Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk December 13, 2009 Basketball Year-ender 2009 The year has come to a close for the basketball family, and it’s time to look back and cite the major achievements in Cebu Basketball. Over-all, Cebu saw the dominance of the M. Lhuillier and UV ballclubs and a mix of different faces winning in the age group scene. At the top this year’s list are M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala/Cebu City Niños for winning the Liga Pilipinas 2009 season championship in real championship style. The M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños completed their date with history by capturing the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference III National Championship via an incredible 21-game sweep. They won every single game of the season, sweeping all their leg tours and capping the historic run with another sweep at the Super Leg (playoffs). They not only went unblemished. They also ended their season with an exclamation point, thumping MisOr Meteors, 89-54, in the championship game. For a team that has won just about ever

Bleacher Talk December 5, 2009 Kamo Bay Sikat ug Datu, Lalim ba? Pacquiao, Woods & TPL. What do Manny Pacquiao and Tiger Woods have in common? They’re obviously the top draws in their sports: boxing and golf. They also happen to be Nike endorsers. And they’re also hit with “TPL.” Third party liability. When you register your vehicle at the LTO, a TPL is a minimum requirement. When you’re a big-time superstar, it’s an excess baggage you can (or should) do without. Around two weeks ago, Pacquiao was dogged with issues regarding his relationship with a showbiz personality. This came complete with pictures on the internet, reports in the media, and nationwide exchange of words from all angles of society (similar to Pacman’s punches). While it looks like all the fireworks from all these have died down, the “damage” has been done. Whether or not the affair was true, a mark has already been set. It might have been the only tarnish to his amazing feat of winning his seventh world champions

Bleacher Talk November 29, 2009 Cebu in the Nationals With the various school-based leagues around the country done with their 2009 local tournaments, it’s time to determine the best team in the land. The end of the year is appropriately the right time to bring together all the best teams from the north to the south for one big finale. Not to be outdone, Cebu is once again involved in all these activities, a reflection of how competitive our basketball scene is. Over the past week, we’ve already had two major activities hugging the headlines. The national finals of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament was held in Baguio last weekend. Starting this week was the Sweet 16 round of the Philippine Collegiate Champions’ League (PCCL) in Manila. The regional eliminations prelude to the PCCL was held earlier. Also quietly taking place without making much noise is the start-up national Under 19 and Under 17 youth tournament of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP). Fresh fro

Bleacher Talk November 22 2009 Pacquiao’s Legacy Even if he doesn’t fight again, Manny Pacquiao has already cemented his place in boxing history. No other boxer has won seven world championships in seven weight divisions, starting from 112 pounds all the way to 147 (145) pounds. Join us in a review of all seven so we get a bigger picture of what he has done. He earned his first word title in dramatic fashion when he defeated Thai champion Chatchai Sasakul via eighth round knock-out for the WBC flyweight championship (112 pounds) on December 8, 1998. The irony in the Pacman’s first attempt to win a world championship was that he was way behind in points in this fight before scoring the big KO. One judge even had Sasakul scoring a 7-0 shutout after seven rounds. Pacquiao would later lose his title on the weighing scale after barely making the 112-pound limit enroute to losing to another Thai Medgeon Singsurat in an equally devastating manner: third round KO. Pacquiao was visibly drained

Bleacher Talk November 15, 2009 Pacquiao-Cotto Pacquiao-Cotto. This is it. Will Manny Pacquiao win his seventh world championship in a seventh weight class? Or will Miguel Cotto play the spoiler’s role and break an entire nation’s heart? Brace yourselves for the fight of the year. What will we all see at today’s fight? Pacquiao go will into the fight with a tactical game plan. For starters, he won’t be mixing it up with Cotto to make the fight a slugfest. Pacquiao will use his speed to land his jab-straight combinations, and he’ll occasionally use a left hand lead from the southpaw stance to confuse Cotto in the same way he stunned the taller and bigger Oscar de la Hoya last year. He’ll then use his furious hand speed to land more blows from all angles, and then shift away from Cotto’s counters with his spins and lateral movement. The quickness of his hands will be complemented by the quickness of his feet when he spins away and avoids Cotto’s left hooks to the body. Don’t expect Pacqu

Bleacher Talk November 8, 2009 Weekend Basketball: College & Youth What are you going to watch? College basketball, or an international 16-Under youth tournament featuring foreign teams? So what do we have? Cebu is hosting a regional eliminations leg of the Champions’ League this weekend where CESAFI’s University of Cebu (UC) and University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) are up against two tough opponents from Manila in Adamson University (ADU) of the UAAP (fifth place) and NAASCU champion San Sebastian Recoletos-de Cavite (SSR-C). As expected, Adamson is favored to take the first slot, while the second slot is up for grabs among the three other teams. I’d like to believe that UC can handle SSR-C, with the two Recoletos teams having an outside chance of making it to the top two. The crucial task at hand for UC is to forget about its loss to UV in the finals and start all over. Why is this relevant? In last week’s column, we talked about how UV has dominated the Cebu collegiate scene

Bleacher Talk October 25, 2009 CESAFI Finals: Battle of the Giants UV, UC, Slaughter, Fajardo, Cabahug/Solis, Gomez. Put all these names together and what do you have? Cebu’s deadliest concoction in basketball. If this were a cocktail drink, you’d be drunk after only one shot. It’s the CESAFI 2009 finals and nothing can get any better for the CESAFI this year after a “rough” season both on and off the court. Although the 2009 season will be remembered for isolated problems off the court, it should also be remembered for the battle of the giants. And we’re not talking only about the Slaughter-Fajardo showdown. For starters, we have to give credit to both UV and UC for establishing basketball programs that other schools could only drool at. There’s a lot of talk about the Slaughter-Fajardo battle, but already being established behind the scenes and even bigger from a total view is the battle between the two biggest school-based programs outside Metro Manila. The finals is also going to b

SHSJ is Visayas Passerelle Champion USC South is Runner-up to Ateneo de Iloilo in SBP Roxas City - Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) scored a back-to-back championship in the Visayas Regional Finals of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament after outlasting Iloilo Commercial Central High School (ICCHS), 84-75. But it didn’t come easy. The Eagles raced off to a 30-15 lead after one quarter behind the 16 points of Kris Porter and 12 of Rebreb Diputado. The lead was sustained through halftime with SHSJ enjoying a 47-34 lead. That’s when ICCHS decided to make a move. They outshot the Eagles in the third quarter to cut the SHSJ lead down to 64-55 after three periods. At one point, ICCHS got as close as five, 52-55 in the third period before SHSJ retaliated with its own counter rally. ICCHS banked on its momentum to repeatedly attach the interior SHSJ defense, cutting down the lead to 62-66 at the six minute mark of the fourth quarter. Porter, Diputado, and Adrian Muller then co

SHSJ, USC South in Visayas Finals Roxas City - Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of San Carlos South Campus (USC) barged into the championship of the Visayas Regional Finals of the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament after scoring two convincing wins each in the elimination round. The Eagles, Visayas defending champions in the Passerelle division, thumped St. John’s Institute (SJI) of Bacolod 73-59 in its first game. SHSJ led from start to finish, controlling all departments of the ballgame in erecting a 41-22 halftime lead enroute to the big win that kicked off the winning run of the two Cebu teams that are playing here in Roxas. USC South then trooped to the court and duplicated the win of its elder counterparts as they crushed St. John’s Institute of Bacolod, 51-38, in a Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) game. USC South broke open a close game after taking a 20-14 halftime lead, streaking to a 37-25 lead at the end of three quarters. It was cruise cont

Bleacher Talk Oct. 18, 2009 Boom Boom Goes Left The left was right after all. This was the biggest message that Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista sent out Friday night to announce that he was ready for another run at big-time boxing. After an 11-month lay-off and surgery done on his left wrist, Boom Boom proved that along with his right hand, his left is also just as effective and can be relied on to send boxers to sleep. Boom Boom knocked out Indonesian junior featherweight champion Marangin “Dinamita” Marbun in the seventh round for the interim WBC International featherweight championship Friday night as ALA Promotions made a big comeback at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. The most impressive “adjustment” that Boom Boom made was when he used his left hand in various ways to score the win. His left jab did a great job of keeping Marbun at a distance and thus negating Marbun’s aggressive ways. Note that Marbun was resilient and managed to land a few bombs of his own despite Boom Boom

BEST Center Cebu SHSJ, USC South win Milo BEST The Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) and the University of San Carlos (USC) South Campus are this year’s champions of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament. SHSJ scored its third straight Passerelle division championship after overcoming USC North, 92-80. In the Small Basketeers Philippines division, USC South out seated defending champion USC North with a 56-46 win. Both wins however, didn’t come easy as both squads had to overcome mid-game rallies to bag their championships. In the Passerelle title game, SHSJ started out hot to take the first quarter 25-12 behind the troika of Kris Porter, Rebreb Diputado and Franz Gabuya. USC North then countered in the second period when SHSJ had to field four players with a player in sickbay. The Baby Warriors cut the lead down to 43-39 at halftime then sustained the rally to close the gap further 62-61 after three quarters. USC North’s rally actually gave them their first taste of the

BEST Center Cebu Semifinals Results (Passerelle Division) SHSJ, USC in Milo BEST Passerelle Finals For the second year in a row, the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and the University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus will clash for the championship of the Passerelle division of the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments for Cebu. Back-to-back Cebu champion SHSJ survived some scary moments before outscoring the University of Cebu (UC), 92-78, while USC North overcame the hot three-point shooting of Don Bosco to score an 80-73 win at the cross-over semifinals held at the USPF Gym. After seizing control of the first quarter at 17-13, SHSJ crumbled to the pressure of playing against the four-man second period UC squad led by Jerie Pingoy. Pingoy combined forces with Jerick Yburan to give UC a 39-32 lead at halftime. But all of Pingoy and Yburan’s efforts went down the drain in the third quarter as SHSJ seized control of the game, overtaking UC at 42-41 with 7:10 left in the

BEST Center Cebu Semifinals Results (SBP Division) All USC in Milo BEST SBP Finals It will be an all USC affair for the championship of the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) SBP division of the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments 2009. Defending champions USC North exerted is mastery over Sacred Heart School-Jesuit through a 61-49 victory, while sister school USC South overcame a tough end-game rally to thwart Don Bosco, 52-44. As expected, USC North, which is seeking a second straight championship, started out hot, controlling the first quarter, 28-18 behind the hot hands of Shann Tan. The Eagles came back in the second period to cut the lead down to 29-22, but USC North’s third quarter crew featuring Clint Suelto and Arnie Padilla padded the lead to 43-34 at the end of three periods. SHSJ launched another spirited rally in the fourth quarter with Popoy Navarro scoring six straight points to cut down the lead down to six at 51-45, three minutes left in the game. But then

Bleacher Talk Sept. 27, 2009 Basketball 24-8 Cebu Basketball is busy 24/8; sorry it’s not 24/7. Let me explain. In the next few days, we’re going to be bombarded with crunchtime news updates as Cebu’s school-based basketball leagues shift into high gear. It’s playoffs time in Cebu’s leading collegiate league CESAFI for its collegiate and high school divisions. This weekend also marks the start of the cross-over semifinals of the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) and Passerelle divisions of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments. Although the ordinary fan may see both leagues as totally distinct from one another (and they are), we’d rather see it from a total and bigger picture perspective as a single and cohesive program that works well for Cebu Basketball. A look at the teams in playoffs of both leagues will give us a better picture at what I mean. UC, UV, USJR and USC are the seeded teams in the quarterfinals of CESAFI’s collegiate division. They’ll face the lower seeded team

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 18-21 Games UC, SHSJ in Passerelle Semis The Sacred Heart School Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of Cebu (UC) formalized their entry to the semifinals of the Passerelle division of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments with convincing wins over the weekend. SHSJ defeated USC North-B, 61-39, to sweep Group A with a 5-0 record. UC scored two straight wins to jump to 4-1 and assure itself of the #2 seeding in Group B. The Baby Webmasters defeated SHSJ-B, 72-40, and SCSIT, 93-32, to recover from its upset loss to USC South. USC South assured itself of at least a tie for the top two spots in Group B after crushing SCSIT, 92-62 to finish the elimination round tied with UC at 4-1. The fourth team in the Passerelle semifinals will be determined when USC North (3-1) plays Don Bosco (1-3) in their last game. A win by USC North will make it the #1 seed in Group B in a triple tie for first to third places among UC North, UC and USC South. USC North has the hig

Bleacher Talk Sept. 20, 2009 2nd Trim Check For us fans of Pinoy Boxing, developments over the past month surely brought smiles to our faces. We watched Donnie Nietes defend his WBO world minimumweight championship in Mexico, beating Manuel Vargas by split decision. Before this, “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona pulled a pleasant surprise when he won the WBO super flyweight championship from Jose “Carita” Lopez in Canada. Brian Viloria returned to his hometown of Hawaii to defend his IBF world flyweight championship, defeating Jesus Iribe by unanimous decision. The other good news were AJ Banal winning in in Hawaii and Z Gorres winning in the undercard of the Nietes-Vargas event in Mexico. And the best news out of Pinoy Boxing is that Manny Pacquiao has arrived from the U.S. and is due to start training for his November 14 fight with Miguel Cotto. He heads north to Baguio tomorrow to formally kick off his training. But not all was good news. Rodel Mayol lost in his fourth attempt to win a wor

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 11-13 Weekend Games Milo BEST Semis Cast Shapes Up The semifinals cast of the Milo BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Basketball Tournaments has cleared up with traditional age-group powers University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus, Sacred Heart School Jesuit and Don Bosco once again making its presence felt. In the SBP division, defending champion USC North scored a sweep of its Group with a 66-12 win over SHSJ-B to take the top seed of Group A. Don Bosco then followed this with a 59-15 win over USC South-B to also sweep SBP’s Group B. SHSJ defeated USC North-B, 57-16 to take second place in Group B. USC North will face SHSJ in the cross-over semifinals while Don Bosco will play the winner of the virtual knock-out game between Cebu Eastern College (CEC) and USC South. The Passerelle division was rocked by upsets over the weekend that made the race for the semis slots interesting. USC South leaned on Jose Pestano’s two free throws to record a 68-66 shocker over

Bleacher Talk Sept. 13, 2009 Pacman Drama Drama ra na uy! Drama or real? If you’re a Pacman fan, I’m sure you’re concerned. When will Manny Pacquiao start training for his fight against Cotto on November 14? Where will he train? Baguio, Mexico, Bahamas or Cebu? How much does he weigh these days? Is he taking care of his body with all his current obligations in showbiz and Saranggani that have seen him take on an incredible schedule of activities? Will eight weeks of training be enough to make Pacquiao ready for Cotto? Isn’t it funny how Pacquiao’s “off-season” is now being dodged by more questions than answers? The tough part is that all these lead to insinuations that Pacquiao may not be doing the right thing with a big fight coming up soon. He’s busy shooting a film and laying the groundwork for his second attempt to make it to Congress, and not doing anything related to his upcoming fight. One of the most disturbing news about all this drama is how Freddie Roach is upset over the fa

BEST Center Cebu Results of Sep. 9 Games UC, SHSJ Take Solo Leadership It was a day of proving who’s who, going double overtime, recording an upset and the usual convincing wins at the Milo-backed BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) Mango Campus Gym Wednesday. The University of Cebu (UC) passed its first litmus test as pre-tournament favorites by eking out a 57-54 win over University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus in the Passerelle division. Meanwhile, defending Passerelle division champions SHSJ scored a routine 74-29 win over Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT). In the first game of the season that went into overtime, Salazar College of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) outlasted Don Bosco-A 70-63 in double overtime. The upset of the day was scored by USC North-B when it beat USJR, 66-62. In other Passerelle matches, Don Bosco-B defeated USPF, 50-40, while USC South won over SHSJ-B, 81-45. UC’s John Aranas looks for room for a lay

BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournament - Cebu Results of Sep. 5-6 Games SHSJ, USC North Lead the Way Defending champion Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of San Carlos North Campus (USC-NC) scored their second straight victories to lead the title favorites’ charge in the Passerelle division of the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments over the weekend. SHSJ scored a routine 72-31 win over University of Southern Philippines (USPF) while USC North overcame a tough USC South squad, 54-46. Pre-tourney favorite University of Cebu (UC) also made its presence felt as it debuted with a 68-26 win over Don Bosco. In other Passerelle games, Don Bosco-B defeated USC North-B, 59-54. University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) bounced back from its opening day loss to SHSJ-A and defeated Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT), 57-42, as SHSJ-B nipped SCSIT, 69-68. SHSJ now leads the Passerelle division’s Group A with a 2-0 slate while USC North also carries the same record in Group

Bleacher Talk Sept. 6, 2009 Brand Building & Sports Marketing If we were to make a layman’s definition of the term “sports marketing,” I’d simply say that sports marketing is the use of sports to help build the image or personality of a brand. Make sense? Yes, sports can be used as a tool to help build or promote the image of products that we (as consumers) buy from the shelves of supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores or at sari-sari stores. But why all the “sudden” talk about sports marketing? For the past two weeks or so, Milo has very much been in the news with its sports activities here in Cebu. The Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle basketball tournament kicked off last week, while the Milo Little Olympics started last Friday and will run for two straight weekends. If you visited the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday or today, you’ll see a wave of Milo green splashed across the entire sports complex. But that’s not just it. The Cebu leg of the Milo Marathon was also held

SHJS, USC Teams Win in Cebu Milo BEST Opener Defending champions Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) and University of San Carlos (USC) North Campus opened their respective title-retention campaigns with convincing wins on opening day of the Milo-backed BEST Center SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments at the USC North Gym Monday. Reigning Visayas and Cebu Passerelle division champion SHSJ started the day by beating rookie team University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR), 74-47, while 2008 Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) champion USC North defeated USC South, 54-46. It was also a big day for opening ceremony host USC North as all three of its teams which saw action scored big wins on their homecourt. USC North-A won over SHSJ-B while USC North-B beat University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) in Passerelle matches. SHSJ-A’s SBP team made it a double for the Eagles with a win over USC South. The opening ceremonies, which was held in partnership with USC North principal Carmelita Datan,

Bleacher Talk August 30, 2009 Milo BEST Milo and BEST, BEST and Milo = Milo BEST. Get it? It’s a play of words that has been there for the past 25 years and it looks like nothing can stop it. When one talks about THE basketball tournament for youth, Milo BEST is hands-down, a top-of-mind answer. And so why all the fuss? All because Cebu’s 2009 edition of the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Basketball Tournaments kicks off tomorrow at the University of San Carlos North Campus Gym. Once again, the best of age-group basketball get together for a friendly round of games in what is now known as the most followed tournament in the country. Coaches of the teams playing in the Milo-sponsored BEST SBP/Passerelle Twin Tournaments pose for a unity shot at the coaches organizational meeting. Many questions have been asked about Milo BEST, and so we felt it proper to provide answers to the FAQ’s about the event. For starters, the event is organized by the Basketball Efficiency and Scient