PBA Rookie Draft List

First Round
1. Rain or Shine (formerly Welcoat Paints) - Gabe Norwood
2. Talk ’N Text - Jared Dilinger
3. Talk ’N Text (Magnolia traded its Draft Rights for Jay Washington) - Jason Castro
4. Talk ’N Text - Rob Reyes
5. Alaska - Solomon Mercado
6. Air21 - Mark Borboran
7. Purefoods - Beau Belga
8. Magnolia - Bonbon Custodio
9. Red Bull - Larry Rodriguez
10. Sta Lucia - Kelvin Gregorio

Second Round
1. Talk N Text - Pong Escobal
2. Rain or Shine (formerly Welcoat Paints) - TY Tang
3. Air 21 - Pocholo Villanueva
4. Sta Lucia - Chito Jaime
5. Alaska - Kelvin Dela Peña
6. Purefoods - Jonathan Fernandez
7. Red Bull - Jeff Chan
8. Red Bull - Mark Cuevas
9. Sta Lucia - Christian Cabatu

New York Knicks picks Patrick Ewing Jr

Following the footsteps of his father, Patrick Ewing Jr,the eldest son of the hall of fame father Patrick Ewing, has been acquired from Houston to New York for the draft rights to center Frederic Weis. Patrick Ewing Jr a 6-8, 240-pounds, was originally drafted by Sacramento in the 2008 NBA Draft as the 43rd overall selection. He played his first two collegiate seasons at Indiana University before transferring to Georgetown, where his hall of fame father also played in college. As a senior with the Hoyas during the 2007-08 season, Ewing averaged 6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 34 games, winning the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award.

Iranian 7 footer center signs with the Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies signed free-agent center Hamed Haddadi, who led all 2008 Olympians in rebounding and blocks. He is also the only player to average a double-double (16.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 blocks) in Olympic competition while playing five games for the Iranian National Team. The 7-2 Ahvaz, 254-pound center, Iran native was scouted by the Grizzlies General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Wallace prior to the olympics in Rocky Mountain Revue Summer League in Salt Lake City, Utah,where the Iranian National Team played exhibition games against the NBA teams. The 23-year-old, who was not selected in the 2004 NBA Draft, recently averaged 14.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.5 minutes in two games for the Iranian team against NBA competition at the 2008 Rocky Mountain Revue.

Lithuania Star Retires

Ramunas Siskauskas retires from his national team, Lithuania. Siskauskas,the Euroleague MVP last season after leading CSKA Moscow to the title, played in his third Olympics this summer in Beijing, suffered from a string of losses in the semifinal game against Spain and the bronze medal game against Argentina. At the age of 30, Siskauskas has another chance of being with the team in the next Olympics in 2012 and to the world championships this 2010 in Turkey, decided a year ago and finalizes his decision after Beijing Olympics. "The summers in the national team are exhausting and it’s time to retire. Young players will replace me.” Siskauskas average eleven points and four rebounds per game in Beijing Olympics. And the gallant stand that he showed in this Olympics is one of the most outstanding performances that must be remembered of.

Coach Phil Jackson picks his top athlete in NBA

Probably not Kobe Bryant, nor Shaquille O'Neal, nor Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson picks 'The Worm' Dennis Rodman as the top athlete that he ever coached. Skills-wise, Rodman is far below than any other coached coached by Phil Jackson, but as Phil Jakcson said in the recent speech in the University of North Dakota as part of the convocation in which he received an honorary degree, [Rodman] could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game," Jackson told the crowd at UND.

Jimenez Retires from Spanish National Team

Spain’s long-time captain Carlos Jimenez has decided to retire from the national team. The 32-year-old Jimenez, who averaged 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds at the Olympics, signed off with a silver medal at the Beijing Games.Jimenez played 25 minutes in arguably the greatest gold-medal game of all time, a 118-107 defeat to the United States, scoring 12 points and grabbing three rebounds. Jimenez made his debut with the national team in 1997 and went on to earn 187 caps.The Unicaja Malaga forward led Spain to silver medals at the 1999, 2003 and 2007 EuroBaskets, bronze in 2001, and gold at the 2006 FIBA World Championship.

Milwaukee Buck vs Golden State Warriors in China

The NBA will be back in China this October, featuring two games between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors in Beijing and Guangzhou. NBA China Games 2008 will tip off in Guangzhou on Oct. 15 when the Bucks and Warriors meet at the Guangzhou Gymnasium with a capacity of 13,000. The two teams then travel to Beijing to play on Oct. 18 at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena, an NBA-style arena with a capacity of 17,173. Following the China Games, the multi-purpose arena is expected to host basketball games, other sporting events, concerts and festivals.NBA China Games 2008 will be the league’s third set of preseason games in China. In 2004, the NBA became the first American professional sports league to stage games in China, with two games between the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings in Shanghai and Beijing. Last October, NBA China Games 2007 featured three games between the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic and the Team China All-Stars in Shanghai and Macao. The NBA’s first trip to China dates back to 1979 when the Washington Wizards played against the Chinese National Team.

NBA Players Grab a lot of Medals in the Olympics

Aside from the US National Players bagging the gold medal, there are so many NBA players of the other countries earned a medal in the recently concluded Beijing Olympics. A total of 42 current and former NBA players were on the 12 Olympic rosters, the highest number since NBA players began participating in the Olympics in 1992. Ten Olympic teams had at least one current or former player on their roster.


2008 NBA MEDAL WINNERS

Gold Medalists
Player (NBA Team) Team
Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) United States
Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz) United States
Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors) United States
Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) United States
Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) United States
LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) United States
Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks) United States
Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets) United States
Tayshaun Prince (Detroit Pistons) United States
Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks) United States
Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) United States
Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) United States

Silver Medalists
Jose-Manuel Calderon (Toronto Raptors) Spain
Rudy Fernandez (Portland Trail Blazers) Spain
Jorge Garbajosa (Toronto Raptors 07 – 08) Spain
Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies) Spain
Pau Gasol (Los Angeles Lakers) Spain
Raul Lopez (Utah Jazz 02 – 05) Spain
Juan Carlos Navarro (Memphis Grizzlies 07 – 08) Spain

Bronze Medalists
Carlos Delfino (Toronto Raptors 07 – 08, Detroit Pistons 04 – 07) Argentina
Manu Ginobili (San Antonio Spurs) Argentina
Andres Nocioni (Chicago Bulls) Argentina
Fabricio Oberto (San Antonio Spurs) Argentina
Luis Scola (Houston Rockets) Argentina

Chinese National Team Member signed with the Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Sun Yue to a multi-year contract, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of 2007 NBA draft, the 6-9 guard started for the Chinese National Team this past month in the men’s basketball tournament at the Beijing Olympics. In six games, Sun averaged 6.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.33 steals in 28.0 minutes. Playing for the Beijing Aoshen Olympians of the American Basketball Association for the past three seasons, Sun, 23, was named First Team All-ABA in both 2007 and 2008 while earning Second-Team All-ABA honors in 2006. Posting a 12-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist, 8-block, 4-steal triple-double against the L.A. Aftershock during his rookie season in the ABA (2005-06), Sun averaged 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 10.5 assists in 2006-07 when the team played its home games at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA before moving to Singapore for the 2007-08 season.

2 Time All-star Portland Center Died

SECAUCUS, N.J., Aug. 26, 2008 -- Kevin Duckworth, a two-time All-Star who played for five teams, most famously with the Portland Trail Blazers, during his 11-year NBA career has died in Gleneden Beach, Ore., where he was representing the Trail Blazers on a 19-city summer tour. He was 44. Kevin Duckworth was the 10th leading scorer (7,188) and rebounder (3,327) in Portland history. Duckworth was a key member of Portland's Finals teams in 1990 and 1992, as he started at center for the Trail Blazers in 402 of the 410 regular season games in his first five seasons with the team. At 7-0, 275, Duckworth was one of the bigger players in the league at the time (we had not seen the likes of a Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming). And while he was anchor in the paint, Duckworth's size never seemed to be a millstone around the collective neck of the lithe and speedy (Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Clifford Robinson to name a few) Trail Blazers. Duckworth averaged 15.3 points and 6.9 boards per game in his first five Blazers seasons.

PBA Annual Draft!!!!

The PBA will held its PBA annual draft this August 31, 2008 which will take place at the Market! Market! Activity Center in Taguig. There are 48 hopeful applicants and among them are the Fil-Foreigners Prospective No. 1 pick Gabe Norwood, point guard Solomon Mercado, Jared Dilinger and Rob Reyes. Leading the list of homegrown aspirants are two-time Philippine Basketball League (PBL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jeffrey Chan, TY Tang, Mark Borboran, Cholo Villanueva, NCAA MVP Kelvin dela Pena and shooters Jonathan Fernandez and Patrick Cabahug.The Welcoat Dragons own the No. 1 pick for the second straight year, followed by Talk N Text at No. 2 and San Miguel Beer at No. 3.

Team USA Back in the Golden Days in Olympic Basketball

After a string of devastating and shocking losses in the Olympics and World Championships, the USA Men's Basketball redeemed themselves, capturing the Gold medal in the recently concluded Beijing 2008 Olympics.With Kobe Bryant in the helm, the United States defeated the determined Pau Gasol-lead Spain. After knocking off its first seven foes by an average of more than 30 points, the Americans found themselves in the thick of fight against Spain. In the end, USA stood the gallant effort by the Spaniards, winning the slimmest of margins. Finally,with their effort, they can now acclaimed themselves as the Redeem Team.

GInebra is the 2007-08 PBA Smart Fiesta Conference Champions

Facing tough adversities, Ginebra Gin Kings is now back in the throne after defeating the their protagonist young talented Air 21 Express. After losing the best player in the conference Jay jay Helterbrand in Game 2, and injury from their star player, Mark Caguioa, the Gin Kings fought til the end using their heart and will determination. With Ronald Tubid back in the fold, and playing below 100%, Ginebra Gin Kings still manage to win against the deeper and complete line-up of the Air 21 Express. They use the old trademark, way back in the old days,the Never-Say-Die attitude. Ginebra could not attain this championship if not on their import, Chris Alexander (the best import in the conference) and veteran Erick Menk.
Congratulations to the Ginebra Gin Kings' Players, Coaching staff and to their management.

Fundamentals of Basketball

Footwork Fundamentals... triple threat position, pivoting, defensive stance and slides, jab step, cutting, jump-stop, etc.
Ball-Handling... ball-handling tips and drills.
Dribbling and Dribble-Moves... all players must learn to dribble well.
Passing Fundamentals... good passing is key.
Learning How to Shoot... teach your players how to shoot correctly.
Shooting Tips from NBA Coach Hal Wissel ... a series of shooting articles from an expert.
Coaching Shooting, Shooting Mechanics, Confidence and Rhythm, Correcting Shooting Errors, Developing a Quick Release, 3-Point Shooting, Rhythm and Range, Shooting Free-Throws, Shooting a Hook Shot, Basic Lead-Up ShootingDrills, Off the Dribble Shooting Drills
Jump-Shot... teaching how to shoot the jump-shot.
Hook-Shot... teaching how to shoot the classic hook-shot, the sky-hook and the jump-hook.
Free-Throw Shooting Techniques... good free-throw shooting will win those close games for you.
Correct Lay-up Technique... correct footwork and technique will result in players "finishing" more often.
Offensive Tips for Players... basic, simple offensive tips.
Guard Moves, Perimeter Play... how to play on the perimeter, triple-treat, jab step moves, attacking the defender, cutting, etc.
Playing the Point Guard Position ... tips for point guards.
Post-Player Fundamentals... playing the low and high post, and short corner.
Cutting and Faking... teach your players how to cut and fake and move without the ball.
Setting (and Using) Screens... teach how to set good screens.
Escaping from a Trap... how to avoid and escape a trap.
Transition Offense Fundamentals... teaching transition offense, the fast-break, 2-on-1, 3-on-2, etc.
Defensive Tips for Players... some basic defensive tips for players are presented.
Man-to-Man Defensive Techniques... teach on-ball defense, deny, helpside, etc.
Rebounding... box-out, defensive and offensive rebounding, free-throw rebounding.