North Stars Outrun, Outfox South Rivals In Puerto Princesa

(From PBA)

The North team played up-tempo basketball to overcome the South squad’s height and heft advantage, eking out a 133-130 decision in the 2010 PBA All-Star Game at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here Sunday night.

Gabe Norwood and his teammates pushed the ball hard and scored heavily on transition plays as they avenged their defeat in the last North-versus-South game held in Bacolod in 2008.

Delivering several highlight plays and knocking in crucial baskets at the finish, Norwood won the Handy Fix All-Star Game MVP award.

The versatile Rain or Shine Fil-Am guard piled up 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and block in the game where the two teams figured in duel of runs with no one leading by more than nine.

Earlier, active players Jeff Chan, Mark Macapagal and Yousif Aljamal humbled old stars Alvin Patrimonio, Kenneth Duremdes and Rhoel Gomez, 51-29, in the Legends Shootout.

Aljamal gave the active players a good start with 15 points, an initial boost sustained by Chan with 19 and concluded by Macapagal with 17. The oldies couldn’t match the youngsters’ hot shooting as Patrimonio and Duremdes could only make 10 each and Gomez nine.

Jonas Villanueva, the Obstacle Challenge winner Friday, had another winning moment, leading his team to victory in the Shooting Stars competition.

Their team clocked 38 seconds through five stages, winning over the teams of Renren Ritualo (52 seconds) and Macapagal (1:14).

Late Saturday, PBA technical chief Ramil Cruz, a former UP Maroon, nailed a charity as the PBA Board/Commissioner’s Office team nipped the PBA Press Corps, 60-59, in another side event of the annual mid-season spectacle.

Ely Capacio, a 6-foot-4 center who played pro ball with Tanduay, starred for the PBA team that included other league governors in Lito Alvarez, Ely Capacio, Robert Non and Rene Pardo.

The All-Star Week had a fitting conclusion with the North team beating the South in a fun, exciting and thrilling contest.

“We used our quickness to the hilt. Knowing they have extreme height advantage, the only way to win is to push the ball and score on fast break. Luckily, the effort was enough,” said North coach Ryan Gregorio.

Also calling the shots for the North team, Gregorio won over Joel Banal in 2005 and lost to Boyet Fernandez in 2008.

Push the ball and score on fast break the North team did as they overcame the South’s domination off the boards.

Asi Taulava and Kelly Washington hauled down 11 rebounds each and the South team totaled 69 as against the North’s 57.

The South team towered in the rebounding battle but couldn’t score at endgame.

Norwood, Macmac Cardona, Willie Miller and Arwind Santos, meanwhile, sizzled for their team at crunch time, enabling the North to take a 5-4 lead over the South in their head-on duels since the All-Star Game was institutionalized in 1989.

Cardona, Santos, Miller, Ranidel de Ocampo and JC Intal also scored in double figures for the North.

Kelly Williams pumped in 17 to pace the South which also drew double-digit outputs from Cyrus Baguio, Sonny Thoss, Jimmy Alapag, James Yap, Asi Taulava and Reynel Hugnatan.

The North put the game beyond reach as Norwood, Cardona and De Ocampo scored six straight points to make it 133-125 with less than a minute left to play.

The two teams played as how the All-Star Game should be in the early goings – show time.

Norwood and Intal sent the crowd rocking early with the former executing three thunderous jams and the latter doing two throw-downs in the opening quarter.

The North started with a 15-6 run then the South answered with nine unanswered points to set the tone of the see-saw duel. (SB)

The scores:


North 133 – Cardona 20, Norwood 17, Santos 17, Mercado 14, Miller 12, De Ocampo 12, Intal 11, Artadi 9, Reyes 7, Pinris 6, Helterbrand 6, Maierhofer 2.


South 130 – Williams 17, Baguio 15, Alapag 14, Thoss 14, Yap, J. 11, Hugnatan 11, Taulava 10, Tubid 9, Devance 9, Yap, R. 7,  Menk 4.


Quarterscores: 38-39; 76-69; 104-101; 133-130

Strong 2nd Half Help Sophomores To 19-Point Rout Of Rookies

(From PBA)

Talk ‘N Text wingman Jared Dillinger presided over a blistering third quarter assault to lead the Sophomores to a 106-87 rout of the Rookies in the Blitz Game which capped All-Star Week Friday at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here.

Dillinger, who won MVP honors in the Victorias City leg of last year’s All-Star Game series featuring the Powerade RP Team, had 15 of his 18 points in the second half, nine of them in the third period where the second-year All-Stars outscored their freshmen counterparts 30-10, to turn a 40-48 halftime disadvantage into a 70-58 lead entering the fourth.

“He’s just amazing and such a great talent,” said winning coach Luigi Trillo of Dillinger, adding the University of Hawaii alumnus, who also had three rebounds, four assists and two shotblocks, could be a full-pledge superstar right now if only he were with another team.

“It’s unfortunate that Jared’s in the same team as (Jason) Castro, (Jimmy) Alapag and (Mark) Cardona. Let’s say if he were with Rain or Shine and (Sol) Mercado was with Talk 'N Text, Jared should easily be the man at Rain or Shine,” explained Trillo, one of Tim Cone’s assistants at Alaska.

Trillo revealed Cone gave him valuable advice going into the Rookies-Sophomores Blitz Game.

“Coach Tim gave me a great advice and it was not too overcoach and just let the players play,” added Trillo.

And play his players did led by Dillinger who had three triples in a 28-7 run by the Sophomores which broke the game’s last deadlock at 56-all and gave them a commanding 84-63 lead, the biggest in the game.

It was actually a come-from-behind win for the Sophomores which trailed the Rookies by as much as 16 in the second period.

Jeff Chan and Mark Yee actually led the way in scoring for the Sophomores with their 27 and 24 points, respectively, but most of their points came in the fourth when the game’s outcome was already beyond recall.

Chan had 14 of his points in the final period while Yee had 12 and added a game-high 11 rebounds but had seven turnovers which was also a game-high.

Ogie Menor led the Rookies with his 19 points, Jervy Cruz contributed 18 while Josh Urbiztondo had 17 built around five triples. (FM)

The scores:

Sophomores 106 – Chan 27, Yee 24, Dillinger 18, Gregorio 10, Belga 7, Borboran 7, Rodriguez 7, Reyes 6.

Rookies 86 – Menor 19, Cruz 18, Urbiztondo 17, Ross 11, Marias 9, Timberlake 7, Arellano 6, Burtscher 0.

Quarterscores: 20-17, 40-48, 70-58, 106-87.

Canaleta Regains Slam Dunk Title

(From PBA)

The old slam-dunk champ reclaimed his crown, beating top-class rivals and a pretender.

B-Meg Derby Ace’s KG Canaleta was back on his old haunts, cheered on by peers and foes in winning the highly competitive 2010 PBA All-Star slam dunk competition at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here.

Grace prevailed over power as Canaleta beat out Sta. Lucia’s Kelly Williams to reclaim the crown he lost to Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood in Manila last year.

Norwood took a shot at back-to-back championships but failed to make it past the elimination round, getting poor scores on his off-timing executions.

Also out after the eliminations was former PBL slam dunk champion JC Intal.

Derby Ace rookie Rico Maierhofer proved to be just a pretender but he was a welcome sight with his game antics.

Missed was Jarred Dillinger who opted out to concentrate on the Obstacle Challenge and the Rookies-Sophomores Bitz Game. The Talk ‘N Text Fil-Am forward provided fun in the competition last year.

“Meaningful ito, kasi talagang ang lakas ng competition,” said Canaleta, who the event thrice from 2005 to 2007.

The 6-foot-4 forward out of University of the East soared past three North All-Star ball boys and elegantly finished it with a right-handed dunk to beat Williams in a slam-off.

He did practically the same routine in two earlier rounds – the first over one man then the second over two men.

“Grabe ang pressure na ibinigay sa akin ni Kelly. Hindi na ako makapag-isip ng gagawin so pinahaba ko na lang ang tinalunan ko. Good thing nagustuhan ng tao at ng mga judges,” said Canaleta, now a four-time slam dunk king in the event where no one else has won more than two.

Will he go for a fifth championship next year? He said: “Mahirap mag-salita. Siguro three-point shootout naman.”

Canaleta barely topped the preliminary round with 95 points to Williams’ 94.

And when Canelata thought he had the championship in the bag with a perfect 50 in the first round of the finale, Williams came to force the slam-off with his own 50 drawn on an off-the-board thunderous two-handed reverse throw-down.

The Sta. Lucia ace then executed another two-hander on a 360-degree turn for 45 points.

On his turn, Canaleta ran from midcourt, soaring high to perform between-the-legs dunk that drew mild response from the crowd.

That prompted Canaleta to opt for a re-dunk.

He summoned three ball boys from the sideline and promptly got the crowd up on their feet.

Doing a perfect execution, Canaleta got another perfect score for the championship cheered on by the highly appreciative crowd in the venue.

Macapagal 3-Point King, Jonas V Obstacle Challenge Champ

(From PBA)

The underdogs pulled the rug from under the favorites in the 2010 PBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here Friday night.

Coca-Cola’s Mark Macapagal emerged as the new champion, ruling a forgettable contest marked by James Yap’s fall from No. 1 last year to dead last this time.

Other long shots Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine and Yousif Aljamal of Barako Coffee finished runners-up to Macapagal in one of the skills events ushering in the annual PBA mid-season spectacle.

The three will be pitted against Alvin Patrimonio, Kenneth Duremdes and Rhoel Gomez in the Legends Shootout Sunday.

Macapagal had a poor winning score of 13, beating Chan by one and Aljamal by two in the finals.

Macapagal made 17, Chan 16 and Aljamal 19 in the elimination round, beating previous champions Renren Ritualo (14), Ronald Tubid (14), Dondon Hontiveros (13), Jimmy Alapag (13) and Yap (seven) as well as Willie Miller (12) and Josh Urbiztondo (13).

“I can’t believe I was there in the middle of the court holding the championship plaque,” said Macapagal.

“I was expecting James, Dondon and Jimmy to slug it out for the championship. I would be happy finishing fifth,” Macapagal added.

San Miguel’s Jonas Villanueva also took the spotlight in Day One of the 2010 PBA All-Star festivities, reigning supreme in the Obstacle Challenge.

Villanueva was fastest in doing the tricks, clocking 31.7 seconds to Alaska guard Willie Miller’s 34.7 and Air21 shooting guard Ronjay Buenafe’s 37.1 in the Finals.

Failing to make it past the elims were Barangay Ginebra's Cyrus Baguio (39.8 seconds), Barako Coffee's Jojo Duncil (40.3), Rain or Shine's Sol Mercado (43.4), Sta. Lucia's Josh Urbiztondo (44.3), Talk 'N Text's Jared Dillinger (46.4), Coca-Cola's Chris Ross (57.2) and title-holder Paul Artadi (57.1) of B-Meg Derby Ace.

Artadi finished dead last on an error-strewn performance. He got off to a bad start, missing an opening shot as he opted for a dunk instead of a simple layup.

The Llamados guard failed to recover, fumbling his way to the finish. 

PBA Undertakes Community Work

(From Manila Bulletin)

Games Saturday (Puerto Princesa Coliseum)
4:30 p.m. — Shooting Stars, Legends Shootout
5 p.m. — North All-Star vs South All-Star

PUERTO PRINCESA — Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner Sonny Barrios said Friday that the annual PBA All-Star Festivities is not just an event for the players to showcase their skills but an opportunity for the league to give back to the community.

Barrios and the PBA All-Star participants took part in different activities, from tree planting at the City Hall, to the painting of gutter curves on Junction 1 Rizal Avenue and Gawad Kalinga in Barangay Sicsican here courtesy of Rain or Shine.

“Like in every All-Star, of course we want to promote and share with our fans. But aside from showcasing their talents and skills as the best of the best in the country, this is also an opportunity for the league especially the players to show their human side, so to speak,” Barrios said.

“We want to share the blessings with the rest of our countrymen, particularly in the province,” the league commissioner added. “We got to interact with our fans. We also have outreach programs, the so-call corporate social responsibility. There’s more than just the game.”

The league also held free coaching and basketball clinics.

Philippine Cup champion coach Ryan Gregorio of B-Meg Derby Ace conducted the coaching clinic to some 50 local coaches while multi-titled mentor Norman Black led the basketball clinic that gathered 60 10 to 15 years old participants.

PBA referees chief Ramil Cruz and technical consultant Romy Guevara also conducted a referees’ clinic at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum.

“This is a good opportunity for us to impart our knowledge to them, like for me coaching,” Gregorio, who will coach the North All-Star team, said. “This is just one way of giving back and sharing to other aspiring coaches.”

Air21’s Renren Ritualo will lead a Book Reading at the coliseum with several children. This program “Read to Lead” is actually a regular activity of the PBA even in Metro Manila.

Meantime, a regular board meeting is set this Sunday, according to PBA chairman Lito Alvarez of Air21. One of the agendas is the remaining programs under Alvarez this season including the possible approval of expansion with the addition of two teams.

The All-Star Game between the North and South teams is set this Sunday at 5 p.m.

The game resumes with the regular North versus South encounter after the previous All-Star Game last year featured the PowerAde National Team against three PBA Selections.

Old Warriors Taulava, Menk Ready for the All-Stars

(From GMA News)

The Rock Asi Taulava and Major Pain Eric Menk together in one team.

That’s definitely a very formidable frontline combination.

The two elder citizens of the Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars will be the main men up front for the South selection this Sunday in Puerto Princesa.

Taulava, a 6-foot-9 slotman from the Coca-Cola Tigers and mainstay of the all-pro national team since 2002, and Menk, a 6-foot-6 center of Barangay Ginebra, are the oldest players of today’s batch of All-Stars.

The Fil-Tongan Taulava, a two-time Most Valuable Player in the All-Star Game (2004 and 2006), just turned 37 last March 2, but remains to be the most dominant local player in the league.

Menk will turn 36 this August. Since winning the Most Valuable Player award in the PBA’s first transition season -- the 2004-05 season – his career took a tailspin when he suffered a series of injuries.

But Menk worked his way up in 2008 and even led the Gin Kings to the Fiesta Cup crown against the Air21 Express in front of a record-crowd of 22,000-plus fans. During the deciding seventh game of the series, he finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds

Menk will be appearing on his ninth PBA All-Star.

Asked about the team’s chances in the coming event, Taulava had a modest objective – go out and entertain the crowd.

“The All-Star Game is for the fans. It’s a perfect avenue for us to entertain them and give them a treat," said Taulava.

“It’s also a good chance for us to get away from our usual routine wherein we’re tied up within a system. It’s more of a free flowing game in the All-Stars," he added.

Taulava and Menk will bolster the South All-Stars which will also have former MVPs Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty and reigning long-distance shootout king James Yap of B-Meg Derby Ace and Cyrus Baguio of Barangay Ginebra.

Size and heft will be the advantage of the South All-Stars against the starters from the North All-Stars, which will be composed of last season’s Rookie of the Year Gabe Norwood, energetic players Marc Pingris and Paul Artadi of B-Meg Derby Ace and JC Intal and Jayjay Helterbrand of Barangay Ginebra.

Also included in the North All-Stars, who will be handled by Philippine Cup champion coach Ryan Gregorio of Derby Ace are rookie Rico Maierhofer of B-Meg Derby Ace, Willie Miller of Alaska, Ranidel de Ocampo and Mac Cardona of Talk N Text, Sol Mercado of Rain or Shine, Ryan Reyes of Sta. Lucia and Arwind Santos of San Miguel Beer.

The reserves for the South-All Stars, which will be handled by veteran mentor Tim Cone, are Jimmy Alapag of Talk N Text, Roger Yap of B-Meg Derby Ace, Reynel Hugnatan, Sonny Thoss, and Joe Devance of Alaska, Ronald Tubid of Barangay Ginebra, and Dondon Hontiveros of San Miguel Beer.