomorrow, Sunday, at 1 PM (FEU vs La Salle) and at 3 PM (Ateneo vs Adamson University) in Araneta Coliseum.

Video upload courtesy of sherlock717a

UAAP Season 74 Opening this July 9 | Meet La Salle Green Archers' roster of players

Simon Atkins will still be the Team Captain of the De La Salle Green Archers in the upcoming UAAP Season 74.

It's now Simon Atkin's 5th Year to play for the Green Archers and for his final year, he will be leading the team in getting back the UAAP championship title which was won by the team 4 years ago during Simon's debut year in UAAP.

Simon is the only one playing on his 5th year among La Salle Green Archers players and we shall see if he will have a great final year in UAAP.

Aside from Atkins, returning players for DLSU Green Archers are Luis Alfonso "Luigi" De la Paz, Jarelan Tampus, Enrique Raphael "Aiki" Herrera, Philip "Papot" Paredes, Almond Vosotros, Mark Jovet Mendoza, Alvin Joseph "Maui" Villanueva, Joshua David Webb, Samuel Joseph "Sam" Marata, Martin John Reyes and Yutien Andrada.

Luis Alfonso "LA" Revilla will make a grand comeback for the Green Archers this UAAP Season 74 after missing out two seasons.

But definitely the team's new additions next season excite me the most. These photos would tell you why...

Roldan "Dan" Sara


Alfonso "Ponso" Gotladerafor


Arnold Van Opstal (Fil-German, stands 6'8")

So excited to see them play!

Not in pictures but also making his debut for the Green Archers is Norbert Torres. (Sorry, can't find a picture of you.)

I hope UAAP Season 74 will bring back the parade of players with their muses. Last year, there were no muses, but instead achievers from each school marched alongside the team captains.

For DLSU, Team Captain Simon Atkins escorted Enchong Dee during Season 73 Opening and let's all hope that for the new season, muses will be back and Atkins definitely would love to have Kim Chiu on his side as his muse. (Posible kaya?)

The UAAP Season 74 Opening Ceremonies will be held this July 9, that's a Saturday, at the Marikini Sports Center and will be aired live still on Studio 23.

LeBron James, Dwayne Wade of Miami Heat caught on video mocking Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki being sick

After he made one of his worst playoff performances in Game 4 last Tuesday, Miami Heat's LeBron James made a "triple-double" stats during Game 5 of NBA Finals 2011 held Thursday night, June 9, 2011, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, USA.

LeBron James of Miami Heat (6) drives past Shawn Marion of Dallas Mavericks during the 2nd half of the Game 5 of NBA Finals 2011.(AP Photo/LM Otero)

"Triple-Double" happens in a basketball game when a player makes three double-digit stats and LeBron James did it in NBA Playoffs 2011 Finals when he made during Game 5 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

It's the first ever "Triple-Double" for the Miami Heat and LeBron's 7th time in an NBA Playoffs.

Miami Heat scored big 103 points, but the Dallas Mavericks scored higher with 112, to be come the leading team now with 3 wins as against Miami Heat's 2 wins.

Leading scorers for the Mavericks were Dirk Nowitzki with 29 points followed by Jason Terry with 21 points while the Miami Heat only had Dwayne Wade scoring big for the team, with 23 points. Chris Bosh had 19 points while LeBron scored 17.

The Dallas Mavericks made a total of 13 successful 3-point shots in Game 5 versus 8 three-points made by the Miami Heat.

If the Mavericks wins Game 6 this Sunday, June 12, they will be named the NBA Playoffs 2011 Champion.

NBA 2011 FINALS - GAME 5 RESULTS:
1st Quarter
Miami 31 points
Dallas 30 points

2nd Quarter
Miami 26 pts
Dallas 30 pts

3rd Quarter
Miami 22 pts
Dallas 24 pts

4th Quarter
Miami 24 pts
Dallas 28 pts

FINAL SCORE:
Miami Heat 103 points
Dallas Mavericks 112 points

***

Meanwhile, a video of Miami Heat's Dwayne Wade and LeBron James is heating up on Youtube where the two were shown "coughing" while walking at the hallway after Game 4last Tuesday and were being followed by reporters and cameramen.

According to the video uploader, Wade and James were mocking Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki who had a high fever during Game 4. "Some nonsense from wade and lebron. Not sure why they are starting with dirk," says the video description.

Nowitzki was so sick last Tuesday but he managed to make 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Video courtesy of Stadium229

Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals 2011 Game 1: Miami wins, 92-84

Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks
NBA Finals 2011 Game 1 Results
May 31, 2011

The Miami Heat has won the NBA Finals 2011 Opening Game held Tuesday, May 31, 2011, at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida and was aired live on ABS-CBN.

The Dallas Mavericks led the 1st Quarter of the game by scoring 17 points vs Miami
Heat's 16 points. They tied during the 2nd quarter, both scoring big 27 points.

But it was in the 3rd and 4th quarters that Miami Heat took control with a 9-point lead over the Dallas Mavericks.

Over-all, Miami Heat scored 92 points while Dallas Mavericks had 84 points.

With 27 points, German player Dirk Nowitzi of the Dallas Mavericks was the top scorer for the NBA Finals 2011 Game 1. But it wasn't enough to beat the Miami Heat, who definitely benefited from the strong trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

LeBron scored 24 points (half-of-which were from his four 3-point shots), Wade had 22 points while Bosh's score was 19 points.

Game 2 of the NBA Finals 2011: Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat is scheduled on Thursday, June 2, still at Miami's American Airlines Arena.

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup 2011 Final 4 now complete!

Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) 2011 Commissioner's Cup Quarter-Finals (Do-or-Die) Games were held yesterday, April 13, 2011, which determined the 2 teams who will advance to the semis and fill the last two slots in the Final Four of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner's Cup.

And those teams were Air21 Express who defeated Alaska Aces in a close fight, 97-94, and the Barangay Ginebra Kings who won with a 10-point lead over Rain or Shine, 92-82.

The best players were Alpha Bangura of Air21 (for the Air21 vs Alaska game) and Mark Caguioa of Brgy. Ginebra (for Brgy. Ginebra-Rain or Shine game).

Air21 and Barangay Ginebra will now join Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters and the Philippine national team, Smart Gilas, in the Final 4.

The 2011 PBA Commissioner's Cup Semi-Finals will start tomorrow, April 15, with Talk 'N Text against Air21 while the Smart Gilas team will be facing the Barangay Ginebra Kings.

***

VIEWERS AT HOME EXPERIENCE BAD RECEPTION

The games turned out to be so much exciting for those who watched in Araneta, but not for the viewers at home, who allegedly experienced bad reception on Studio 23, most especially of the 2nd game (Brg. Ginebra vs Rain Or Shine). And reportedly in some places, there was no signal at all.

A lot of viewers have aired disappointments on Facebook and Twitter:


Marthy Alipao from Bulacan: "Bad trip yong studio 23 kagabi ang labo ng reception sa malolos area d ko tuloy napanood ung PBA quarterfinals Ginebra vs Rain or Shine!!!!!!"

Joezen Lopez from Rizal: "nakakaBADTRIP ung studio 23 kagabi.......kung kailan laban ng BRGY. GINEBRA tsaka nwalan ng signal.....ano toh BASTUSAN.............ilipat nyo n lng sa GMA NEWS TV ung rights ng coverage PBA..........tignan nyo naging kapalit ng ginawa nyo.....sanTAMBAK n reklamo ang natanggap nyo noh.........."

Carl de Silva from Batangas: "rreport q lng, kgv nong nnnood kmi ng pba sa studio23 bglang pumanget ang reception kc naaagaw ng news tv ng gma7, paki aus nmn po ng reception, batangas area po, sa my sn jose! tnx ! "

April Mercado Dela Cruz from Caloocan: "wla n ngang kaagaw s pnunu0d kc wla ng w.willie, ampotah!bul0k nmn stax0n nio,d nkpn0od kgbi..sna nman maaus n s su2n0d!"

Rafael Soberano Villegas from Cavite: "HELLO STUDIO 23..WALA BA KAYONG PALIWANAG TUNGKOL SA PAGKAWALA NG SIGNAL NINYO KAGABI SA 2ND GAME NG PBA..TILL NOW WALA KAYONG POST ..ASAR NA TAO SA INYO KAGABI . .KASAMA NA KO DUN."

Ariston Pangilinan from Pampanga (@bartespeak): "what happened to studio 23? low signal here in angeles city pampanga, almost 1 hour already!"

Nika Dycaico from Laguna (@nikabhebhe): "what's happening sa signal ng studio 23???ang labo dito sa laguna...#ginebra pa nmn!"


Studio 23 and Solar Entertainment haven't released a statement yet on this issue. But in all fairness to Studio 23, they entertained complaints yesterday on Twitter and asked for the location of those experiencing bad signal.

And it seems like the signal problem was experienced not only in one location.