UP vs NU 2010-08-07 14:00 2010-08-07 16:00 Filoil Arena
UST vs FEU 2010-08-07 16:00 2010-08-07 18:00 Filoil Arena

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM

Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

ESPN
Sky Cable 31
Destiny 82

NCAA first round basketball schedule after the jump:

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If there is no such a word as hoarsed (take note: with a "d" because I think it is past tense of hoarse), please correct me.

You got that right, my voice has not been normal for two straight days. Here's why.

Last Friday, I attended (and enjoyed) the Pep Rally in my Alma Mater, San Beda College. The Pep Rally is the preparation and honoring our athletes for the coming collegiate season, in our case, the NCAA. In my five years of stay in San Beda, I have never witnessed such grandeur of a Pep Rally until last Friday. It was a blast! It wasn't just an ordinary Pep Rally affair. From start to finish, it was spectacular. Jikkie Lee, 2004 Miss Teen Philippines, Bianca King, commercial model, and some Bedan guy hosted the event. Jikkie and Bianca are both Bedans; Jikkie taking up Legal Management while Bianca studied in San Beda-Alabang during her Grade School and High School years.

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I wrote on my blog before how frustrated I was on how things were going so badly with my beloved New York Knicks (Basketball Exchange wasn't around then yet for me to post it here). Today, news has arrived that things have finally come to a head.

The Knicks have finally fired Brown, and put General Manager Isiah Thomas in his place.

Several issues here:

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The last four games were absolutely a thrill to watch, with no small thanks to your Finals MVP, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat. Gary wrote yesterday that "DWade is the type of spectacular phenomenon who’s probably going to retire with 10 championships". You know what? I most definitely agree.

If you didn't know already, D-Wade jersey sales have topped the list this year (see article), edging Iverson's and King James' jerseys. More cool Dwyane Wade stuff can be found at his sleek official website.

I can't imagine how good it feels right now for Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker and yes, Shandon Anderson. These are the guys who've come close to winning it in the past, and now they finally have it. Shaq, of course, makes it four for him. And DWade is the type of spectacular phenomenon who's probably going to retire with 10 championships.

But the story for me is Zo. As I write this, the boxscores haven't loaded yet, and I can see the stage being prepared on the Mavs homecourt for the awarding ceremony. Shaq is being interviewed, and there is just pure raw happiness all around the team. It must be especially wonderful to win in on your opponent's court. The arena is stunned silent, and the Mavs fans can't get to the parking lot fast enough.

Finally I saw Zo. He was crying, but what did I expect? He played the game of his life. He absolutely positively brought game today, and quieted down any and all critics imho. I was writing down notes throughout the game for this blogpost, and at some point it was mentioned that the Heat had 10 shotblocks, and I think he has half of them (those boxscores haven't come in yet). That is just amazing. Far and away the story of the game in my mind.

Here's the rest of what I wrote:

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Breaking news:

Dallas’ Stackhouse Suspended One Game

NEW YORK, June 16, 2006 – Jerry Stackhouse of the Dallas Mavericks has been suspended one game without pay for making unnecessary and excessive contact with Shaquille O’Neal of the Miami Heat during Game 4 of the 2006 NBA Finals, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President Basketball Operations.

“The contact by Jerry Stackhouse was clearly excessive and warrants a suspension,” Jackson said.

The foul, which was upgraded to a Flagrant Foul Penalty Two, occurred with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter of the Mavericks’ 98-74 loss to the Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena on June 15.

Here're his stats from the last Game:
J. Stackhouse
Minutes: 30:00
Field goals made / attempts: 6-18
3 point shots made / attempts: 1-5
Free throws made / attempts: 3-3
Off. Reb.:3
Def. Reb.:1
Assists: 4
Fouls:1
Turnovers: 0
Pts.:16

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Game 1 was forgettable. Game 2 was even worse. In Game 3, Dallas was on its way, then suddenly decided to stop short of the end and let them through. Gary Payton made the game-winning shot. Gary Payton. I'd been crying for weeks watching every mistake he made and the Mavs let Gary Payton take the winning shot? Dang.

But Game 4 today was different.

The reason I love basketball is that the impossible can happen. No, rather it's meant to happen. The purity of basketball lies in the fact that it is a team sport, and as a team, any group of five people can do anything. Absolutely anything.

Game 4 saw Miami start playing like that. Game 4 was five people doing everything they can to win. Not just DWade highlight reels. Not just Shaq pounding the ball down the hoop. Not just Antoine or Posey or Williams. But all five of them, so much so that you forget that Dwade can do highlights. You forget that Shaq can pound the ball down the hoop. You forget that each were particularly good at anything. When a team plays like a team, everything becomes a blur, and the only thing that's clear is that they get the lead. With Miami it was an 8 point lead. Then 10. Then 12. Then 15. At one point 20 points ahead.

Dallas of course, wouldn't take that lying down. Sure they shot terribly, but I'm sure they've already started allowing themselves to think that they're already Champs. How do I know that? Because when you know you're the Champ, you don't just let that get away from you. You punch and you kick and you let everyone know you're not going to give up being Champ. That's why Terry dunked on Shaq after he was blocked. That's why Nowtizki tried to dunk after getting blocked by Mourning. That's why there were so many fights, punctuated by kicks and elbows and wayward arms to the face.

Whew.

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Now I know the past posts have been Mavs related, and I know it's gonna look like I'm biased, but I've been scouring Youtube for interesting Miami Heat vids and aside from the boring highlight reel stuff, I got zero, zilch, nothing.

Instead, we got interesting Mavs vids, and so far, nothing beats this:

What can I say? Except Go MAVS!

Technorati Tags: dallas mavericks, brady bunch, avery johnson, miami heat, nba finals 2006

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"drivin down the lane and guess who you'll see? Mr. D-I-O-P!!" you gotta love it. you just gotta.

Technorati Tags: desagana diop, dallas mavericks

But I hate him more than I admire him. Upon the very first time I heard him do TV commentaries for the NBA Finals during the Michael Jordan era, it somehow caught my attention about how he, and his usual partner Andy Jao, is such a blabbermouth.

Don’t get me wrong, TV commentators are there to talk about the game but please, side-details should be done every once in awhile. There was this one time back in the Utah-Chicago Finals series, he and Mr. Jao were talking about stuff not related to the game that is happening. Sure, they can talk about having lunch with Karl Malone and his Pinay wife but let’s leave it to that, the "Did You Know?" parts. We don’t need any other details except you guys having such with the Malones. Besides, who cares about that? This is not show business, this is basketball.

Have you ever heard the names of Johnny Stockton, Timmy Duncan, and Stevie Kerr? Only one man (they are actually two) was able to name such players. And that is Mr. Henson (and Mr. Jao). They kept saying those names (except Duncan’s) back in the Jordan era. Oh yeah, don’t forget Scotty Burrell, that Red Bull import last year who was a part of the 96-97 Chicago Bulls championship squad. Enough of the wisecracks! Duncan, a dominant big man, all of a sudden became a puny idiot with that name. He doesn’t even sound like a basketball player and they are not musicians anyway as well.

And the exaggerations…how could I forget. I used to dislike Anthony Suntay’s exaggeration with regard to his color commentary during the New Jersey-Los Angeles finals in 2002 but I figured, it’s how he gets the viewers going. At least, he was able to drop it a notch because the more you do it, the more you get the viewers irritated. It is okay to get Americanized with how you speak on TV while the game is on but the talent of color commentary is au naturel. But Mr. Henson’s is way over the edge. Somebody give him a diazepam to calm him down.

On the flipside, if there’s one thing I admire about Mr. Henson, it is how he gets the facts straight and tells it to the viewers and readers (of his Phil. Star columns). He is persistent, makes sure he is able to squeeze every single drop of juicy stuff. That is the way how journalists should be. Such a talent and love for journalism is what I envy in the guy. Other than that is how much I like to shut his mouth when he talks in an exaggerated manner, trying to make the moment exciting as if it is such. I almost forgot, how he was screaming during the Morales-Pacquiao II match had one of my eyebrows raised in wonder. That is like the first time I heard a TV commentator scream while saying “He! Is! THE MAN!!!”. His voice, by the way, sounded like he’s gargling after waking up from a good night’s sleep.

Talent is what TV broadcasters have and I admire them for that, not being camera-shy or being jittery or not stuttering in the boob tube. The likes of Ed Picson and Sev Sarmenta (even though he always say “Tenorio says ‘I’ll take it to the hole this time’”, among others) are more deserving to cover the NBA Finals or any big event in the world of sports. They show class and the way they do their thing is classic. No exaggerations (except Sev’s style in some ways), just plain color commentary. These guys deserve some props and they should be in the forefront of all the commentators.

Mr. Henson, no offense meant, but you should take a cue from the two guys mentioned in the paragraph above.