Timeline for 2021 NBA Draft set

The path for the 2021 edition of the NBA Draft presented by State Farm is now set.

The league announced that the draft will take place on July 29, starting a 8pm ET (July 30 in Manila). For those based in the United States, the first round will be broadcast nationally on ABC, with ESPN airing both rounds.

Aside from this, the league also provided additional details on a couple of major events on the road to the NBA Draft:

The 2021 edition of the Microsoft Surface NBA Draft Combine is tentatively scheduled for June 21-27, health protocols permitting (June 22-28 in Manila). There are plans of televising the Draft Combine through the ESPN family of networks in the United States, which likely includes the five-on-five scrimmages and the strength and agility testing.

The much-anticipated 2021 edition of the NBA Draft Lottery presented by State Farm is on June 22 at 830pm (June 23 in Manila) on ESPN in the US.

The NBA also revealed its deadlines for early entry applications and withdrawals, with interested early entrants having until 1159pm on May 30 to apply (May 31 in Manila). For those early entry applicants opting out of the 2021 NBA Draft, they can do so until July 19 at 5pm (July 20 in Manila).

The league will reveal additional details for the Combine, Lottery, and Draft on a future date. 

NCFP-PSC Chess Selection tournament set this week

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines, the country's governing body in the sport, is set to launch several online competitions that would bypass restrictions the government has reimposed in light of the recent spike of cases.

Set for Tuesday until Thursday is the Luzon leg of the Philippine Sports Commission-NCFP selection tournament. Bankrolled by federation president Butch Pichay, it would be the first of a series of events that would help determine members of the national team, which would include the right to receive a monthly stipend as one of its benefits.

Tournament director GM Jayson Gonzales says, "This is an opportunity for a Filipino chess player to become member of the national team."

The tourney then will have its Visayan leg on April 13-15, while the Mindanao edition is slated the week after. Winners advance to the quarterfinals at the end of the month, with the semifinals on May 11-13 and the grand finals taking place on July 2-4. The latter will be conducted with a hybrid format of online and face-to-face matches.

Interested participants can register for free, and inquiries can be coursed through Michelle Yaon (0910-3726152) or Susan Neri (0933-5505019).

Aside from the selection tournament, the NCFP is currently conducting its National Age Group Championships, with the Marinduque Southern Luzon leg taking place this past weekend. It also has slated qualifying competitions to determine its field for its major competitions: the SEA Games, World Chess Olympiad, National Seniors and National Championships. It also is set to have its Battle of Grandmasters late in the year.

Drex Zamboanga confident in Denice’s Grand Prix chances against Seo Hee Ham

Denice Zamboanga

Count Drex Zamboanga as one of the more interested observers in the upcoming ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix, whose eight-woman field was revealed a couple of weeks ago and is set to kick off on May 28 during a historic all-female fight card called ONE: EMPOWER.

Drex's younger sister is Denice, the top-ranked women's atomweight contender in ONE Championship. She is set to face off against veteran mixed martial arts campaigner Seo Hee Ham in the quarterfinals.

About that particular matchup, Zamboanga says, "I think it's a great matchup. Obviously, having trained martial arts with Denice basically since we were young, I know her capabilities. She's not just talented, she also has work ethic and I know she's working hard towards achieving her dreams."

He adds, "Seo Hee Ham is without a doubt the most dangerous opponent for Denice in this tournament. But I have complete confidence in my sister. She can beat the odds and take out the biggest threat in the Grand Prix. Denice is preparing well right now."

The ONE Flyweight contender believes that Denice's training camp for this fight will dictate how things will go against Ham, who is considered by some as the "darkhorse" of the tournament.

Drex says, "Denice is younger than Seo Hee Ham, so she has youth on her side. Yes Ham has the experience, but there are other factors important in this game. Physical conditioning is going to be super important. Denice needs to come into this fight in the best shape of her career. It's going to take a tremendous effort to defeat Ham, but Denice is up for the challenge. We're working on a strong game plan for this fight."

The ONE Women's Atomweight World Grand Prix champion will likely have the right to face current ONE Women's Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee later in the year.

Zamboanga believes that his sister is ready to seize on that opportunity, and eventually be able to wrest the title away and bring it back to the Philippines.

"I'm very proud of my sister. There's nothing she can't achieve and I see how hard she has worked in her career. Now we're here. We're in a great position to shock the world again. I believe Denice will beat Ham, win the Grand Prix, and take out the atomweight champion later this year," he says.

Mayhem set for 3x3 test in Doha

Chico Lanete to lead Manila Chooks TM on the 3x3 court for the Doha Masters

3x3 basketball is about to be injected with "Mayhem."

Aldin Ayo's philosophy is about make it debut in the FIBA 3X3 World Tour when the new-look Manila Chooks TM makes its trip to Qatar for the Doha Masters this weekend.

The quartet of Chico Lanete, Mac Tallo, Zachy Huang, and Dennis Santos will take part in qualifying, facing off against Graz at 730pm and Doha at 805pm.

They all believe that Aldin's system can work in 3x3.

"Sa practice pa lang, talagang banggaan na talaga. Napakalakas na rin nila yung katawan namin," said Santos, the tallest in the team at 6-foot-5.

"Going back sa UST days ko, ganun pa rin yung schemes ni Coach Aldin. Same approach pa rin tulad ng ginawa namin kaya naka-Finals kami nung UAAP Season 82 ang ginawa niya dito para sa amin," added Huang, a 6-foot-2 post creator.

The Filipinos will have to deal with some major height disadvantage, with 6-foot-9 Fabricio Vay and 6-foot-7 Filip Krämer comprising half of Graz and 6-foot-7 Abdelrahman Yehia Abdelhaleem and 6-foot-10 Souley Ndour being half of the hosts. Survive that, and they will have to deal with the two major American teams in the tour: NY Harlem and Princeton.

Even with the odds stacked against them, Lanete believes they can overcome it. He says, "Sa darating na laban, siyempre maliliit kami pero ang ibibigay namin sa kanila eh yung bilis namin saka outside shooting. Yun ang power namin."

NCFP kicks off Age Group tourney

Even with the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines is ready for competitive chess in 2021 with the upcoming National Age Group Chess Championships, starting off with the Marinduque Southern Luzon leg this weekend.

NCFP president Butch Pichay shares, "The Youth Championships are among the NCFP’s main programs and I am so elated because we are able to still hold these events amid the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope these tournament will galvanize the zeal of our young chess players."

Hosted by the province of Marinduque through provincial board members John Pelaez and Verlie Quindoza, the online competition will utilize the Tornelo chess platform and the ten-minute, five-second increment time control. To ensure its readiness, a trial event is scheduled on Thursday at 8pm.

On Saturday, the Under-16, Under-18, and Under-20 divisions will be on display, with the Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, and Under-14 taking their turn on Sunday. Registration is free, and is still open for NCFP members.

Outstanding finishers will earn a berth into the National Age Group semifinals in May. Do well there and a chance at the Grand Finals looms in June, which could potentially be done face-to-face depending on the pandemic situation.

Interested participants can check out this post on the NCFP's Facebook page:

2021 National Age Group takes off The National Chess Federation of the Philippines thru it's Chairman/ President,...

Posted by National Chess Federation of the Philippines - NCFP on Monday, March 15, 2021

They can also contact the following for further inquiries: 

Boys: Michelle Yaon (0910-372615)

Girls: Susan Neri (0933-5505019) 

NCFP assistant executive director (Southern Luzon) Dr. Fred Paez (0921-2728172)

Sam_H, Shanks join SMART Omega

Meet the new members of the SMART Omega eSports family.

In line with their upcoming debut in the second season of the Dota Pro Circuit - Southeast Asia upper division, SMART Omega eSports on Wednesday tapped a couple of individuals, Sam "Sam_H" Hidalgo and Mark "Shanks" Redira.

Hidalgo, a former TNC offlaner and is a veteran of The International, was last with T1. Redira, a 10K MMR support who was last with Indian side Reckoning eSports alongside fellow former Omega teammates Linuel "Teehee" Abanto and Benhur "Benhur" Lawis, was part of the previous Omega roster that had been replaced by the Adroit eSports core prior to the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season.

In making the announcement, Omega eSports Chief Operating Officer Patrick Cruz says, "First I'd like to say that we're very sad that we have to change the roster again. It's very quick and very sudden, we don't even have any idea how are we going to fill that slots but we're also blessed that we still have talents around the country just like Sam_H and Shanks that are willing to trust Omega to give them another future career in eSports."

Cruz adds, "We are very positive that these boys will definitely do everything they can to reach the DPC Majors for next season."

The two will replace Jun "Bok" Kanehara and Marvin "Boomy" Rushton, who both left for TNC.

They will join midlaner Mc Nicholson "Mac" Villanueva, support Bryle "cml" Alvizo, and carrry Justin "Tino" Grimaldo in a bid to secure a Major slot in the upper division against the likes of Fnatic, Neon eSports, T1, TNC Predator, Boom eSports, Execration, and LilGun.

Season Two is scheduled to open on April 13, with 1150 DPC points up for grabs.

LeBron, Lakers lead NBA merchandise sales in Philippines, worldwide

The NBA released its data pertaining to its merchandise, with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers topping the charts.

For the Philippines, James is the leading the list for the most popular jersey sales, with the Lakers for team merchandise. This is based from sales made within the First Half of the season from the NBA's online store for the country, NBAStore.com.ph. Titan, the Philippines' leading basketball specialty concept store, operates the site.

Joining James in the top five are Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Stephen Curry.

The rest of the top ten comprises Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Luka Dončić, and Kawhi Leonard.

Meanwhile, the rest of the top five teams leading in merchandise are the Brooklyn Nets, the Houston Rockets, the Golden State Warriors, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Compared to the global data, there is not much variance in both aspects. All but Paul George ended up on the top fifteen player jerseys sold worldwide, while the Rockets are the only team that is not on the top ten sales worldwide.

The global list can be seen below:  

Top 15 Most Popular NBA Jerseys:                         

1. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers

2. Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks

3. Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

4. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

5. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks

6. Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets

7. Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

8. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

9. James Harden, Brooklyn Nets

10. Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

11. Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat

12. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers

13. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers

14. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

15. Russell Westbrook, Washington Wizards

Top 10 Most Popular Team Merchandise:

1. Los Angeles Lakers

2. Brooklyn Nets

3. Golden State Warriors

4. Boston Celtics

5. Philadelphia 76ers

6. Miami Heat

7. Chicago Bulls

8. Dallas Mavericks

9. Toronto Raptors

10. Milwaukee Bucks