Basketball – Page 8 – Cebu Sports Blog by John Pages

Back home, Kobe stars in Hollywood

With chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in the background, Kobe Bean Bryant finally lived up to his top billing as Hollywood’s No. 1 superstar. With 6:55 left in Game 3 and his Los Angeles Lakers trailing the Boston Celtics, 66-68, he stood at the top of the 3-point rainbow, hesitated for a split second, eyed the target, then fired. The orange Spalding ball—swirling on air at the Staples Center—swooshed into the net. Minutes later, with his team quivering on the brink of falling 0-3—an impossible task that no team in NBA history has overcome—Kobe lifted his arms to an 87-81 win. Never mind missing seven of 18 free throws, he scored 10 points in that 4th quarter to finish with 36.

Not known to many, Kobe now moves one point away from taking the fourth spot for the most postseason points in Lakers franchise history. His 3,622 postseason points is one less Elgin Baylor’s and only 79 points away from the No. 3 spot—held by Magic Johnson (3,701 points). The second spot is held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (4,070) and the No. 1 rank by Jerry West at 4,457. If the NBA Finals goes back to Boston, look for Kobe to surpass Magic.

Yayoy Alcoseba: ‘Kobe…. like Michael Jordan’

Yayoy Alcoseba with Freddie Roach

At 1 p.m. yesterday, with the sound of rubber shoes squeaking against the parquet floor and the noise of shouts echoing and basketballs bouncing in the background, I spoke to a man as legendary to Cebu basketball as Phil Jackson is to the NBA.

He has won more titles in Cebu basketball—and possibly, nationwide—than any other coach in history. As head coach of the M. Lhuillier squad—and top honcho of other ball-clubs throughout his several-decades-long tenure—he has amassed 50, 100, 150, maybe 200 trophies. In four short words: Too Many To Count.

Are you ready? It’s Celtics vs. Lakers!

(FILE/Branimir Kvartuc/AP)

Since the NBA was founded in June 6, 1946, the two have met 10 times in the NBA Finals. For the first eight encounters—would you believe—the Celtics prevailed against the Lakers.

In 1959, when the teams first met and the Lakers were then called the “Minneapolis Lakers,” the Celtics clobbered their nemesis, 4-0. This domination continued for decades—including the 1984 victory at Boston Garden, 4-3, when Larry Bird bested Magic Johnson and emerged as the series MVP. That’s 8-0 for Boston.

Minus BTV, what’s basketball without the NBA?

Paco Jarque is one of the luckiest people in Cebu. Why? It’s not because he won the P138,000,000 Super Lotto jackpot or scored a hole-in-one in golf then drove home a brand-new BMW X5, it’s this: Unlike you and me and tens of thousands of others living on this island who love basketball, he gets to watch—everyday—the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Not on the internet. Not via delayed telecast. Not from listening to Y101 updates. But “live.”

“I watch almost all the games,” said Paco, when we spoke on the phone yesterday.

When I called him at around 11:40 in the morning, guess what, he was watching and updating me—in real time—the Game 4 score of the L.A. Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs.

“Nine-point lead for the Lakers,” he said. “And it’s the last three minutes of the game.”

Can you imagine a Lakers-Celtics final?

Kevin Garnett said it best: “This is my first of, hopefully, many. If you don’t know about the Lakers-Celtics history, then you really don’t know basketball. I’m looking forward to it and I’m going to enjoy it. I’m going to embrace it. I’m going to try not to get too hyped about it. I’m very much aware of it. The titles… and the endless battles.”

Not to fast, KG. But, granted that the 6-foot-11 forward’s wish comes true, what a moment! Because aren’t the Lakers and Celtics the NBA’s two greatest names?

Defeated, UV still the ‘University of Victory’

ALMOST. Just one game shy of carving it’s name in history, just two half-times away from becoming the first provincial team since 1957 to win an RP crown, just four basketball quarters away from arriving home to Cebu and carrying a banner that reads “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS” then driving to a motorcade along Osmena Boulevard amidst a thunderous rain of confetti—the University of the Visayas lost.

In Boston, an avid spectator from Cebu

The Boston Celtics are 8-0. They own the NBA’s best scorecard. Last week, top Cebu rheumatologist Dr. Ronald Eullaran fulfilled his lifelong dream to watch “Larry Bird’s team.” Here’s Dr. Ron Eullaran:

“I was in Boston from Nov. 6 to 11 for our Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology at the new Boston Intl. Convention Center. The topics were great but we were more excited to watch the game between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets. I have long been a fan of the Celtics since the era of Larry Bird. Visiting the Boston Garden is one of my dreams. Well, it became true last Wednesday, Nov. 9. Boston Garden, now named Banknorth Garden, is huge but it wasn’t difficult for me to spot the #33 jersey among the retired numbers that hung from the roof.

UV: The University of Victory

(Sun.Star Cebu photo)

Seven years. That’s how long the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) has existed. And ever since it began, one school has dominated the league’s No.1 sport, basketball.

The University of Victory.

Yes. Don’t call UV the University of the Visayas. I’m calling it by another name. Isn’t it fitting to call the school that’s won starting in 2001, won again the year after, won again and again until last weekend when it faced the University of San Carlos (USC)? And what did UV do last Saturday? In the season-finale? Game 5? It performed the one act that it performs best: It won again.

University of Victory.

“We heard mass Saturday morning,” said Elmer “Boy” Cabahug, the PBA star-turned-UV coach, when I spoke to him on the phone the night after their 82-71 championship victory. “Sir Eddie Gullas, who was celebrating his birthday that day, was there. And so was the whole Gullas family. I promised Sir Eddie that we’ll win that afternoon… And we delivered.”

La Salle Hero

Guess who I saw at a table right beside while dining at Tender Bob’s in Greenhills? The hero of the DSLU team, the leader of the squad that won it’s green-and-white school the UAAP Men’s Senior Basketball Championships… TY Tang.

David and Goliath: The battle ends today

(Sun.Star Cebu photos)

Greg Slaughter is 6’11”. That’s the height of Goliath. But when he drove down the lane and jumped, ready to slam a dunk—he was blocked! A thin-reed player named Codilla, eight inches shorter, sprang his legs upward and skyrocketed to block the ball and embarrass Slaughter. The crowd erupted. Eyes enlarged. It was the play of the game.

The game? Six-time defending champions University of the Visayas (UV) versus the University of San Carlos (USC). Can the CESAFI finals be any more thrilling?

Last Thursday from 5:30 to 8 p.m., I sat at ringside beside fellow Sun.Star writer Marian Baring. The Freeman’s Caecent No-ot Magsumbol and Cebu Daily News’ Jonas Panerio sat near. Behind were the two Gullas cousins, Jiji and Didi, owners of UV. CESAFI Commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy sat across, beside Atty. Frank Malilong. Holding the game microphone was Deputy Commissioner Rico Navarro.

We saw two teams with the same color green. But one team loomed tall and large: UV. Apart from Slaughter The Giant Slayer, there was Rico Berame, another behemoth who stood 6’8”. The rest of the team were six-footers. Even coaches Elmer “Boy” Cabahug and Al Solis stood tall. That’s UV.