Larong Pinoy

Patay kung patay basketball.
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

Sa kasagsagan at kasikatan ng Alaska Aces ngayon dala ng kanilang kakaibang laro sa PBA Philippine Cup Finals kontra San Miguel Beermen, marami ang nagsasabi na dapat isama si Calvin "The Beast" Abueva sa susunod na Gilas Pilipinas. Marami ang nagsasabi, at ipinaglalaban, na ang kanyang stilo-- na minsan ay parang barumbado sa mata ng iba,ay ang tunay na uri ng basketball sa Pilipinas at siyang dapat dalhin sa FIBA maging sa Asya o buong mundo kung papalarin.

Yung buong pusong lumalaban, hindi nag aalinlangan, hindi takot masaktan o matamaan, hindi iniisip yung susunod na kontrata, posibleng endorsements o kahit na ano pa. Yung naroroon sila bilang basketbolista, bilang manlalaro, para manalo at hindi para magpasikat.

Pero gagana ba talaga ang mga tulad ni Abueva sa FIBA? Ngayon pa lang, marami nagsasabi na mapapaaway ang Pilipinas. Na posible tayong mapahiya. Na "hindi basketball" ang laro natin mga Pilipino kung hindi "basket-brawl."

Gilas Pilipinas: The Stopper

Photo courtesy of pbafans.blogspot.com

When was the first time you saw Jean Marc Pingris play basketball?

Was it with the San Mig Coffee Mixers? When he was finally lauded as the league's best defensive player once a more prized basketball peer was moved out? Was it with the BMeg Llamados when he served as the ideal complementary piece to a rising superstar triumvirate? Or was it when he was a highly touted rookie with tons of potential and athleticism rocking corn rows and sporting a huge tattoo on his bicep?

We remember the wild beast with immense swagger back in a Philippine Basketball League All Star Slam Dunk contest. At the time, Pingris had no chance of winning against legit high-flyers and basketball aerial wizards (Nino Canaleta was only good at one thing then, and that was dunking it Dr. J style). How could he? He had an obvious advantage at 6"5 with little to no effort to really dunk the basketball (we're not talking about Michael Jordan here).

It's official: Gilas Pilipinas names final 12

Photo credits: pba.inquirer.net

Ladies and gentlemen, mga kababayan, here is your Gilas Pilipinas:

Jimmy Alapag, PG

Lewis Alfred Tenorio, PG

Jayson Castro, PG/SG

Jeffrei Chan, SG

Gary David, SG

Larry Fonacier, SF

Gabe Norwood, SF

Marc Pingris, PF

Ranidel de Ocampo, PF

Japeth Aguilar, PF

Marcus Douthit, C

Junemar Fajardo, C

We will breakdown each player in our succeeding entries, stay tuned.

SMART Gilas: The Filipino Dream

This is a public call-to-action for the country's premier basketball players. There are other sports out there (football is thankfully ever-growing around these parts) that also deserves our attention, but because this is a basketball blog, made by a basketball fan and a Filipino first, let this serve as a reminder as to why we should send and see only the best available talent there is.

When people clamor for your inclusion into a "select team," it is a recognition of your efforts, your accomplishments and the inspiration that you are able to share to Filipinos—rich or poor. That when you work hard enough, you are going to be appreciated (rewarded is a given, since these are professional athletes we are talking about) and adored by the people around you.