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

Some exciting stuff before the real tourney begins - the PBA preseason games! Now you can watch your PBA idols strut their wares at a neighborhood near you. Some of the interesting match-ups are highlighted in bold. Sept 1 marks the debut of Kelly Williams and the Sta. Lucia Realtors as they face the rebuilding Coca Cola Tigers. Sept 2 pits two high-powered teams in the reigning All-Filipino champs Purefoods Chunkee Giants and the crowd favorites Brgy Ginebra Gin Kings reinforced by Raffy Reavies and Billy Mamaril (and perhaps Rudy Hatfield?). New PBA team Welcoat Dragons enters the court for the first time in a Sept 4 match against the young and exciting Air21 Express bannered by KG Canaleta and Arwind Santos. Perennial title contender Red Bull Barakos tests the Realtors' mettle on Sept 6. On September 11, San Miguel Beer will exchange gears with the Realtors. It can be recalled that days prior to the draft, SMB highly coveted Kelly Williams but the Realtors beat them to the draw, grabbing the 6-5 Fil-Am from Oakland University with the first pick overall. Surely, there must be some bad blood there. Would Gabby Espinas be able to prove the Beermen that he is better than Williams? That remains to be seen.

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Am still on a major high from yesterday's 30 minute interview with the guy. I can honestly say I was definitely more excited than I had ever been for any interview I've ever prepared for. Fortunately Tracy (naks. pa Tracy Tracy na lang), was very good-natured and game, even though it was obvious he was tired (we were the last bunch after around 8 other groups, including the Basketball Show and various magazines), and suffered from a slight cold.

Can you blame him? In four days he's gone from Seoul South Korea to Guangzhou China, to here, and as I write this, he's probably doing promotionals in Hong Kong. If you dont think you can get tired from all that flying, his killer itineraries in every single country he goes to, where every minute is accounted for, will definitely get you.

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I finally had time to watch a full UAAP game yesterday, and it was a doozy. UST beat Ateneo 88-80 in OT, relying on (If I'm not mistaken) a set of coldblooded freethrows from Allan Evangelista to force overtime, after which Jervy Cruz went berzerk under the boards scoring 10 of his 14 points to cap the lid off a terrific win. Inq article here.

It was sweet revenge according to the article, as UST was apparently blown out in their previous outing. Ateneo would have made history with a 9-0 winning streak should they had won, but UST had other plans.

Some notes:

• That Allan Evangelista is terrific. He actually reminded me sometimes of (gasp) Alvin Patrimonio, with his several - fakes - and - pump - fakes under the basket style.
• ADMU's inability to rebound is pathetic, and if there was a stronger word for it I'd use it. At one point in the 4th quarter the rebound stats showed something like 26-14 (or something like that). It was horrendous and the Eagles big guys were starting to point fingers at each other. Norman Black would've pulled all his hair out, if he had any. Guys like Jervy Cruz, Evangelista and Ababou outrebounded 2 to 3 ADMU guys and were just snatching rebounds away from Kramer et al..

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Last year, there were reports coming out from the Adducul camp that Rommel wanted out of the Ginebra team. They contend that with Eric Menk in tow, there would be no way Rommel would be able to assume the team's main man status and little chance of being able to reap personal awards just as he did during his amateur days. Fast forward today, with the recentmost trade that transpired between the Gin Kings, Coca Cola Tigers and the Air21 Express, the PBA's crowd darling suddenly found themselves surrounded with athletic bigs in the persons of Billy Mamaril and Raffy Reavies, pushing Rommel Adducul (whose contract will expire on December 31) further down the depth charts. It did not also help that back-up center Andy Seigle was signed to an extension during the offseason.

Adducul, 30, is nearing the twilight of his career but make no mistake about it, he can still hack it. Adducul is one of the league's leading rebounders, shotblockers, and interior defenders despite having to share minutes and position with Eric Menk. Guys like him - who operates inside and does the dirty work - are very hard to find. While he has been increasingly prone to injuries the past couple of years, there is no argument that Adducul will be very valuable to whatever team he plays for. At presstime, there has been no announcement yet from the Ginebra management with regards to their plans for Adducul. There is no way Ginebra would keep Adducul in its lineup with their bulging salary cap, the rotational issues at the frontcourt, and with the way Adducul's name has been dragged into every conceivable trade scenarios. However, I just don't think that Ginebra would release Adducul for cheap. Rommel still commands a marketable bargaining chip to teams wishing to strengthen their frontcourt. Ginebra also has holes in the backcourt and may be ready to deal the 6-6 center-forward to any team that could give them reliable backups at the point guard and swingmen positions.

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The Chunkee Giants made a lot of eyebrows raised with the drafting of Letran's Boyet Bautista and Ollan Omiping in the 2006 PBA Amateur Draft. Purefoods' coaching staff made it known days prior to the draft that they were looking to get a center and a small forward in the draft. With no legitimate center on its roster and with the void left by Eugene Tejada, the Giants were on the board shopping for talents who would be able to fill their needs.

The Giants' top targets in the draft pool were obviously 6-4 Aaron Aban and 6-8 Mark Andaya but both were taken by the Alaska Aces at number 7, and by the Talk N' Text Phonepals at number 8, repectively. With no more center prospect worthy of first round selection, most people expected that the Giants would select 6-4 Abby Santos and 6-1 RJ Rizada next. Santos had after all a solid rookie camp performance and was a UP alumni just like coach Ryan Gregorio.

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On Monday, Aug. 28 I will be interviewing this man:

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6 three pointers and 1 two point shot in the last 4 minutes of the game.

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Here are the results of the 2006 PBA Annual Draft. Who'll emerge as the future superstars of Pinoy basketball? Cliche as it may sound, but only time can truly tell. In my opinion, all the top four picking teams got astounding rookies, especially SMB, which collared not only one, but two of 'em.

First Round

1. Kelly Williams -- Sta. Lucia
2. Arwind Santos -- Air21
3. Joseph Yeo -- Coca-Cola
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Or rather.. he'd like to teach, if his players would cooperate..

Technorati Tags: coach jim, basketball tips, youtube, funny videos

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Some site news: For your viewing playshurr, The Basketball Exchange Google Calendar has just been updated to reflect the Solar Sports / RPN 9 schedules of the FIBA 2006 World Basketball Championships.

A few notes:

1. The USA Basketball Team's World Tour 2006, featuring tune-up games from August 4 to 15, is obviously separate from the World Championships themselves, but I added them anyway. As of today, the 14th, there's only one left, USA vs. South Korea, 2pm - 7pm Solar Sports, with replay at 4am and 3pm the next day.
2. There are many schedule disparities, with some games mentioning the same time (3pm up to 3pm), and really long times (2pm to 7pm). I assume these are because some of the schedules aren't final yet. The Solar Sports website is here.

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From this report:

GUANGZHOU (FIBA World Championship) - LeBron James, Elton Brand and Joe Johnson came up with huge plays in the final minute as the United States edged Brazil, 90-86, in a warmup for the FIBA World Championship in Japan later this month.

The exhibition victory did not come without a price, however, as Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony hyperextended his right knee chasing a loose ball in the second quarter. Anthony, whose 16 points led the US, did not return.

"I think he's fine," Team USA assistant coach Mike D'Antoni of the Phoenix Suns said. "A couple days' rest and he should be okay."

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Cool selection of highlights. BTW the one who made it disclaims saying Yao=Hakeem, which is right.

Technorati Tags: hakeem olajuwon, yao ming, nba, houston rockets

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1. Not everyone can dunk.
2. Taller guys have an advantage, and smaller guys become even less likely to make an impact than ever before, so this is actually anti-Philippine basketball.
3. Shooting 3 point shots is a matter of skill and training, and so anyone who works at it long enough can become a good 3 point shooter. Dunks however, require height and athletic ability. You cannot teach height and athletic ability, but you can teach a guy to shoot.
4. It puts a spotlight on dunks, which really are just ordinary shots and should always be treated as such.
5. It will cause for new kinds of plays, where smaller guys would pass up the chance to score on all alone plays to wait for the bigger guys. That is stupid, because if a guy is all alone, then he should score because the reason why he's all alone is either because of good defense, or the results of a good play. In fact, it's more exciting to see a guy get all alone because of a great pass, a perfect pick, or a well run play. A dunk is a nice finish, but there would be no dunk if it weren't for a good play. Points should favor the team that makes good plays. Not good dunks.

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PBA Commissioner Noli Eala strikes me as a person who always pushes the envelope, and it looks like he'll do it again in the next PBA season. I don't need any stats for me to believe that last year's tourney was a huge success, and it's only great news to see that the league isn't resting on its laurels.

A short list of possible targets on Eala's mind for the next season, summarized from an article of today's The Philippine Star:

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