Blog Posts by Sid Ventura

Marcio Lassiter and Duke Crews battle for the ball. (Photo courtesy of the PBA)

In the days leading up to their first game of the Commissioner's Cup, the Powerade Tigers had to go through a whole lot of drama off the court. It was no surprise, therefore, that they won this game in dramatic fashion.

With a looming sale to San Miguel Corporation, an impending trade that threatens to break up their young core, and — as if to distract them even further - the sudden resignation of their governor J.B. Baylon serving as an emotional backdrop, the Tigers overcame a listless first half and a 17-point deficit to stun the Rain or Shine Elastopainters, 122-120, at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Nearly a month to the day that the Tigers ousted the Elastopainters in the very same venue in Game 7 of their Philippine Cup semifinal series, the two teams offered up another classic that went down to the wire. And in what has become a familiar refrain in many of Powerade's wins this season, Gary David once again hit a dagger triple to win the game in the dying seconds.

News of Baylon's

Call it a good loss. Playing without Phil and James Younghusband, the Philippine Azkals weren't expected to put up much of a challenge against the Australia U-23 side in their friendly last night in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Aussies won the match, 1-0, after dominating the first half of play, but the Azkals didn't embarrass themselves and put up a good fight in the second half, holding steady on the defensive end while also creating scoring opportunities on the other side.

The Olyroos, as the Australian U-23 team is known, went ahead in the 11^th minute courtesy of a header by Jason Hoffman following a cross from Aziz Behich. Azkals defender Luis Guirado actually tried to clear the cross via a header, but his effort was weak and the ball bounced straight to an unmarked Hoffman. Azkals keeper Neil Etheridge appeared to hesitate, as if waiting for an offside call since Aussie Oliver Bozanic was lurking behind him beside the post. But the assistant referee kept his flag down, and

Meralco's Gabby Espinas foils Petron's Alex Cabagnot's drive. (Photo courtesy of the PBA)

The Petron Blaze Boosters sank to their worst defeat of the season last night, a 105-83 demolition at the hands of the Meralco Bolts in a game where they trailed by as many as 28 points and hardly played any defense. That's now five straight losses for the team this season, counting the three straight they lost to Talk 'N Text in the Philippine Cup semis where they squandered a 3-1 lead.

Like in their conference opener against Barangay Ginebra last Sunday, the Blaze Boosters found themselves trailing in this game by double digits at the half. But unlike last Sunday, when Nick Fazekas led a spirited comeback that tied the game with 3.9 seconds left, this time around Petron didn't even bother staging a rally as the lead never dipped below double digits in the second half. It was 78-62 after three periods and the Blaze Boosters could get no closer than 14 points in the fourth.

Petron's transition defense was terrible all night long. I've seen grade school PE classes play better defense.

The Maroons are now through to the football finals. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

University of the Philippines bucked the absence of ace striker Jinggoy Valmayor to stretch its second-round winning streak to four games with a clinical 2-nil win over first-round leader University of Sto. Tomas earlier today at the Ateneo High School pitch.

Ghanaian Nii Aryee Ayi scored both goals that clinched a finals berth and twice-to-beat advantage for the defending champion Maroons, who have now won four straight games after four straight draws in the first round.

Ayi first struck in the 14^th minute with a one-touch from the middle of the penalty box that just caught the inside of the post and bounced in. He doubled the lead in the 49^th with a vicious, rocket-like volley from near the edge of the box that found the back of the net, giving him his fourth goal of the tournament.

With 19 points on a 5-4-0 win-draw-loss record and only one game left to play, UP is safely ahead of its closest pursuer UST, which got stuck at 15 points. The Maroons thus clinched the first finals slot

PBA Commissioner Chito Salud. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Chito Salud has finally spoken up on an issue that's been making the PBA rounds the past couple of weeks: the supposed sale of the Powerade franchise back to the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) group.

In a statement released to the media, Salud said William Schultz, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. which owns Powerade, stated through a letter addressed to the PBA Board of Governors that "its franchise has not been sold and that the ownership, operation and management of the Powerade team remain intact under CCBPI control."

Schultz went on to reassure Salud that CCBPI "will follow the proper process should it decide to consummate the sale of its franchise, namely by first notifying and requesting approval for a sale from the PBA Board of Governors."

At the same time, though, the CCBPI CEO admitted that they recently met with SMC "conformably to a right of first refusal to buy the basketball team granted to SMC at the

This free kick by Nii Aryee Ayi in the second half led to UP's fourth goal of the match. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

After a slow start in the first round, defending champion University of the Philippines appears to have cranked it up several notches in the second round, winning its third straight match —an emphatic 4-0 thrashing of La Salle — yesterday to cling on to the overall lead in the UAAP men's football tournament at the rain-soaked Ateneo High School pitch.

With the win, the Maroons sit atop the standings with 16 points with two games left, just a point ahead of University of Sto. Tomas, which blanked Ateneo, 2-0, to stay within striking distance of the top spot and the coveted twice-to-beat advantage that goes with it. The two sides tangle this Wednesday at 10AM in a crucial match that will help determine the top seed.

A UP-UST final isn't a done deal yet, though, as Far Eastern University kept its finals bid a live with a 1-nil win over University of the East to move up to 11 points. The Tamaraws collide with the Blue Eagles on Wednesday, before they wrap up their campaign against the

Jay-jay Helterbrand started the game with new Kings Kerby Raymundo and Dylan Ababou. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

The Barangay Ginebra Kings are probably glad that Jay-jay Helterbrand put his retirement plans on hold. Otherwise, the storied franchise would have been denied of another one of its trademark down-to-the-wire victories.

The Kings point guard, who used the recent Philippine Cup as a gauge to see if he could still hack it in the pro league, decided to return for the Commissioner's Cup and showed he made the right decision by burying a tough jumper at the buzzer to lift the crowd favorite Kings to a pulsating 84-82 win over the Petron Blaze Boosters.

Petron import Nick Fazekas had earlier tied the game with a booming triple with 3.9 seconds left in a wild sequence that saw Petron come up with two broken plays before Chris Lutz drove to the basket and kicked it out to Fazekas.

"The play was really for Jay-jay, but coaches don't make the plays. It's up to the players," Ginebra coach Siot Tanquincen said. "I'm thankful that Jay-jay and Mark (Caguioa) are big-time players.

Helterbrand's

Gary David talks to the media. With him are Renren Ritualo, Mac Cardona and Mark Caguioa. (Photo by Sid Ventura)

Gary David, Powerade's chief gunner who towed the eighth-seeded Tigers into the Philippine Cup finals last month, feels sad about news of a trade that would send teammate Marcio Lassiter to Petron Blaze in exchange for Nonoy Baclao and Rey Guevarra.

"Of course, I felt sad when I heard the news," said David, who averaged 25.8 points in the Philippine Cup. "But I also know that it's part of the business. I understand, I'm also a player. We players can't do anything about it. The only thing we can control is our game. We just have to give it our best all the time."

David and Lassiter are two-thirds of Powerade's vaunted Big Three. Along with JV Casio, they form what Talk 'N Text coach Chot Reyes calls the best wingmen rotation in the league. The proposed trade is still up for approval by Commissioner Chito Salud, and some have questioned the motive behind the trade in the wake of reports that the Powerade franchise will be re-absorbed by the San Miguel group.

Although Baclao was a top