Basketball – Page 7 – Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Rafa? Roger? Cebuanos take their pick…

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Bobby Aboitiz: Tough one, John… Federer’s control and methodical and reliable play vs. Nadal’s brilliant moments and passion… Its like Germany vs. Brazil in a soccer World Cup final… Stats would favor Federer, but my heart is with Nadal.

Steve Benitez: My pick is Roger. He has worked hard to gain back his form and confidence after going through a humbling experience of setbacks. He is now more driven to prove that, indeed, he is the best ever, and he needs this win to prove that.

Fabby Borromeo: I want Rafa to win but the odds favor Roger after Rafa’s 5-set semis match that must have drained him. I also think they should schedule both the men’s semis on Thursday cause it’s unfair to the winning player of the 2nd semis. Vamos, Rafa!

Fr. Joy Danao: I’ll go for Rafa cause he’s hungrier and he has improved his game vs. Roger; though he humbly respects the master magician and his enormous talent. Go, Rafa!

Eight top sporting stories of 2008

As 48 hours remain of the year that brought us 8-8-8, here are, in my opinion, the world’s most celebrated sports stories….

8) 8-8-8: Beijing. Wasn’t it symbolic? Perfect? That their revered number “8” would be their land’s first-ever Olympics? At 8 p.m.? On the eighth day? Of the eighth month? Of the century’s eighth year? As we all look back at the 17 Olympic days, this we can conclude: No other event was bigger-spent, had a more overwhelming Opening Ceremony, and an almost flawless execution than in Beijing.

Basketball helped No. 44 score a slam dunk

When Barack Obama was interviewed by Sports Illustrated with the question, “President Nixon had a bowling lane at the White House. President Eisenhower had a putting green and President Bush has a Tee-Ball game on the South Lawn. What sporting traditions are you looking forward to bringing to the White House?” he replied:

“Sports have always been a central part of my life. Growing up, I learned about competition and teamwork on the basketball court, and these days I try to get in a pickup game whenever I can. If I’m fortunate enough to move into the White House, I’d consider putting in a basketball court.”

Basketball Barack

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j87k1j4CpOw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mimaNFEbg6U[/youtube]

NBA on TV

Who says the NBA isn’t shown on cable TV? Early this year, when SkyCable pulled the plug on Solar Sports and, with it, Basketball TV, Cebuanos growled and protested. For how can, to us, the world’s most popular league—whose games we’ve watched since the Magic Johnson and Larry Bird era—be stripped away?

Chester Cokaliong

Chester receiving the champion’s trophy from PAL officials at last year’s PAL Intersports

Isn’t he fascinating? Here’s one of Cebu’s top businessmen (Cokaliong Shipping) whose dawn-till-dusk corporate schedule is jam-packed, finding the time to shoot 16 three-point shots and scoring 56 points. I repeat, no typographical error there: Chester made 16 three-pointers, amassed 56 points—all in one game. Stunning. This happened exactly seven days ago when his Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (CECABA) All-Stars demolished the Cebu Dental Society (CDS), 130-71.

Yayoy vs. Tiukinhoy: What do you think?

Two afternoons ago, Cebu City Councilor Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba called. He was furious. “Boy (Felix) Tiukinhoy is only good if he’s the one organizing the tournament,” he said. “If he’s not part of it, to him the event is no good.”

The latest issue, as you’ve read on these back pages the past few days, is the Visayas Amateur Athletic Association (VAAA).

The founder of the VAAA, Yayoy Alcoseba hoped to include, among his roster of teams, Cebu’s top collegiate schools: UV, USJ-R, UC, USC, among others. Instead, in a 6-1 vote by the school owners of the Cebu Schools Athletic Federation (Cesafi) last week, they barred any Cesafi school from participating in the VAAA.

Yayoy Alcoseba and Boy Tiukinhoy ready to fight (He-he! That’s Freddie Roach)

The NBA: It’s ‘Where Amazing Happens’

The above slogan is the NBA’s newest. Introduced to basketball fanatics last year, it replaced the long-running and popular, “I Love This Game.” Either way, this we know: the NBA is loved and is amazing.

Take Kobe and LeBron. Teammates in the ‘Redeem Team,’ they’re opponents on the parquet floors of the Staples Center and the Quicken Loans Arena. One stands 6-foot-6, wears three NBA championship rings, was the 1997 Slam Dunk champ and, last season, was adjudged as the NBA MVP. The other is 6’8”, weighs 45 lbs. heavier than KB at 250 lbs., dons MJ’s No. 23 jersey, and, last season, was the NBA scoring leader, averaging an exact 30.0 PPG.

Of Kobe and LeBron, once again I asked my “NBA consultant” who helped me craft last Tuesday’s column—Dennis Que—on his comments and MVP picks…

Questions? On the NBA? Dennis Que answers

Exactly one week from today, the game that’s dribbled in America but is followed by all 195 countries of the world—especially by our basketball-crazy nation—will begin. The NBA, after four months in hiatus, finally begins its 2008-09 Regular Season on Oct. 28.

I’ll make an admission: I haven’t followed the league. Ever since “the greatest athlete in world history” retired last April 16, 2003 wearing the Washington Wizards jersey, I’ve followed Federer-Nadal, running, Tiger, boxing, PacMan—but called a time-out when the topic was the NBA. And though two supermen named LeBron and Kobe are near-MJ-like, they’re still—and no one can ever replace His Airness—not Michael Jordan.

And so, to shoot an article on the NBA, I needed an assist from my good friend Dennis Que…

As Greg slaughters, UV marches to No.8 this ‘08

He is the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Empire State Building. He’s Taipei 101. He’s the Marco Polo Hotel of Cebu basketball who is statuesque and overlooking while the rest of the buildings sit below his monstrous shadow.

Last Thursday night at the Cebu Coliseum and together with 10,000 standing-room-only fans, I watched Game 1 of the UV vs. USJ-R Cesafi finals.

One behemoth dominated. No, sorry, he didn’t dominate—he lorded. On this game where you shoot at the 10-foot-tall ring, his nearly 7-foot-tall frame—plus those outstretched hands that would dwarf Michael Phelps’—he reigned supreme. He lorded tall in the forest like a towering giraffe looking down at the jaguars. And, by jaguars, yes, I mean the USJ-R Jaguars.