July 27, 2009 (Part 2); RP 5 finishes 6th in Jones Cup

Yes people, our very own PBA-backed Powerade Team Pilipinas basketball team, finished a lack-lustered 6th place out of 9 team in the recently concluded Renato William Jones Cup held in Hsin-Chuang County in Taiwan.

Yesterday was the last day of competition wherein we lost to Iran via a blowout, 85-60, behind Hamed Hadadi's 19 point and 12 rebound performance.

Iran, on the other hand, won the Jones Cup with a 6-2 record, Jordan finishes 2nd with a 7-1 record. And in case you guys are wondering why Iran won instead of Jordan is because of the point system used for this year's competition.

Lebanon finished 3rd while Chinese Taipei-A finished 4th with the same 6-2 record.

South Korea finished 5th with a 5-3 record, Chinese Taipei-B finished 7th with 2-6, while Kazakhstan and Japan rounded out the competition at a 1-7 win-loss record.

This is just a tune-up competition for all the teams who qualified for the FIBA-Asia Championships to be held in Tianjin, China this coming August 6-16.

16 teams have qualified for the said competition, which will determine who would be Asia's representative for the upcoming FIBA World Championship in 2010 which will be held at Turkey.

Here are the teams who have qualified for the FIBA-Asia Championships with their zones and world rankings!

East Asia
China
Korea
Japan
Chinese Taipei

Gulf
Kuwait
Qatar
UAE

Middle Asia
Kazakhstan
India
Sri Lanka
Uzbekistan

Southeast Asia
Philippines
Indonesia

West Asia
Jordan
Iran
Lebanon

And here are their respective groupings!

Group A
26 Korea
33 Japan
63 Philippines
75 Sri Lanka

Group B
23 Iran
40 Chinese Taipei
52 Kuwait
54 Uzbekistan

Group C
10 China
27 Qatar
41 Kazakhstan
46 India

Group D
24 Lebanon
42 Jordan
64 Indonesia
64 UAE

So let's hope that our team would make the top 3 finishers so that we could qualify for the World Championships! I hope they would do better this time! Don't let the country down! Support our team!

So there you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here... :)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)

July 27, 2009 (Part 1); Cell shocking!

Before anything else, I just want to say that I'M BACK from a long hiatus due to some problems with our telephone line. And now that it's working, and I'm not that busy, I'm back with my usual doing, which is blogging.

First up, from the UAAP.

Today saw the double-header from the PhilSports Arena, formerly known as the Ultra, in Pasig City.

First on hand was the game between the De La Salle University Green Archers against the Adamson University Falcons. The game went into overtime, and once again, the Falcons cannot maintain their composure in the late game as they folded against the Archers via a solitary point, 64-63.

Kish Co led the guys in green with 17 points. Maui Villanueva once again proved to be the difference maker as he hit what probably his best shot in his collegiate career, as he nailed a three-pointer with 3.7 seconds left in the clock.

While the second game featured the cellar-dwelling UP Fighting Maroons going up against the undefeated Ateneo Blue Eagles. But what seems to be easy picking for the Eagles was not the case for this game, as the Maroons were ready to place a loss on the Eagles' record.

Woody Co and Mark Lopez both tallied 15 points as the Maroons got their first win in Season 72 against the Eagles, 68-58, tying themselves with Adamson and NU at 1-3.

The Eagles on the other hand, slipped to a three-way first place tie alongside FEU and UST at 3-1.

This was the Maroons' first win against the Eagles since September 2, 2004.

Rabeh Al-Hussaini led the way for Ateneo with 17 points. His team were held to just six points in the entire third period, thus helping the cause of the Maroons.

Now, here are the games for this coming Thursday!

July 30, 2009
UAAP Season 72
Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

1:30 PM DLSU Green Archers vs. NU Bulldogs
4:00 PM ADMU Blue Eagles vs. AdU Falcons

There you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here...:)

It's good to be back!

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)

July 4, 2009 (Part 2); Turkoglu now a Raptor

Hedo Turkoglu, once a part of last season's Eastern Conference Champions Orlando Magic, will now wear a new uniform as he came upon agreement with the only Canadian team in the NBA, the Toronto Raptors.

He became a free agent after the 2008-09 season, making him a hot ticket for most teams. But what was a sure deal with the Portland Trail Blazers wasn't the case. Portland offered him 50 million dollars for five years, but the Raptors wasn't going down just yet, as they made a huge gamble of offering 57 million to the former Most Improved Player awardee.

The final deal is that the Raptors will pay Turkoglu in excess of 60 millions dollars on a five-year deal.

Another player that's been a buzz for this past week is Magic's back-up center Marcin Gortat from Poland.

Reports say that he's headed to Dallas. Terms weren't immediately known, but it was believed that Gortat is entertaining offers for the full mid-level exception (starting at around $5.6 million) for up to five years. The deal could be worth more than $30 million.

Now here are names of some of the free agents for next season.

Lamar Odom, LA Lakers- Would still stay with L.A.

Paul Millsap, Utah- The Jazz would like to keep him, but the Thunder has more money than them right now.

David Lee, New York- Considers playing for the Raptors, but with Turkoglu at the lineup, there might be a problem on their frontcourt.

Marvin Williams, Atlanta- Will talk with the Hawks on Wednesday.

Shawn Marion, Toronto- Would still be a Raptor.

Rasheed Wallace, Detroit- The Celtics are trying to pull out all the stops.

Jason Kidd, Dallas- No teams are trying to take this multiple-time All-Star by far.

Andre Miller, Philadelphia- So as to this crafty veteran.

Anderson Varejao, Cleveland- With Shaq on the Cavs, how could he still play for huge minutes?

How bout you guys? What are your comments about these developments? Let's talk about it!

There you have it! You guys have just been fed!

God bless! Hope you're having a great weekend! Peace out! Stay safe! The Wizard was here... :)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)

July 4, 2009 (Part 1); Michael Owen joins Manchester United

It is official. It's reported on CNN and on the official website of the club, http://www.manutd.com.

Michael Owen, the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle United striker, signs a two-year contract with the Premier League champions just today. He was out of contract with his former team Newcastle, so no transfer fee was involved, as he was a free agent.

The England international said that Manchester United could reignite his career, as he suffered an injury last season and from that time on lost a little of his spark.

He even said that he is excited to play for United since he consider it as the best team in the world right now.

With Ronaldo and Tevez out, United countered with two signings, Valencia from Wigan and Owen from Newcastle.

So there you have it! More updates to come!

The Wizard was here... :)

Tell me your reactions about this :)

July 3, 2009 (Part 1); Lakers to add Artest on their lineup

Yes, "The Warrior" is coming to L.A.

After trash-talking with Kobe Bryant, now being teammates.

Ron Artest agreed to be part of the 15-time champs after a 32 million dollar offer.

But this would post a problem for the Lakers. Artest would be like the Dennis Rodman of the Lakers. And how coud he play when Kobe's around? Well, it's up to the coach, whether Phil Jackson will stay or not, to figure it out.

But it was somewhat like a trade, as Lakers forward Trevor Ariza is headed to Houston.

Many players are going from here and there due to free agency. Now here are the players who'll don a new uniform for the 2009-2010 season.

Jason Kapono (TOR) for Reggie Evans (PHI)

Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto (SA) for Richard Jefferson (MIL)

Fabricio Oberto (MIL) for Amir Johnson (DET)

Randy Foye and Mike Miller (MIN) for Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov (WSH)

Quentin Richardson (NYK) for Darko Milicic (MEM)

Jamal Crawford (GSW) for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton (ATL)

Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson (NJN) for Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie (ORL)

Shaquille O'Neal (PHX) for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic (CLE)

Ben Gordon (CHI) and Charlie Villanueva (MIL) now part of the Detroit Pistons.

Zach Randolph (LAC) for Quentin Richardson (MEM)

And now, here are the results from tonight's PBA Finals Game 2!

Game 2
PBA Fiesta Cup Finals
Brgy. Ginebra 78
San Miguel 95
BGK: David Noel- 20 pts, 8 rebs, 3 assts, 2 stls.
SMB: Gabe Freeman- 23 pts, 17 rebs, 3 assts, 1 stl.
Series tied 1-1.

Game 3 will be on Sunday, July 5, still from the Big Dome.

So there you have it! You guys have just been fed!

Did well in school this week, I hope the good streak rolls on for a long time :)

God bless you guys! Stay safe! Peace out! The Wizard was here... :)

Comments, questions and suggestions are highly appreciated! :)