The Games That Play Us: University of Puzzlement

Jelo Montecastro and the Maroons were frustrated
by the great play of Rodney Brondial and the Falcons.

AdU SOARING FALCONS over UP FIGHTING MAROONS, 75-70

I hope nobody from Adamson’s camp takes offense at this (as if they’re even reading this), but this was supposed to be a breakthrough win for the Fighting Maroons. This is not to take away anything from the Falcons – they were great. It’s just that UP was due for a big W.

The signs were all there.

No Alex Nuyles for Adamson.

UP played the Ateneo Blue Eagles close (again) last weekend.

Raul Soyud looks to finally be comfortable as the Maroons’ chief interior operatos.

Chris Ball’s eligibility finally became a non-issue.

The Games That Play Us: No Mbe, No Problem

Henri Betayene (L) filled in well for the void left
by the absence of Emmanuel Mbe.

NU BULLDOGS over UE RED WARRIORS, 83-74

Nobody missed Emmanuel Mbe. How could anyone miss him when Henri Betayene, NU’s OTHER Cameroonian import, raked in his first career double-double in the UAAP?

This game was by no means a blowout. It wasn’t a repeat of the spanking the Reds received on opening day. It wasn’t nearly as lopsided as people probably expected. It still, however, ended up in the win column for Coach Eric Altamirano’s Bulldogs.

And, yes, Ray Parks led the way. Yes, that’s expected. He was his regular all-around awesome self. LeBron James of the Philippines? Perhaps.

But without the Robin to Parks’s Batman, NU was supposed to struggle, right?

The Games That Play Us: JP Erram, the Artillery, and Spitballin’

Arvie Bringas wants to be featured on ESPN, too.
With that spray of spit, he just might have a shot.

AdMU BLUE EAGLES over FEU TAMARAWS, 77-64

Exhibit A in the “How great will JP Erram be next season?” bin – the former Pilgrim Christian College standout put up 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block in THIRTEEN minutes of action. The guy for whom he subs, Greg Slaughter, played more than double that amount of time and produced marginally better numbers that were offset by 7 turnovers. He’s no Nonoy Baclao, but he might actually turn out to be a bit better. Erram is going to rule the roost next season.

Erram, however, wasn’t the big story here, though his suspension for the Ateneo-La Salle became a big post-game issue.

A bigger story was how Ateneo actually won after trailing at the half. There are two main reasons. The first one shouldn’t come as a surprise, since it’s been a hallmark of Norman Black’s tenure in Katipunan – defense. Terrence Romeo, who was norming huge second round numbers (23 points per game and shooting 60% from beyond the arc) prior to this encounter, scored 13 points on just 5-of-14 shooting from the floor. Coach Bert Flores’s chief big man, Anthony Hargrove, meanwhile, was limited to just 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. He made life tough for Ateneo’s bigs in the first twenty minutes, but he went on to score just 3 markers in the second half. Roger Pogoy and Mark Belo, two unheralded but equally important cogs in FEU’s machinery, were also hampered, combining for just 2 points total.

The Games That Play Us: This Time It Counted

Jeron Teng hit the basket that counted the most as
DLSU upended UST.

DLSU GREEN ARCHERS over UST GROWLING TIGERS, 53-51

The De La Salle Green Archers probably never forgot what happened the last time they played the UST Growling Tigers. They probably still remembered how LA Revilla’s shot at the end of regulation was a few milliseconds too late. They probably still remembered how Aljon Mariano came alive in the ten extra minutes, and how he rallied the Tigers past the Archers.

They probably never forgot, which is why this time around, with the game threatening to go to extra sessions yet again and with Revilla watching helplessly from the sidelines, the Greenies made sure to end things in regulation. This time they turned to Jeron Teng, and, like so many times so far this season, the super rookie delivered the goods.

Jeron actually struggled in this one. Prior to his hero moment, Teng had scored just 2 points in the second half, and he had shot just 3-of-12 overall from the field. Any other player in that situation would’ve probably passed up a chance to win the game, but this kid was never known to be gun-shy. If anything, he relished in the confidence given to him by his team.

UAAP SEASON 75 WEEK 7 REVIEW:

Did Greg Slaughter and the Eagles do enough to
retain their top spot in the Rankings?

*Each weekly review contains updated Team Standings, Team Power Rankings, Player Awards, and Statistical Leaders.

WEEK 7 TEAM STANDINGS:

Standings as of August 27, 2012.
(image by Enzo Flojo/Hoop Nut)

WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS:

Let the disagreements begin!

1-    Ateneo Blue Eagles: One word aptly describes Ateneo right now – balance. The Eagles are the best in scoring and the best in defense so far. They do a lot of things well. The Blues are tops in fast break points and inside points. When they’re hacked, they make their foes pay by being the only team shooting above the 70% mark from the free throw line. They’re on a roll right now, and it’s no stretch of the imagination for them to continue on their merry way.

The Games That Play Us: Wild & Woolly Weekend

Mike Silungan and the Maroons fought hard in Week 7.
Did they come out victors?

The gist is this: I chose to be a good teacher/moderator/coach rather than a good basketball writer/observer over the past weekend. I missed so much basketball, but it was, in all honesty, worth it because of the success my students got in another field of sports.

Regaling and raving about that, however, is for another day.

Now I have to do some accounting. After spending the past two days watching the videos-on-demand and highlights of the August 25-26 weekend, I’ve finally gathered my thoughts, and I believe I have enough to go on.

Needless to say, it was a wild and woolly weekend. There were some things that strengthened the status quo (Ateneo beating UP), but there were also some things that might signal a really tight finish for the upper half of the team standings.

In lieu of the usual single-game-single-article set-up, I’ll just bunch up Week 7 in this single write-up (time hasn’t been my friend of late; ditto with sleep).

2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Men’s Tournament Roundup: Days 7-9

Kyle Suarez and the rest of Team Pilipinas had a tough time
navigating the interior against much bigger foes.

Due to the whirlwind weekend I had with another sport, I have been remiss in posting about this oh-so-important tournament for our young stars-to-be.

I’m both happy and sad about the developments in the last three days of the Ulanbaatar U18 competition, simply because of the heartbreak caused by losing two of our last three matches, but I was also moved by the resiliency of our young ‘uns despite these heartbreaking setbacks.

Last Thursday, when I found out that Taiwan had beaten the Iranians, I immediately felt troubled. This result meant that our boys would have to go on and battle the Koreans in the quarterfinals. This was something we were trying to avoid for the simple reason that the Korean team has all the conventional advantages of any favored basketball team like size, depth, shooting, and even speed. This is not to mention that Korea has perennially tormented out national squads since the 70s.

The NBA: 2012 Top 5 Players In Different Categories

In about 6 six weeks, NBA training camps will begin. Nothing much is happening in the NBA right now so I thought of reposting and updating a list/note that I made in Facebook about year ago. Ive watched a lot of basketball  here's my opinions on certain basketball categories in the NBA. Ive listed 5 players who I currently think are among the best in that category that I thought of. The player orderings do not necessarily translate to rankings. I have given more consideration to things that have happened recently (2012 season). Also, I neglected to add rookies and I ignored injuries (Ex: Howard, Rose). I invite you to share your comments and ideas!

Fastest in Transition 
rose
westbrook
lebron
wade
wall

Best Crossover
wade
j. crawford
paul
deron
rose

Best Shooter
dirk
rayray
nash
durant
curry

Best Scorer
melo
durant
kobe
westbrook
lebron

Best Finisher around the Rim
rose
wade
lebron
dwight
blake

Best in circus/crazy shots
wade
monta
kobe
manu
rose

Fastest First-step
rose
wall
westbrook
deron
paul

Best pumpfakers
kobe
bosh
dirk
durant
wade

Best Post-up player
zach
pau
duncan
al jefferson
scola

Best non-shooting hand user
nash
kobe
wade
lebron
melo

Best Lefties
zach
bosh
manu
harden
josh smith

Most Clutch
dirk
kobe
wade/lebron
melo
durant

Best Dunker
blake
rose
lebron
westbrook
wade

Best Flopper
manu
scola
varejao
rondo
vince

Best on-ball Defense
lebron
bradley
iguodala
shumpert
tony allen

Best Euros/Non-North Americans
dirk
pau
manu
parker
marc gasol
scola

Best All-around Game
paul
lebron
dwight
wade
deron

Best basketball IQ
nash
james
paul
kobe
wade

Best Alley-oop dunker
blake
dwight
lebron
amare
chandler

Best Slasher/Penetrator
rose
cp3
wade
wall
westbrook

Fastest shot release
rayray
korver
durant
terry
jamal crawford

Best Passers 
cp3
nash
kidd
deron
rondo

Weirdest Shooting Form
noah
marion
childress
biedrich
josh smith

Lowest bball IQ
javale
blatche
cousins
jr smith
bynum

Best Rebounders
love
humphries
dwight
zach
bynum

Best 3-point Shooters
rayray
nash
terry
novak
durant

2012 Jones Cup Roundup: Days 7-9

Chot Reyes and the Gilas players lift the Jones Cup trophy
after a 14-year drought.
(image from the SMART-Gilas Facebook page)

WOW. After losing by 19 to the Lebanese on Day 6, the Pinoys went on a winning binge by beating defending champs Iran, hosts Taiwan, and the powerhouse Americans to wrap up their 2012 Jones Cup campaign and bring home the Championship for the first time in 14 years.

The last time the Philippines won this tournament was back in 1998 with the Centennial Team led by Marlou Aquino, Alvin Patrimonio, Vergel Meneses, Kenneth Duremdes, and Johnny Abarrientos among others. They went 6-0 in that competition, beating the Taiwanese in the Finals to cop the title.

That team eventually moved on to finish 3^rd in the 1998 Asian Games. They went undefeated in their first four games before losing to South Korea in the quarterfinals and then to China in the semifinals. They eventually repeated over Kazakhstan to bag the bronze medal.

Equaling that feat in the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championships will be good enough to send SMART-Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 to the 2014 World Championships. Cross you fingers, folks!!! J

The Games That Play Us: Deep Fried

Anthony Hargrove outplayed Karim Abdul as
the FEU Tamaraws drubbed the UST Growling Tigers.

FEU TAMARAWS over UST GROWLING TIGERS, 87-60

After most of their wins in the first round, Coach Pido Jarencio would often be quoted as saying, “Naka-tsamba nanaman” (we lucked out again). Most would laugh at his amusing candor and simply commend him for his humility.

In this game, however, there wasn’t a lot of room for amusing candor. There was a lot of room, though, for humility in the form of humble pie.

In this game, instead of having loads of luck, Coach Pido’s boys ran out of it. In this game, instead of seeing the Tigers glow amidst winning over the only team that inflicted defeat on them in the first round, we saw them burnt amidst a scorching shooting display by the undervalued FEU Tamaraws.

Not just burnt, actually. The Tigers were fried. Deep fried. To a crisp.

The Games That Play Us: Thirty Thirty

Ray Parks poured in another thirty-something game
as NU upended the Falcons in OT.

NU BULLDOGS over AdU SOARING FALCONS, 81-77 (OT)

Ray Parks wants to win the MVP Award again. Make no mistake about it. Even if Karim Abdul might be the frontrunner (at least before yesterday’s games), Parks is still one of the favorites to cop the MVP plum. His second-straight 30+ game is a testament to this. He’ll definitely make a big-time run to be called the season’s best player.

His team, however, might not exactly be on the same trajectory.

National University was perhaps the most hyped team heading into the 2012 collegiate basketball season. The Bulldogs’ roster was intact. They had a seasoned coach. They had the reigning MVP. Emmanuel Mbe seems to have left his controversies behind. They swept the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup in ruthless fashion. This was a team that looked ready for a championship conquest unprecedented in the school’s recent past.

Days 6 of the 2012 Jones Cup

Ghassan Sarkis will lead the coaching staff of the Lebanese
as they try to return to their dominant standing in Asia.
(image from Sports-Leb.com)

The comeback kids of the Jones Cup might have tried to experiment if they could rally from a 20-point fourth quarter deficit.

Didn’t happen.

Former Youth Team standout Rodrigue Akl orchestrated the Lebanese team’s offense with aplomb, dishing out 10 assists as the WABA powerhouse just ran roughshod over a visibly tired Filipino five. Former Meralco Bolts and San Miguel Beermen import Jarrid Famous, now a naturalized Lebanese (apparently, Sam Hoskin wasn’t good enough), outplayed Marcus Douthit down low with 26 points and 11 rebounds to lead Coach Ghassan Sarkis’s charge. Sarkis was the architect of Lebanon’s rise to prominence in Asian basketball back in the early part of the 2000s, and it seems like they’re trying to see if he can wield the same old magic again.

Day 6 of the 2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Men’s Tournament

Jay Javelosa and the Pinoys came back to thwart Bahrain.

PHILIPPINES over BAHRAIN, 99-72

PHI 99 – Alejandro 23, Pingoy 19, Cani 11, Nambatac 11, Suarez 8, Porter 7, Javelosa 6, Lao 5, Babilonia 4, Olayon 3, Rivero 2

BRN 72 – Shukralla AH 32, Buallay 16, Naser 7, Melad 7, Abul 6, Ali Sayed 4, Abdulrasool 0, Abdulredha 0

QS: 13-22, 35-46, 73-61, 99-72

- Despite the knowledge that they will be playing either China or Korea in the crossover quarterfinals, the Filipinos still managed to muster enough gusto to convincingly beat the Bahrainis. It wasn't after a whole first half of trepidation, however, as the Gulf nation played with more aggression and urgency in the first 20 minutes of action. The Pinoys turned it up after the break, though, and simply put the clamps on Bahrain's offense. Jay-J Alejandro and Jerie Pingoy led the way anew for Coach Olsen Racela's crew, scoring 23 and 19 points respectively. Jay Javelosa, Rey Nambatac and Mark Olayon took care of the interior by combining for 30 rebounds.

- Bahrain's promising start was all for naught as Coach Aqeel Melad's wards caved in the second half onslaught of the Philippines. Ali Hassan Shukralla was brilliant with 32 points and 12 rebounds, but there was hardly any support with Mohamed Buallay the only other player in double figures. Bahrain is eliminated from quarterfinal contention, and they are now relegated to the battle for 9th place.

Days 5 of the 2012 Jones Cup

Marcus Douthit battles down low against Sean Hinkley,
Kosuke Takeuchi, and Ryota Sakurai of Japan.
(image from PBA.ph)

The Philippines made it two comeback victories in a row after they rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to upend a young but athletic Japanese team. LA Tenorio, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, and Marcus Douthit all made the big buckets in the fourth quarter that enabled Coach Chot Reyes’s wards to stymie the Nippon quintet and continue unbeaten in four games.

Team Pilipinas joins Iran as the only undefeated teams so far after the WABA Champs defeated the USA Selection in two overtimes thanks to 29 points from probably the best swingman in Asia, Samad Nikkhah Bahrami.

Here’s the recap from Mikkel Bolante of InterAKTV.com:

Days 3 & 4 of the 2012 Jones Cup

Matt Rosser is pumped after SMART-Gilas Pilipinas
pulls one over the KBL Champs.
(image from the SMART-Gilas Facebook page)

Despite being reinforced by big guy Gary Stutz and athletic swingman Juan Patillo, Korean Basketball League Champions Anyang KGC fell at the hands of the hard-fighting SMART-Gilas squad on Day 4. National team mainstay and KBL Finals MVP Oh Sek-Eun didn’t play, but the Koreans played well nonetheless. They leaned heavily on their imports to build a big third quarter lead, but the Pinoys promptly erased it thanks to their versatile backcourt play.

Here’s the recap from Mikkel Bolante of InterAKTV.com:

Day 5 of the 2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Men’s Tournament

Kris Porter and the Filipinos upset the Taiwanese
on Day 5 of competitions in Ulanbaatar, Mongolia.

PHILIPPINES over TAIWAN, 88-83

PHI 88 – Pingoy 25, Alejandro 22, Nambatac 10, Javelosa 6, Suarez 6, Cani 5, Olayon 5, Rivero 5, Babilonia 2, Porter 2, Lao 0

TPE 83 – Lin 25, Li 16, Fan 16, Huang HH 9, Chiu 6, Lee 6, Wu 3, Lu 2, Huang TH 0, Cheng 0, Chin 0

QS: 17-14, 43-34, 63-64, 88-83

- The Philippines achieved a mild upset on Day 5 by handing Taiwan its first defeat of the tournament. Jerie Pingoy and Jay-J Alejandro paired up for 47 points as the Filipinos have the inside track to finish in the top two of Group F. Coach Olsen Racela's boys shot almost 50% from the field in a great display of accuracy, which they sorely needed against a team that had pretty much the same strengths they did -- speed and shooting. If the Pinoys beat Bahrain on Day 6, then they can solidify their hold on number 2.

- The Taiwanese didn't start as strong as they usually did and paid for it even if they took the lead late into the fourth quarter. They just had no answer for Pingoy and Alejandro as the dynamic Pinoy duo wreaked havoc in the backcourt. Lin Kuan-Chun led Taiwan with 25 points while Li Yu-Wei and Fan Shih-En each scored 16.

UAAP SEASON 75 WEEK 6 REVIEW:

The UST faithful celebrate as their team climbs
to the top of the standings.

*Each weekly review contains updated Team Standings, Team Power Rankings, Player Awards, and Statistical Leaders.

WEEK 6 TEAM STANDINGS:

Team Standings after the first round.
(image by Enzo Flojo/Hoop Nut)

WEEK 6 POWER RANKINGS:

Let the disagreements begin!

1-    Ateneo Blue Eagles: The Blue Eagles had an awful first half against FEU, but more than made up for it with a splendid second half. That’s thanks mainly to their supporting cast (Ryan Buenafe, Juami Tiongson, and JP Erram) stepping up big time. Again, this game exposed how vulnerable the Ateneans can be, but it also showed how they can turn things on at the drop of the hat. And, yes, Buenafe can still take over a game when he wants to. Right now, they just have too many weapons.

Day 4 of the 2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Tournament

Kyle Suarez helped Team Pilipinas beat the Indons
to start off Round 2 competition.

PHILIPPINES over INDONESIA, 88-62

PHI 88 – Pingoy 16, Bonleon 15, Nambatac 11, Rivero 8, Porter 8, Alejandro 7, Cani 7, Babilonia 5, Lao 4, Suarez 4, Olayon 3, Javelosa 0

INA 62 – Panagan 12, Adrianno 11, Pangesthio 9, Kosasih 9, Lapian 6, Baskoro 5, Halim 4, Tuasela 4, Sitorus 2, Kokodiputro 0, Istiadi 0, Oei 0

QS: 23-18, 45-30, 67-48, 88-62

- The Philippines grabbed its third win in four games as they defeated SEABA rivals Indonesia, who’s mentored by former PBA coach Nat Canson. The Pinoys didn’t start on fire, but they gradually put some separation in the second quarter and simply stayed on cruise control afterwards. FEU BabyTamaraw Jerie Pingoy, one of the top prospects for college teams in 2013, scored a game-high 16 points, while LSGH stalwart Mario Bonleon hit for 15 markers. Undersized Letran forward Rey Nambatac almost raked in a double-double with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

- The Indons lose their second straight game after the hosts beat them on Day 3. Their second round slate is now 0-3 and all their remaining games are must-wins. They were led here by Jan Misael Panagan’s 12 points and Andre Adrianno’s 11 markers.

The Games That Play Us: The Turn

Henry Asilum led the second half charge of UP as
they finally tasted victory in Season 75.

UP FIGHTING MAROONS over UE RED WARRIORS,

Watch out, Jeron Teng. You’re not the only rookie making waves and turning heads this season.

Henry Asilum may have had a forgettable first half against Roi Sumang and the UE Red Warriors, but his second half was one to remember.

Sumang, the former star of the Letran Squires, already scored a dozen points by halftime as the Reds threatened the Maroons, 30-26. At that point, Mark Lopez and Diony Hipolito carried the fight for the Iskos. Both combined for 15 points and 5 rebounds as UP tried its best to nail that elusive first win. Not only did Coach Ricky Dandan’s boys have to find a way to slow Sumang down, they also had to score and put the game beyond doubt lest the Warriors fan their upset hopes by sticking close.

Enter Asilum.

The Games That Play Us: Skin of Their Teeth

Coach Pido Jarencio probably breathed a sigh of relief
after his Tigers escaped the upset axe against Adamson.

UST GROWLING TIGERS over AdU SOARING FALCONS, 61-60

Finally, Jeric Fortuna had a great game, and it came at a good time, too, since his 5-1 Growling Tigers were getting schooled by the 1-5 Soaring Falcons.

The former Junior Archer came up big in crunch time, hitting a triple with less than two minutes to go and then assisting on the go-ahead basket by Karim Abdul as UST reached 6 wins.

Before this game, Fortuna had been struggling. He averaged a little over 8 points and a little under 5 assists in UST’s first six games. Those aren’t bad numbers by UAAP standards, but they’re not exactly worthy of Fortuna’s fiery repute (he averaged upwards of 13 points per game last season).

In this game, he finished with 12 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds to help the Tigers avoid an embarrassing upset and take the top spot after the first round.

The Games That Play Us: The Expendable

Ryan Buenafe led a sublime second half charge as Ateneo
defeated FEU to end the first round.

AdMU BLUE EAGLES over FEU TAMARAWS, 74-71

This whole game was a condensed version of the Season 73 match-up between these two teams.

In that season, FEU looked like they had Ateneo’s number. They beat the Eagles in both of their elimination round encounters (74-72 and 72-69). The Tamaraws grabbed first place and busted straight to the Finals after defeating the Green Archers, 69-59. They were favored to win it all and dethrone Ateneo. They had a veteran crew that was due to win. On the other end, the Eagles lost three key pieces of their championship core with the graduation of Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao, and Jai Reyes. They were far from invincible as they lost four games in the eliminations and won several games by just 5 points or less. This was supposed to be a transition year for them, a year where they weren’t the favorites to get a three-peat.

Thanks to Ryan Buenafe, the Ateneans did anyway.

The Games That Play Us: Mean Green Machine

Norbert Torres and Emmanuel Mbe battled down low
in what was an extremely tight game.

DLSU GREEN ARCHERS over NU BULLDOGS, 87-86 (2OT)

Folks, welcome to the future of Philippine basketball.

Jeron Teng and Ray Parks. Those two names will be making headlines on the sports pages for the better part of the next ten years. They’ll probably team up and don the national colors again. They’ll be drafted early in the first round of the PBA. Thirty years from now, when they look back on their respective careers, they’ll remember a ton of memorable duels.

Starting with this one.

La Salle and NU combined for 173 points in 50 minutes of play, with Teng and Parks combining for 70 of those points. That’s 40% of the game total from just two players. And to think that the game went into two overtimes? Wow. I wish I had watched it live! Even if there were supposedly two hours in between games, this would’ve been so worth it.

Day 3 of the 2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Men’s Tournament

Rash Rivero and the Pinoys ran into a really tough
Iranian squad on Day 3.

IRAN over PHILIPPINES, 93-72

IRI 93 – Dalirzahan 21, Rahmati 20, Mashayekhi 16, Foroutan 14, Yakhchali 10, Beigi 5, Bagheri 3, Yazdanpanah 2, Yousofvand 2, Najafi 0

PHI 72 – Alejandro 12, Cani 11, Suarez 10, Pingoy 9, Porter 8, Nambatac 5, Javelosa 4, Babilonia 4, Bonleon 4, Lao 3, Rivero 2, Olayon 0

QS: 22-17, 42-33, 65-48, 93-72

- Iran utilized its size advantage to the hilt, outrebounding the Philippines, 51-41, and blocking 6 Pinoy shots. Vahid Dalirzahan took care of the outside shooting with 4 triples and 21 points, while Hossein Rahmati scored 20 points and grabbed 14 boards to dominate in the paint. Three other Iranians scored in double-figures as they moved on to the second round undefeated.

- The Filipinos' speed kept them in the game for one half, but their deficiency in size was too much to overhaul in the last two quarters. Team Pilipinas finishes with a 2-1 slate, which is good for second in Group D, and moves on to the second round. Jay-J Alejandro scored a dozen markers to lead the Pinoys.

Day 2 of the 2012 Jones Cup

Team Pilipinas scored its second win in as many games in
the 2012 William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

Another day, another disappointment, as the 2012 Jones Cup online coverage continues to flounder. No box scores or images are readily available. Unless, I guess, you’re in Taiwan.

So here, again, is a re-post of another great recap by Mikkel Bolante of InterAKTV.com.

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team cruised to it second victory in as many games as it routed a young Chinese Taipei B squad that just couldn’t keep up, 99-68, in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

Former San Beda star Garvo Lanete, the second youngest player on the squad, led the team with 20 points while four other Filipinos finished in double figures as they blew out the very young Guang Hua squad, whose oldest player was Lo Yu-Chun, who is 24 years old.

The game started close, with the score knotted at 13-apiece after the first six minutes of the game, but Gary David sparked a big 13-1 run for the Philippines as they grabbed a double-digit lead and never looked back.

Day 2 of the 2012 FIBA-Asia U18 Men’s Tournament

Mario Bonleon drives strong to the hole as the Pinoys
get win number 2 in Mongolia.

PHILIPPINES over KAZAKHSTAN, 83-69

PHI 83 – Bonleon 20, Alejandro 18, Suarez 14, Cani 10, Pingoy 4, Rivero 4, Porter 4, Babilonia 3, Olayon 2, Lao 2, Nambatac 2, Javelosa 0

KAZ 69 – Kurochka 22, Maxutov 22, Marchuk 14, Zhumabek 5, Nalogov 3, Kadtsin 2, Nurkhanov 1, Toktarov 0, Kryachko 0, Tulepbergonov 0, Korotkiy 0

QS: 18-18, 38-30, 55-52, 83-69

- The wing connection of Jay-J Alejandro and Mario Bonleon clicked really well against a much taller Kazakh squad. Both guys combined for all four of the PInoys' triples that helped open things up, but the keys were outrebounding the bigger Middle Asians and limiting them to just 29% from the field. Undersized center Jay Javelosa also played really well despite not scoring any points. The former Ateneo Blue Eaglet grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

- Alexey Murochka and Alymzhan Maxutov paired up for 44 points while shooting a combined 8 three-pointers. Maxim Marchuk was the only other Kazakh in double-figures with 14.

Day 1 of the 2012 Jones Cup

SMART-Gilas 2.0 wins its first assignment in the
considerably diluted 2012 Jones Cup.
(image from the SMART-Gilas Facebook page)

What follows is simply a re-post of a game recap written by Mikkel Bolante of InterAKTV.com.

I've found it really frustrating that there is a scarcity of information on the 2012 Jones Cup online. The site is inaccessible as of now, so I have no images or box scores from the actual event. My usual resource person, Chris Wang of Taiwan Hoops, also seems to have problems with it. 

AND, ESPN Asia isn't covering the event for the first time ever. Does this mean that the Jones Cup is losing its relevance, or that they just botched the job of getting sponsors?! Haaaaay.

Anyway, props to Mikkel for a good read:

Off Topic: SMART Infinity + Erik Spoelstra = BIG DREAMS

Fil-Am coach Erik Spoelstra receives the Larry O'Brien trophy
after the Miami Heat bag the 2012 NBA Title.
(image from Getty Images)

Today is the launch of Erik Spoelstra as a prime endorser for SMART Communication’s Infinity line of postpaid plans.

The SMART Infinity line is targeted at subscribers who are craving for a more exclusive and personalized customer service experience. Subscribers to the SMART Infinity line are set to enjoy several perks like one’s own Infinity Management Officer (kind of like your own 24-7 personal customer service rep), the Concierge Service (for lifestyle assistance), a Vanity Number (choose-your-own number!), an automatic Back-up SIM Card, a yearly Birthday Treat, and the 24-7 Infinity Hotline.

This is the kind of subscription really tailor-fit for success, tailor-fit for people driven to become champions in their own fields, and tailor-fit for people who dream big.

Just like Erik Spoelstra, who, as we all know by now, is the first Asian-American to ever coach in the NBA and actually win a title. He has become the latest poster boy for Pinoys dreaming big and actually achieving it.