NBA Shootaround Preseason Predictions

LeBron James New Nike Ad: Better Than Me

The 2007 PBA Philippine Cup Astig Rankings (Week 1 and 2)

The PBA Astig Rankings is back!

The Smart 2007 Philippine Cup Astig Rankings is on its third week, so let’s review the past and fast 2 weeks. I’ll be using my Philippine Cup projections as the ground zero-zero rankings. The next Astig Rankings, we will be using this version (Week 1 and 2) as the previous ranks, and so on. If by this time, you still don’t know what Astig Rankings is all about, I suggest you to dig past versions here.

I see myself doing this on a bi-monthly posting as PBA schedule of games is inconsistent. In a week, a team plays two games (say, TnT) while the one gets to play none (Air 21). And so therefore, we will rank teams per given two weeks so we’ll get to see which teams are moving up and which teams are headed south more accurately.

Current Team Standings (October 30 2007)

Purefoods 3 - 0
Magnolia 3 - 1
Talk N Text 2 - 2
Red Bull 1 - 1
Air21 1 - 1
Welcoat 1 - 2
Sta. Lucia 1 - 2
Brgy. Ginebra 1 - 2
Coca-Cola 1 - 2
Alaska 1 – 2

Since this is the first installment of the 2007 PBA Philippine Cup Astig Rankings, I’ll rely heavily from the current standings above.

The FORMAT: (My Projection) - Current Position - Team - Comments

(2) 1 – Purefoods Giants

The pre-season trophy is not a fluke. I ranked this team higher than Magnolia and Alaska Milk and I was right. Only, I didn’t know they will kick butts at the get-go. Key players are: (A) Of course, getting MVP number from James Yap. (B) Great contributions from Rommel Adducul. (C) Kerby Raymundo perfectly fits the PBA style of game now. (D) and finally, Chico Lanete is an upgrade compared to Paul Artadi. And why he’s un upgrade? He could actually score. After a scary victory over Sta. Lucia Realtors, Purefoods Tender Juicy came back roaring to beat Magnolia, then they easily trounced Talk N Text. Read more

PBA Tough Guys - Top Guys

Some players, coaches, owners will continue to whine about the new rules but the tough players, the tough teams will take the heat and should do well.

I watched some games and dug some numbers (and I hate it) and found out that there are three tough PBA players who are striving and thriving with the “manlier” PBA rules.

1. Homer Se - Air21 Express

Against Alaska, this enforcer registered a sweet 17 points and 10 rebound game. Homer Se bullied Alaska, enough reason that made Fred Uytengsu to turn on his laptop on and draft a letter addressing the board how he and the Alaska team hate the newly induced “no harm - no foul” rule. Homer Se is now averaging 12.5 points and 9 rebounds in 32 minutes of play while shooting a Shaquillesque 58% from the field. BTW, this guy is coming off from a one serious injury, ACL I believe. The downside of him playing great, less playing time for Doug Kramer. What does it mean? Doug Kramer’s development will be deferred. Which leads to lesser Cheska Garcia TV exposure.

2. Billy Mamaril - Barangay Ginebra

If Uichico would only let Mamaril play more. Sigh. His numbers (12.5 ppg, 5 rpg, 57% shooting) don’t reflect what he brings to the floor. He is basically BGK only muscle. Uichico is playing Mamaril just a little over two quarters and that is not enough. (BTW, Uchico is burying Billy Mamaril for long stretches). Still, with the PT that he is getting and coach’s sub pattern, Billy Mamaril is one player that BGK can rely upon. A lot of what he brings, it is not on the stat sheet. Read more

PBA Impact Rookie: Joe Devance

Question: Who’s out to make the biggest impact in the coming PBA 2007-2008 Season? (Answer - Percentage - No. of Votes)

* Joe Devance (30%) - 76 votes
* JC Intal (21%) - 52 votes
* Ryan Reyes (12%) - 31 votes
* Macky Escalona (10%) - 26 votes
* Ken Bono (6%) - 16 votes
* Samigue Eman (6%) - 14 votes
* Jonas Villanueva (5%) - 12 votes
* Yousif Aljamal (5%) - 12 votes
* JR Quinahan (3%) - 7 votes
* Doug Kramer (2%) - 4 votes

Total Votes: 250

Some known personalities who voted in this poll are: Read more

Ball Hog: Yao Hooker, Cavs Sucks, Over-Kobed, Davis Heat, NBA Season is Over, PBA Direction

What will Yao Ming do if he needs a perfect hooker? He must go to Holland. Link 1.

Barely a WEEK before opening night, only now that LeBron James admitted that his team sucks. Link 2.

I must admit, I’m a little “over-kobed”. I have never skipped ESPN, SI and NBA.com Kobe article before, but these past days, I have been skipping Kobe articles. Be “over-kobed” too, here’s another LA blog entry. Link 3.

After a disastrous 0-7 pre-season outing, Riley pressed one of his panic button and acquired Ricky Davis. The Minnesota got the unconditioned Antoine Walker, DOleac and another guy I don’t know. Another great trade pulled by Kevn McHale which will undoubtedly help his cause to be the worst NBA GM of all time. Link 4.

Nice little cool clip from BOH. BOH wrote that the NBA should cancel the 2007-2008 season because NBA2K8 already simulated the Finals. Hmmmm, Celtics versus Spurs looks good. Link 5.

Here’s one article from my now-buddy Ronnie Nathanielz asking where the fuck is the PBA is headed? Will they (the PBA) continue to send teams for FIBA sanctioned meets or not? Will they ever hire a permanent commissioner or not? And the funny note that some teams are bitching about the officiating, most particularly, some of the bottom placers of the 2007-2008 Philippine Cup. BTW, Alaska is now 0-2! For those owners and team managers who want girly-games and don’t want hard-basketball-action, WNBA is accepting expansion franchises. Link 6.

Liga Filipina, Liga Pilipinas, eaLa Liga Pilipinas

And so after the storm, it looks like Layman Noli Eala is back on track.

He is said to be the “Guiding Force” behind a soon to be launched league, Liga Filipina. A SBP sanctioned regional league. AKA, MBA all-over again. Whoa, from being disbarred to now the “guiding force” of a new national league, quick ricochet for Layman Eala.

The name alone tickles, LIGA FILIPINA.

IMHO, I prefer it to be called “LIGA PILIPINAS” to throw away the Spanish tang. Also, LIGA PILIPINAS is in harmony with body “Samahang Basketball sa Pilipinas.” Also, not being narrow minded here, but I don’t like the idea of masculine guys playing in a league called Liga Filipina.

To the topic… Read more

The Most Influential People in Sports

It may be easier to sink a hole in one at the Masters than it is to define clearly what constitutes power in sports. Is it Alex Rodriguez swatting homer after homer? Or NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell disciplining players and coaches? Maybe it’s Coke’s (KO) sports marketing chief, Katie Bayne, doling out hundreds of millions of dollars. Or NBA Commissioner David Stern scheming to make basketball the dominant global sport instead of soccer. It’s all of these, of course, but we accept that you could spend hour after hour on one of those sports radio shows jabbering about who has real clout and who doesn’t. With star quarterback and dogfighting impresario Michael Vick serving as a recent example, we also accept that power in sports is ephemeral.

Full Story here.

Top Ten:

1. Roger Goodell - Commissioner, NFL
2. Tiger Woods - Golfer
3. David Stern - Commissioner, NBA
4. George Bodenheimer - President, ESPN, ABC Sports; co-chairman, Disney Media Networks
5. Bud Selig - Commissioner, MLB
6. Brian France - Chairman, CEO NASCAR
7. Dick Ebersol - Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics
8. Phil Knight Chairman - Nike
9. Sean McManus - President, CBS News and Sports
10. Rupert Murdoch - Chairman, CEO, News Corp.

Complete top 100 here.

History of Sports Blogging

The History of Sports Blogging: Early History (1998-2001)

The earliest sports “blogs” I can recall really weren’t blogs, but sites. It cost money to host a site and knowledge (or more money) to maintain it. If you don’t remember (or are too young), web guys were making a killing during these days, which were also the high point of the Internet Bubble.

True SML story: I got interviewed for Finance job at a dot-com startup back in ‘99 or whenever it was. I was partly motivated by the Indian Playa, who was absolutely killing it in the dot-com world, where his “internet security” skills (keep in mind he was all of 20 years old at the time) were earning him six figure salaries with stock options (ahem… I haven’t asked him how those stock options worked out, but hey… six figures in 1999 is six figures, so no laughing). The office was in a nice building over by Madison Square Park here in NYC, and had a pool table in the reception area. How cliche, right? Needless to say, that place didn’t make it after the bubble burst.

One of the early pioneers of this era was, obviously, The Boston Sportsguy (Bill Simmons). He had his own site. I remember it pretty well - it was surprisingly well designed (some might argue it was better designed, or better looking, than it is today). Keep in mind back then most sites looked like some of those tripod sites you still stumble upon every once in a while. It was also so popular that ESPN signed him up pretty soon after he appeared… I’m going to guess 1999? 2000?

Full Story…

First Impressions: The PBA Rookies

The opening week of the PBA is probably the most exciting week the league has to offer. Well, that excludes the Championship series of course. But yeah, I think I’ve always been excited during the first week of the PBA.

One big reason for that is the rookies. I’ve been curious on how those new guys will adjust to the PBA after playing in the amateurs. I know I’m not the only one who’s excited but what the heck, here are my first impressions on the new breed of PBA superstars.

Magnolia Beverage Masters

Their prized 6′9 rookie Samigue Eman had a rude welcome in their game against Air 21. First shot, Blocked. A back to the basket move, Stolen. I mean, how bad could it be? But I know this guy’s going to get better. He must make use of Dorian Pena’s injury to get those oh so precious minutes on the Magnolia rotation. Had Five points and two blocks in 15 minutes on his debut btw.

Thanks to the deep deep Magnolia bench, Jonas Villanueva received his very first DNP on the stat sheets.

The rookie grade:I’ll give Sam Eman a B- on his debut and Jonas Villanueva an INC :P Read more

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