(From left) RR Garcia, Kevin Alas, Greg Slaughter and Marcus Douthit. (Photo by Georgel Calvelo/NPPA Images)

While the Philippines and China may not agree on certain matters, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), headed by Chairman Richie Garcia, was able to come to terms with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), for the Sharks, led by part-owner and former NBA star center Yao Ming, to come visit our country. Aside from conducting a basketball clinic, the Sharks played the Gilas Pilipinas National Team Monday night at the MOA Arena, and will play a team of PBA players tonight (07 May) at the Araneta Coliseum.

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I had the privilege of anchoring the TV coverage of the Gilas Pilipinas-Sharks game, with Dominic Uy as analyst and Sel Guevara at courtside. I arrived early at the venue hoping to get a chance to meet Yao Ming, who is here as team owner and not as a player. Yao arrived quite early, but quickly retreated into the Sharks’ locker room, only emerging again just before the start of the game. He has noticeably

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, the smallest man to ever play in the NBA, was coming to town for the National Junior NBA Training Camp, which is now ongoing at UP Diliman, and which will culminate on Sunday, 28 April 2013, at the SM Mall of Asia.

Yesterday, 25 April 2013, I had the chance to meet the NBA veteran and to speak with him one-on-one. Two things immediately caught my attention when I walked up to Muggsy to introduce myself. First, he is smaller than I thought he would be. He has lost the muscle he had when he was playing in the NBA, and has slimmed down considerably. Second, he is a gracious, humble fellow, who accommodated not just me, but so many others who, perhaps, asked the same or similar questions over and over again, jetlagged and all, after arriving the night before.

Muggsy Bogues played 14 seasons in the NBA. (George Calvelo, NPPA Images)

Given a very strict time limit, I had to rattle off my questions quickly, and choose among my full page of queries which of them I thought would interest Muggsy the most.

When Ginebra wins, everybody's happy. (Photo by Nuki Sabio/PBA Images)

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (formerly also known as Gilbey’s, St George, Añejo, Tondeña, and Gordon’s) is a PBA team with a storied past. Charismatic characters, cult figures, crowd favorites, and/or even notorious villain-types, have littered the team roster, and for some reason, they all come together and draw in the crowds.

Even during lean seasons in the PBA, when Ginebra would not be among the league’s elite, the team still managed to draw its fans to the venue or to sit before a TV, and these fans, win or lose, continue to give full support. Even the weakest Ginebra teams did certain things to get the faithful to chant the team name, reverberating throughout the arena, reminding the opponent that anything can happen when you visit the Barangay to play. Ginebra supporters are fanatics in the purest sporting sense.

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We all know the foundation upon which the Barangay was built. He was a PBA MVP (1978), he was a many-time mythical

On 09 April 2013, Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), which is the day to honor the brave and the bold, I was fortunate to learn that the PBA Commissioner’s Cup-leading Alaska Aces were having a practice session in Taguig. Rather than spend the holiday just lazing around, I got myself into my car in the scorching summer heat and headed to what I anticipated to be an intense, no-nonsense exhibition of basketball drills and skills.

When I arrived a bit late, Alaska coaches and players were gathered on one side of the court, whiteboard in front of them, as Assistant Coach Alex Compton diagrammed a few plays. On the other side were the sons of Coach Luigi Trillo and Assistant Coach Louie Alas, who were enjoying each other’s company engrossed in a game on an iPad. Also present was long-time basketball courtside reporter, Rizza Diaz, who was scheduled to make her debut as a PBA courtside reporter the day after, as the Aces faced Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

We sat silently (not the two little

Muggsy Bogues starred for the Charlotte Hornets in the 90s. (Getty Images)

Basketball is said to be a tall man’s game and, unfortunately for us Filipinos, who are generally considered little men in the basketball world, even the best coaches cannot coach height. It’s either you have it or you don’t. On the playground, or even in the NBA draft, a highly skilled “little man” (nowadays that means somebody below six feet tall) would probably be picked after a giant with little basketball skills, simply because the latter is closer to the hoop even while just standing.

Basketball history has its share of “short people” who did well on the court, who excelled in a so-called big man’s game, and left huge marks despite their lack of stature. As far as the NBA is concerned, nobody has ever been smaller than Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues who, at just 5’3” went on to play fourteen seasons beginning 1987, mostly as a productive starting point guard for the then Charlotte Hornets.

And now, local NBA fans will get a chance to see the smallest player in NBA history. Bogues will

I recently learned from my friend Tony Atayde, a.k.a. The Green Mind (for his affiliation with La Salle and not what you might be thinking), that La Salle basketball legend and PBA great Lim Eng Beng is ill. Initially, I heard it was cancer of the pancreas, but later found out, again from Tony, that the diagnosis is cirrhosis of the liver, despite the fact that Lim, who once played in the PBA for San Miguel Beer, was never a drinker.

Lime Eng Beng during his La Salle playing years. (Photo courtesy of Tony Atayde)

When those who saw him at his basketball prime mention him, especially those who saw him dominate with La Salle, they speak of him with awe. He was a scorer, a distributor, a floor leader who brought basketball smarts every time he stepped on the hard court. He led his university to a championship, scored 55 points in one game, and averaged 32 points per game in one season back when there was still no three-point shot. For his brilliance, La Salle honored him by retiring his jersey number 14.

His success continued in the PBA, where he played for champion

When Renaldo Balkman tried to choke Arwind Santos, he was actually choking his own PBA career. (Screen grab from AKTV video)

Sunday, 03 March 2013. NBA First Round Draft pick, six-year NBA veteran, and highly-touted Petron import Renaldo Balkman leads his team’s destruction of Barako Bull, with 33 points in thirty-seven minutes, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block. He dominates on defense, flies high for spectacular dunks several times, flexes his muscles, encourages the crowd to cheer for him and his team, and even looks into the camera at the baseline after finishing a fast break, saying that nobody can stop him. The fans love it. They roar with approval. I am there at the venue with friends, and they are all impressed with him. After the game, his team has won its fifth game against just one loss, he is interviewed as the Best Player, and he declares shortly thereafter that he is “invincible.”

Friday, 08 March 2013. Petron is up against Alaska, there are only seconds to go in the game, and Alaska is on its way to victory. Balkman has only scored 6 points, but has grabbed 17 rebounds. He drives,

Jeremy Lin and James Harden will hit town in October for a preseason game. (Getty Images)

The Philippines has been considered a generally basketball-loving country for decades now. There are leagues all over scattered into different categories (like the under 6-feet tall league), for different age groups, for members of a certain profession, intra and inter-company tournaments, etc. As you drive around on long road trips from province to province, you see basketball courts or goals, some well-built with strong material, some makeshift, all over the place. The PBA has prided itself on being Asia’s first play-for-pay league, and the resurgence in fan support and the highest quality of basketball is a sure sign that, despite the critics and crabs, the Filipinos’ love for basketball remains.

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For many years, the PBA has employed imports to spice things up. Mostly Americans, they venture from far away to play basketball here. Even in the collegiate leagues, foreign student-athletes have journeyed from as far as Africa and are playing