Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk April 19, 2009 NBA Playoffs After playing 82 games each, the NBA’s top 16 teams are getting down and dirty. It’s time to separate the men from the boys, and everyone is now switching to high gear. The NBA playoffs are finally on and it’s showtime! This year’s playoffs brings with it a mix of predictables, pleasant surprises and twists. This is reality basketball at its best. The 2009 playoffs is already being predicted to be a show between Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Many analysts are already forecasting an LA-Cleveland finals in a soap opera climax that will cap the season. Both are expected to lead their teams as they plod through the playoffs although it looks like an easier ride for Kobe and the rest of the Lakers. The Cavs have an interesting first round clash with the Detroit Pistons, a team rich with playoff history that’s out to prove that they’re not yet out of the count even if they’ve slipped to the #8 seeding. The Lakers should be able to cruise past Utah in...

Bleacher Talk April 12, 2009 Why Everything Stops Holy Week. Semana Santa. In the Philippines. Everything stops. Isn’t it ironic how the Philippines may be one of the few remaining countries where sports comes to a full stop during Holy Week? If you turned on the TV over the break, you can’t help but notice that while local sports is off the air, the international sports world is very much alive. You name it, it’s on. Basketball and golf are very much in the spotlight with the NBA playoffs and Masters lording it over the air waves. Football’s UEFA Champions’ League is also on with mid-week playoff matches. But I guess that’s just the way it is. If given the choice between both worlds, I’d still go for our Holy Week break to put a temporary stop to everything. This just goes to show that we Pinoys take time out to give way to more important events that are over and beyond the realm of sports or the material world. The past few days were supposed to be days of reflection as we remember t...

Students of the Milo BEST clinic show off their form in a field demonstration of the different ball-handling drills at the graduation of the Milo BEST clinic over the weekend. The second Milo BEST Clinic for Cebu will be held May 18-23. For more information, one can contact 516-9036, 09189394846 or 09233428193. Students show off their certificates before their proud parents after graduation. For more pictures of the clinic, click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26331950@N00/sets/72157616458629632/detail/

Bleacher Talk April 5, 2009 Other Side of Summer Sports We all know how the summer is always filled with sports clinics all over the place. The primary goal of parents in sending their kids to sports clinics is to find something productive for them to do over the summer break. Sports thus becomes a break form the tough ten-month school-year that children go through every year. We wrote about this two weeks back and encouraged parents to make sure that their children’s summer is filled with sports activities. But there’s another side to summer sports activities, especially for those who are already very much into sports. A typical summer for a student-athlete is to continue training in his sport. For some, they call it off-season training. For others, it’s the time to prepare for the upcoming schoolyear. So instead of taking a break from what they do during the schoolyear, they’re actually doing exactly the same thing that they’ve been doing for ten months. Isn’t this “boring?” Don’t yo...

Assumption College Davao Tops SHSJ The Assumption College of Davao (ACD) scored its second straight win in the CYBL-DYBL Tropang Growee Goodwill Games as they topped Sacred Heart School-Jesuit, 76-67 at the City Sports Club Cebu Wednesday. In a replay of their first win over the University of San Carlos North Campus (USC NC), the Blue Archers leaned on a strong start and overcame an endgame rally of their hosts to go 2-0 in these goodwill games being organized by the Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) and the Davao Youth Basketball League (DYBL). ACD seized early control of the game, taking the first two quarters 22-16 and 37-30. They then shifted into high gear in the third period, posting a commanding 59-45 lead after three quarters. SHSJ however, had other things in mind, controlling the fourth quarter with an end-game rally. Down 55-67, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to four, 63-67 with 2:25 left in the game. But ACD’s big man Jefferson Roxas countered for the ...

Assumption College Davao Beats USC North The Assumption College of Davao (ACD) led from start to finish to defeat the University of San Carlos North Campus (USC NC), 80-66, at the start of the CYBL-DYBL Tropang Growee Goodwill Games at the USC North Gym Tuesday. ACD, which won the championship of the Davao Youth Basketball League (DYBL) Tropang Growee Cup last month, took control of the game early, opening up a 22-14 lead at the end of the first quarter and extending the lead to 41-30 at halftime. ACD then posted a 62-46 lead after three quarters before USC staged a rally, cutting down the lead to as little as eight points in the fourth period. ACD, however, retaliated behind the leadership of Henry Asilum and Zairil Carbonell, dousing any chance of an endgame rally from the hosts. Four Blue Archers delivered in double digit scoring with Jefferson Roxas leading the attack with 18 points. Carbonell added 16, while Rudolph Zuniga and Asilum added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Michael B...