EDSA / C-5 host Go for Gold Larga Pilipinas race

C-5 cycling

The Filipino cycling community showed up recently for the Go For Gold Larga Pilipinas EDSA-C-5 Blitz Races this past weekend.

Close to three thousand competitors participated in eleven different categories, with an additional six thousand took part in the Fun Ride that ran across 24.8 kilometers stretching the two major road arteries in the Metro.

According to Larga Pilipinas technical consultant Atty. Froi Dayco, "This is not your ordinary race. This is classic. One for the book and one event that might not happen again."

Among the winners in the different races is Aidan James Mendoza, who claimed the Professional/Elite category. Along with John Mark Galedo and Jerry Aquino, Jr., the three managed an early breakaway from the pack, before Mendoza went on to clock a 23-minute and 18-second time to top the division over Jeck River and George Oconer.

He shared afterwards about the race, "Yan po kasing ganyan kaikli na karera, talagang buhos na agad yan. Di ka na dapat magpahinga riyan kasi kaunting pagkakamali mo sa ganyan kaikli na race, maiiwan ka." Mendoza would then add, "Saka nung nakita ko na beterano at mga laspag sa iba’t ibang karera yung kalaban ko, siniguro ko nang hindi ako mawawala sa harap."

In the other categories, Fred Chua ruled the Corporate Executives over Randall Hortaleza and Lance Asprec, while Albert Primero took the Masters title. Manuel Reynante claimed the Managers division over Alfie Tangzo and Alonzo Castro, with Athena Marana taking the Women's category over Marianne Dacumos and Kate Yasmin Velasco.

Completing the list of winners are Jarwyn Banatao for the Triathletes/Duathletes division over John Vyrom Lucero and Miguel Mapalo, Lorenzo Rellosa for the Amateurs, John Carlo Garol for the Under-21, and John Carl Reynante for Fixed Gear.

It was the second set of races that took place under the Larga Pilipinas banner, with the first one taking place in Marikina a month ago. Aside from Go for Gold, it is supported by PCSO Scratch It, Koten Enterprises, Nickel Asia Corporation, Excellent Noodles, Standard Insurance, Emperador Brandy, Juicy Lemon, Mother’s Best, Black Mamba, Boy Kanin, Aerox Quezon City Club, Versa.ph, Uratex Foam, MMDA and PhilCycling.

Cansino snaps up second Player of the Week nod

CJ Cansino continues to impress in the 81st Season of the UAAP, as he shone the most last week to be named as the league's latest Player of the Week by the Collegiate Press Corps.

Presented by Chooks-to-Go, the nod was in recognition of being the first freshman to secure a triple double since the integration of computerized stats in the UAAP back in 2003.

The Tiger Cub-turned-Growling Tiger finished with twenty points, fourteen rebounds, and ten assists for the University of Santo Tomas in their 79-68 victory over the University of the East, a win that moved them into solo fourth place in the league standings heading into the stretch run towards the postseason.

Head Coach Aldin Ayo was least surprised with CJ's effort, sharing to the media after the game, "I know that ever since na kinuha ko si CJ, ang goal ko sa kanya is matulungan siya na mag-materialize lahat ng potential niya."

He adds, "CJ is full of potential, gusto lang namin mag-materialize iyon. I hope hindi siya makuntento, he continues improving. The good thing about CJ is that he always responds whenever sinasabihan namin."

For CJ, he deflects the credit more towards Ayo's system. "Masaya syempre dahil nakuha ko yung triple-double pero sinunod ko lang kasi ‘yung sistema na sharing the ball, na lahat kailangan gumana. Thankful ako sa sistema dahil nag-fit ito sa’kin," said the former Juniors MVP.

The win served as a celebratory moment for a couple more reasons, as not only did it eclipse the total wins UST garnered during the tenure of Ayo's predescessor, Boy Sablan, but also served as a fitting birthday gift for Cansino, who dedicated the milestone to his coaches as well as to the UST community.

"Oo, inspired ‘di lang dahil birthday ko, dahil (din) sa mga tao na grabe ‘yung mga sinasakripisyo sa team, lalo na ‘yung coaching staff. ‘Yung last game namin, ang pangit so para sa kanila talaga ‘to, to the community, and the coaches na sobra magsakripisyo sa team."

To secure his second Player of the Week nod, the print and online media picked Cansino over his teammate Marvin Lee, Thirdy Ravena of Ateneo, Brandon Bates of La Salle, and Jerrick Ahanmisi of Adamson.

Back-to-back wins for the UAAP Press Corps

The UAAP Press Corps with their team photo after they posted their second win of the season (Photo via Charmie Lising)

The media provided a rude welcome of sorts to debutants Larc and Asset in the UAAP Goodwill Games on Sunday night at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

An 8-2 finishing kick by the Scribes ensured that they remain undefeated in the tournament, which is held to provide camaderie for the people working behind the scenes in the league.

Leading the way for the Chooks-to-Go-backed Media are Arnold Cagang of Tiebreaker Times, who led the way with 25 points, 15 rebounds, a couple of assists, and a couple of steals while playing all 40 minutes.

Key veterans Christian Jacinto of Spin and Cedelf Tupas of the Philippine Daily Inquirer also figured in the win, with the former contributing his own double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as well as five assists and a couple of blocks, while the latter added twelve points, a couple of rebounds, and a couple of assists.

Javi Palana led Larc and Asset with 22 points, thirteen rebounds and a couple of assists. Julio Silvestre and Paul Ryan Tan combined for 28 points to help Palana in a losing cause.

On Saturday, the Table and Stats team got themselves on the board with a 106-80 victory ABS-CBN Sports.

Reinforcements Tonino Gonzaga and Moriah Gingerich led the way for the Table and Stats with triple-doubles. The Ateneo alum chipped in 26 points, thirteen rebounds, and twelve assists, while the UP alum netted 22 points, thirty rebounds, and thirteen assists, as well as a steal and four blocks.

Anton Roxas led the charge with 28 points, sixteen rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Nikko Ramos provided 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Courtside reporters Migs Gomez and Dyp Dypiangco made their UAAP Goodwill Games debut with the former scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds, while the latter netted five points, eight rebounds, five assists, and a steal.

The scores:

Table and Stats (106) - Gonzaga 26, Gingerich 22, Alfonso 21, Ducanes 10, Aguilar 8, Sta. Ana 7, Flores 6, Paguila 6

ABS-CBN Sports (80) - Roxas 28, Ramos 22, Fermin 9, Gomez 8, Garcia 8, Dypiangco 5

Quarter Scores: 32-16, 47-29, 78-49, 106-80

UAAP Media (61) - Cagang 25, Jacinto 18, Tupas 12, Gatpandan 4, Sevilla 2, Dalupang 0, Lozano 0, Sarmenta 0, Bonilla 0, Flores 0, Lagunzad 0.

Larc and Asset (55) - Palana 22, Silvestre 15, Tan 13, Tamayo 5, Pajar 0, Marcelo 0, Quinto 0, Vardeleon 0, Buenaventura 0, Magcaling 0

International NBA storylines to watch this season

With the NBA continuing its increasing globalization, here are some things to watch out for involving its international players.

• Eleven international players currently on the NBA's Opening Night rosters have sniffed an All-Star appearance: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks and Greece), Luol Deng (Minnesota Timberwolves and South Sudan), Goran Dragic (Miami Heat and Slovenia), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers and Cameroon), Al Horford (Boston Celtics and Dominican Republic), Marc Gasol (Memphis Grizzlies and Spain), Pau Gasol (San Antonio Spurs and Spain), Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics and Australia), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks and Germany), Tony Parker (Charlotte Hornets and France), and Kristaps Porzingis (New York Knicks and Latvia)

• Nowitzki will be playing his 21st season with the Mavericks, which will set a NBA record for most seasons played with a single team, moving past fellow legend Kobe Bryant, who played all of his twenty seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He joins Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Vince Carter as the only players to have played 21 seasons in the league. Carter is the only one player other than Nowitzki who is still playing in the league.

• The NBA.com's 2018-19 GM Survey revealed that Antetokounmpo would be the top player that general managers would choose to be their franchise cornerstone. In addition, Murray was the top pick these same GMs believe will have a breakout season.

• A few international basketball icons are moving up the scoring rankings:
• Pau Gasol will need fifteen points to move past fellow San Antonio Spur David Robinson for 38th place in the all-time scoring list, and 105 points to move past Bob Pettit for 37th place overall.
• Tony Parker needs 306 points to move past Bob Lanier for 50th place in the all-time scoring list.

• Currently assigned as a two-way player for the Memphis Grizzlies, BWB alum Yuta Watanabe would be just the second Japanese player to play in the NBA if he gets to get minutes for the Grizzlies, following Yuta Tabuse, who played with the Suns back in 2004-05.

Brandon Vera set to defend ONE FC title in Manila

The ONE Championship Heavyweight Champion

Brandon Vera finally gets a title defense.

ONE Championship has announced that its current Heavyweight World Champion will be headlining its latest MMA event at the Mall of Asia Arena: ONE: Conquest of Champions this coming November 23.

Vera claimed the strap back in December 2015 with a knockout victory over Paul Cheng. He has had just one title defense since, defeating Hideki Sekine via technical knockout in the first round a year later to raise his record to 15-7 with 1 NC. The upcoming fight will be his first fight in almost two years.

Seeking to dethrone "The Truth" on his home turf is Mauro Cerilli. "The Hammer" from Italy is the current Heavyweight Champion of the London-based MMA outfit Cage Warriors and will be making his ONE Championship debut at ONE: Conquest of Champions. Toting a 12-2 professional record, Cerilli is fresh from dispatching Karl Moore back in March for his first title defense, needing just 15 seconds to stop the Irish fighter in London during Cage Warriors 92, extending his winning streak to five matches.

In making the announcement, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong shares: "The Philippines is a country that is extremely passionate about sports, especially martial arts. We have some of the greatest martial artists in Asia that call the Philippines home. One of those athletes is our ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera. Brandon has been itching to get back in action to defend his heavyweight title for some time now, and I am thrilled to announce that he will be returning at ONE: CONQUEST OF CHAMPIONS. Brandon will have a very tough challenger in front of him in the form of Mauro Cerilli. The two provide an explosive matchup and a good contrast of styles."

Sityodtong also shared his excitement for the co-main event for ONE: Conquest of Champions, as the ONE Championship will be crowning a new lightweight champion, with Eduard Folayang and Amir Khan duking it out. He notes that it will be "an electric evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila."

Folayang has bounced back well since losing the title to Martin Nguyen last year, notching unaninous decision victories over Kharun Atlangeriev back in May and Aziz Pahrudinov this past July to get himself back into the title picture with Nguyen forced to vacate the title a few weeks ago.

Khan, on the other hand, has won eight of his last nine bouts to figure in the title picture in this competitive division, including a first-round submission victory over Honorio Banario last September.

For further details on ONE: Conquest of Champions and other upcoming ONE Championship events, one should check out www.onefc.com.

The NBA and its international flavor

The NBA is a global game.

Basketball is a global game, and the NBA continues to illustrate that.

As of Opening Night, the league has 108 players from a record-tying 42 countries and territories, with the players spread to all thirty teams.

It is the fifth straight season that the NBA has within its employ at least a hundred international players, with the same case being having all of its teams having such a player on its roster.

This season matched last season with regards to the number of countries and territories represented, with the record number of international players being set the season before that, with 113 players.

When broken down by location, Canada has the most number of international players with eleven. Australia and France each have nine players, followed by Spain's seven and Germany's six. 65 of the 108 players come from Europe.


When broken down by team, the Dallas Mavericks have the most number of international players with seven, led by the iconic Dirk Nowitzki and their highly-regarded rookie Luka Doncic. Doncic's head coach with the Slovenian national team is Igor Kokoskov, who was hired as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first NBA head coach that was born outside of North America.

26 of these players consider themselves as alumni of the Basketball Without Borders program that the NBA established alongside FIBA, a global basketball development and community outreach initiative. Notable alums of the BWB include Philadelphia 76ers teammates Joel Embiid (BWB Africa 2011, Cameroon) and Dario Saric (BWB Europe 2010, Croatia), Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (BWB Global 2015, Canada), and the top overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, Deandre Ayton (BWB Global 2016, Bahamas). BWB has been able to produce 55 alumni into the NBA, whether through the draft or free agency.

Aside from the 108, there are also six international players who have earned two-way deals. Introduced last season, two-way deals allows players to be included onto a NBA roster for up to 45 days, with the rest of the stint to be played out in the NBA G-League.

Here are the complete list of international players for the 2018-19 NBA season

Country	First Name	Last Name	NBA Team
Australia	Aron	Baynes	Boston Celtics
Australia	Jonah	Bolden	Philadelphia 76ers
Australia	Ryan	Broekhoff	Dallas Mavericks
Australia	Matthew	Dellavedova	Milwaukee Bucks
Australia	Dante	Exum	Utah Jazz
Australia	Joe	Ingles	Utah Jazz
Australia	Kyrie	Irving	Boston Celtics
Australia	Patty	Mills	San Antonio Spurs
Australia	Ben	Simmons	Philadelphia 76ers
Austria	Jakob	Poeltl	San Antonio Spurs
Bahamas	Deandre	Ayton*	Phoenix Suns
Bahamas	Buddy	Hield	Sacramento Kings
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Dzanan	Musa	Brooklyn Nets
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Jusuf	Nurkic	Portland Trail Blazers
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ivica	Zubac	Los Angeles Lakers
Brazil	Cristiano	Felicio	Chicago Bulls
Brazil	Raul	Neto	Utah Jazz
Brazil	Nene		Houston Rockets
Cameroon	Joel	Embiid*	Philadelphia 76ers
Cameroon	Luc	Mbah a Moute*	LA Clippers
Cameroon	Pascal	Siakam*	Toronto Raptors
Canada	Khem	Birch	Orlando Magic
Canada	Dillon	Brooks	Memphis Grizzlies
Canada	Shai	Gilgeous-Alexander*	LA Clippers
Canada	Cory	Joseph	Indiana Pacers
Canada	Trey	Lyles	Denver Nuggets
Canada	Jamal	Murray*	Denver Nuggets
Canada	Kelly	Olynyk*	Miami Heat
Canada	Dwight	Powell	Dallas Mavericks
Canada	Nik	Stauskas	Portland Trail Blazers
Canada	Tristan	Thompson	Cleveland Cavaliers
Canada	Andrew	Wiggins	Minnesota Timberwolves
China	Zhou	Qi	Houston Rockets
Croatia	Dragan	Bender*	Phoenix Suns
Croatia	Bojan	Bogdanovic	Indiana Pacers
Croatia	Mario	Hezonja	New York Knicks
Croatia	Dario	Saric*	Philadelphia 76ers
Croatia	Ante	Zizic*	Cleveland Cavaliers
Czech Republic	Tomas	Satoransky	Washington Wizards
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Bismack	Biyombo	Charlotte Hornets
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Emmanuel	Mudiay	New York Knicks
Dominican Republic	Al	Horford	Boston Celtics
Egypt	Abdel	Nader	Oklahoma City Thunder
Finland	Lauri	Markkanen*	Chicago Bulls
France	Nicolas	Batum*	Charlotte Hornets
France	Evan	Fournier	Orlando Magic
France	Rudy	Gobert	Utah Jazz
France	Timothe	Luwawu-Cabarrot	Oklahoma City Thunder
France	Ian	Mahinmi	Washington Wizards
France	Frank	Ntilikina*	New York Knicks
France	Elie	Okobo	Phoenix Suns
France	Tony	Parker	Charlotte Hornets
France	Guerschon	Yabusele	Boston Celtics
Georgia	Zaza	Pachulia	Detroit Pistons
Germany	Isaac	Bonga*	Los Angeles Lakers
Germany	Maxi	Kleber	Dallas Mavericks
Germany	Dirk	Nowitzki	Dallas Mavericks
Germany	Dennis	Schroder	Oklahoma City Thunder
Germany	Daniel	Theis	Boston Celtics
Germany	Moritz	Wagner	Los Angeles Lakers
Greece	Giannis	Antetokounmpo	Milwaukee Bucks
Haiti	Skal	Labissiere	Sacramento Kings
Israel	Omri	Casspi*	Memphis Grizzlies
Italy	Marco	Belinelli*	San Antonio Spurs
Italy	Danilo	Gallinari*	LA Clippers
Latvia	Davis	Bertans	San Antonio Spurs
Latvia	Rodions	Kurucs	Brooklyn Nets
Latvia	Kristaps	Porzingis	New York Knicks
Lithuania	Domantas	Sabonis	Indiana Pacers
Lithuania	Jonas	Valanciunas*	Toronto Raptors
Mali	Cheick	Diallo	New Orleans Pelicans
Montenegro	Nikola	Mirotic*	New Orleans Pelicans
Montenegro	Nikola	Vucevic	Orlando Magic
New Zealand	Steven	Adams	Oklahoma City Thunder
Nigeria	Josh	Okogie	Minnesota Timberwolves
Poland	Marcin	Gortat	LA Clippers
Puerto Rico	J.J.	Barea	Dallas Mavericks
Republic of the Congo	Serge	Ibaka	Toronto Raptors
Russia	Timofey	Mozgov	Orlando Magic
Senegal	Gorgui	Dieng*	Minnesota Timberwolves
Serbia	Nemanja	Bjelica	Sacramento Kings
Serbia	Bogdan	Bogdanovic	Sacramento Kings
Serbia	Nikola	Jokic	Denver Nuggets
Serbia	Boban	Marjanovic	LA Clippers
Serbia	Milos	Teodosic*	LA Clippers
Slovenia	Goran	Dragic	Miami Heat
Slovenia	Luka	Doncic	Dallas Mavericks
South Sudan	Luol	Deng	Minnesota Timberwolves
South Sudan	Thon	Maker*	Milwaukee Bucks
Spain	Alex	Abrines	Oklahoma City Thunder
Spain	Jose	Calderon	Detroit Pistons
Spain	Marc	Gasol*	Memphis Grizzlies
Spain	Pau	Gasol	San Antonio Spurs
Spain	Juancho	Hernangomez	Denver Nuggets
Spain	Willy	Hernangomez*	Charlotte Hornets
Spain	Ricky	Rubio	Utah Jazz
Sweden	Jonas	Jerebko	Golden State Warriors
Switzerland	Clint	Capela	Houston Rockets
Switzerland	Thabo	Sefolosha	Utah Jazz
Tunisia	Salah	Mejri	Dallas Mavericks
Turkey	Omer	Asik	Chicago Bulls
Turkey	Ersan	Ilyasova	Milwaukee Bucks
Turkey	Enes	Kanter*	New York Knicks
Turkey	Furkan	Korkmaz	Philadelphia 76ers
Turkey	Cedi	Osman	Cleveland Cavaliers
Ukraine	Alex	Len	Atlanta Hawks
Ukraine	Svi	Mykhailiuk	Los Angeles Lakers
United Kingdom	OG	Anunoby	Toronto Raptors

And international players on two-way deals are as follows:

Country	First Name	Last Name	NBA Team
Canada	Chris	Boucher	Toronto Raptors
Canada	Naz	Mitrou-Long	Utah Jazz
Dominican Republic	Angel	Delgado	LA Clippers
Greece	Kostas	Antetokounmpo*	Dallas Mavericks
Japan	Yuta	Watanabe	Memphis Grizzlies