Super Senior Awards nod for Amer, Cruz, Tolomia

Three stellar guards will be recognized for their collegiate basketball careers tonight at the Collegiate Basketball Awards.

Baser Amer of San Beda, Mark Cruz of Letran, and Mike Tolomia of FEU will be cited with the Super Senior Awards for their impressive five-year stint at their respective schools.

Amer was part of a Red Lions squad that won four straight titles during his stay, and in spite of a shoulder injury that kept him out of half the eliminations, he still managed to contribute an average of 8.11 points, 2.67 rebounds, and 4 assists in the eliminations, as they made it to the finals this past season.

Cruz denied Amer's championship aspirations this season, as he led the way for Letran to claim their 17th NCAA title. The "Ant-Man" averaged a team-high 17.94 points and 4.17 assists, while adding 3.61 rebounds and 2.11 steals in the eliminations this past season.

Tolomia averaged 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 66 elimination games for Far Eastern University, while raising them in the postseason to 12.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in twelve total games in his five-year career.

Pivotal Player Award cited for Racal, Pogoy

A couple of recently graduating players will have one final award for their collegiate exploits.

Kevin Racal and Roger Pogoy's feats in the finals of their respective leagues are set to be acknowledged by the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps with the Pivotal Player award.

The Pivotal Player award is designated to players who made a significant impact for their teams in a championship series. Recent winners of this award include Garvo Lanete, Dave Marcelo, Anthony Semerad (San Beda), Ryan Buenafe, Kirk Long (Ateneo), and Alfred Aroga (NU) 

Racal averaged 20 points for Letran as they clinched their 17th NCAA title by dethroning San Beda in three games.

Pogoy, on the other hand, averaged 14.7 points for Far Eastern University against the University of Santo Tomas in their finals matchup. His three-pointer with 87 seconds remaining gave the Tamaraws the lead at 61-60 that they would never relinquish on their way to their 20th UAAP title.

The two will be bestown this honor on the Collegiate Basketball Awards later tonight.

Sonny Barrios in Switzerland for FIBA OQT Draw and Meeting

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios is scheduled to meet with FIBA Sport and Competitions Director Predrag Bogosavljev later today at Mies, Switzerland, the same day that the draw for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament is to be conducted.

The meeting, which was requested by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan, will center around the Philippines' preparations for the upcoming competition, which Manila, alongside Turin (Italy) and Belgrade (Serbia) will host on July 4-10.

Once Barrios arrives in Manila on Wednesday, a meeting involving SBP officials will be conducted to discuss the results of the Mies meeting.

Barrios says, “Mr. Pangilinan is leaving nothing to chance in making sure the staging of the OQT will be a huge success. Concerns like formation of the LOC , venue, transportation, security, hotel accommodations, IT and media accreditation have also been calendared for discussion right after I return.” He adds that there are already ticket inquiries for the competition, even if there is no information yet available for prices or the teams participating.

The draw itself will take place at 6:30pm today in Switzerland (1:30am on Wednesday, January 27 in Manila). Aside from the hosts, fifteen other countries will be involved in the OQT (Angola, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Iran, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Senegal, Tunisia, Latvia, Croatia and Turkey). The three remaining slots for the Olympics will be decided based on this

One can understand the draw procedure below.



The Mall of Asia Arena will serve as the venue for the Manila OQT, the same place that hosted the 2013 FIBA-Asia Championship.

The format sees the six-team pool subdivided into two groups of three teams. A round robin is slated for the sub-group, with the top two teams moving into the crossover semifinals. The winners then face off for the right to play in the Olympics.

Nash Racela and Aldin Ayo named Coach of the Year

The UAAP-NCAA Press Corps selected a couple of coaches who each ended a decade of drought in collegiate basketball as its Coach of the Year.

Nash Racela and Aldin Ayo will share the alum after leading their respective schools to the men's basketball championship this past season.

In what will turn out to be his lone season in charge with the Knights, Ayo brought a team that missed out on the Final Four back to the promised land, denying then-defending champions San Beda a shot at making history in becoming what could have been the first NCAA school to bag the crown for six straight seasons.

The newly-minted head coach of La Salle is the fourth head coach to be bestown his honor in his first season, joining Ato Agustin (2009 with San Sebastian), Juno Sauler (2013 with La Salle), and Boyet Fernandez (2013 with San Beda).

Racela, on the other hand, masterfully managed the Tamaraws' depth and leadership to outlast the University of Santo Tomas.

The duo joins an illustrious group of basketball minds like Norman Black, Frankie Lim, Eric Altamirano, and Louie Alas who have secured the nod.

The awarding is set to take place on January 26, where the UAAP-NCAA Press Corps and SMART Sports will host the Collegiate Basketball Awards.

The event will also honor its SMART Player of the Year and Collegiate Mythical Five, in addition to the Coach of the Year.

How to cast your NBA All-Star vote

The 2016 NBA All-Star Game will be held in Toronto, the first time that the event will take place outside of the United States.

As always, fans dictate the NBA All-Star Game starters, and the league recently released its guidelines for voting through the different media platforms.

Do note that every current NBA player is eligible. Two guards and three frontcourt players.

NBA.com/vote. Just fill out one full ballot per day. Doesn't matter if it is desktop or mobile.
NBA app. Go to the app, which is available on both Android and iOS, and just fill out one full ballot per day.
Twitter: Send a tweet (or a retweet or reply to a tweet) with the player's first and last name along with this hashtag (#NBAVote). Make sure the tweet includes just one player. Fans can do this for up to ten players per day.
Facebook: Post a status or make a comment on a post with the player's first and last name along with this hashtag (#NBAVote). Make sure the post / comment includes just one player. Fans can do this for up to ten players per day.
Instagram: Post an original photo. On the caption, write the player's first and last name along with this hashtag (#NBAVote). Make sure the post includes just one player. Fans can do this for up to ten players per day.
SMS: For those based in the US, Just text the player's surname to MYNBA (69622) from your wireless device. Make sure the message includes just one player. Fans can do this for up to ten players per day per mobile number. Standard messaging and data rates may apply in this case.
Google: Type in either "NBA Vote All-Star" or "NBA Vote Team Name" (i.e. NBA Vote Celtics). The former will lead to a prompt showing all 30 teams. Click the the team of your choice, then click on the players of your choice. The latter will lead you directly to the team, from which you can make your selection. Fans can do this for up to ten players per day.

For China, All-Star Voting is also conducted through Sina Weibo and Tencent.

Last day of voting will be on January 18 at 11:59:59 (January 19 in Manila). Announcement of starters will be on January 21 (January 22 in Manila) during a special edition of the Tip-Off show of NBA on TNT.

League will provide three updates (December 25, January 7, January 14 = December 26, January 8, January 15 in Manila) on ballot returns.

Kiefer Ravena and Alyssa Valdez set Nona fundraiser

The FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan is set to host Kiefer Ravena's third charity endeavor, entitled FASTBR3AK.

Targeting the victims of Nona, Kiefer and fellow Ateneo student-athlete Alyssa Valdez are setting up a fund-raising exhibition volleyball match slated to take place on December 23 at 2pm.

Joining the Phenoms in this endeavor are notable volleyball stars Gretchen Ho, Denden Lazaro, Michele Gumabao, and Charo Soriano, as well as collegiate basketball stars Kevin Ferrer and the Escoto brothers. Volleyball legend and broadcaster Mozzy Ravena will also be among the participants.

Kiefer and Alyssa will be leading their own respective teams in this exhibition matchup, which will include a raffle as well as a hulahoop contest between Valdez and a lucky ticket holder.

Kiefer says, "We want to help them in the spirit of Christmas," adding that "We hope they will not be too devastated by what happened and this is one way of making happy this Christmas."

The two-time MVP has already undertaken charitable endeavors before, targeting those who had been affected by Sendong and Yolanda.

Tickets to FASTBR3AK will be available starting December 21 at the Ally's All-Day Breakfast Place outlets in Malingap St, as well as Holy Spirit Drive in Quezon City. Tickets cost PhP 250 and PhP 500.

Team Kiefer: Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Ferrer, Gretchen Ho, Denden Lazaro, Bang Pineda, Jem Ferrer, Charo Soriano, Russel Escoto, and Mac Dionisio

Team Alyssa: Alyssa Valdez, Ella de Jesus, Michele Gumabao, Jen Reyes, Dani Ravena, Mozzy Ravena, Richard Escoto, IC Mendoza

Kiefer Ravena launches personal website

Kiefer Ravena wants to boost his already burgeoning fanbase.

The two-time UAAP MVP on Tuesday officially launched his own website in a simple launch at the recently-opened Ally's All Day Breakfast Place at The Rock in Quezon City.

The website (www.kieferravena.com), according the Ateneo star, allows him to directly communicate to his fans with his latest updates on and off the court.

According to Kiefer, not everyone has access to his different social media accounts, but most have access to the internet. He says, "I want to increase my fan base, to be able to reach people abroad."

He shared that he once had a website before, but it had been difficult to maintain given that he was just starting his UAAP career, but he adds, "Now, going to the pros, I have time to prepare something for the fans. I want to make everything easier for them."

This site will have blog posts from the Sinag standout himself, allowing him to address different topics, not just limited to basketball. Fans have the chance to have a live chat with him, too. He hopes to have that on a weekly basis.

Statements from Ravena directly on certain matters will also be posted there, as well as his scheduled on and off court activities.