Whatsikat Sports

Ginebra - BMEG grudge match up

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

With Mark Caguioa back in harness, Barangay Ginebra earnestly looks forward to its rematch with PBA Commissioner's Cup champion B-Meg. The Kings got off to a winning start in the season-ending Governors' Cup Wednesday, and they’re determined to get going as they take on the Llamados Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Caguioa and his teammates are motivated to score some measure of revenge against the very team that crushed their aspiration in the last conference.

The Llamados bundled the Kings out in five games in their best-of-seven semifinal series then went on to beat out the Talk n Text Tropang Texters in the finals.

Ginebra and B-Meg clash at 6:30 p.m. in an entirely different setting with the Kings now the healthier team.

Caguioa, Allein Maliksi and Rico Maierhofer are all back for the Kings while B-Meg key players Marc Pingris and Joe Devance are nursing injuries.

Caguioa and Maliksi returned with a flourish, providing tremendous boost as the Kings whipped the Air21 Express, 103-85, in their tournament debut.

“It just felt so good to be back,” said Caguioa, out of the rest of the second conference after suffering a fractured right eye socket curiously against B-Meg in their playoff for No. 2 seeding in the playoffs.

Ginebra won that match but B-Meg worked its way from the quarterfinals and got back at the Kings in the semifinals.

James Yap inflicted Caguioa the injury in an accidental collision, causing the Ginebra main man to also miss the All-Star Week. The B-Meg top gun, meanwhile, went on a roll, emerging the Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP and the All-Star Game MVP.

Yap had apologized, and Caguioa accepted the apology.

Nonetheless, the two are expected to figure in a showdown and so do imports Cedric Bozeman and Marqus Blakely.

Blakely had solid numbers in his PBA debut but the Llamados fell in overtime versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 94-100, Friday.

With Caguioa back on the court providing leadership and firepower, the Kings had little trouble disposing off the Express.

Wearing a protective eyewear, Caguioa scored 15 points, each one of his five baskets lustily cheered on by his teammates.

"Mark has always been the soul of this team. It’s really a blessing it didn’t take long for him to be back,” said Ginebra coach Siot Tanquingcen.

B-Meg coach Tim Cone said they would need to play Ginebra with a sense of urgency.

“This conference is again a sprint and one can’t fall too far behind,” said Cone.

He’s not that much disappointed in their loss to Rain or Shine.

He said: “I felt after a slow start, we played solidly the rest of the way. We weren’t sharp early but we certainly didn’t play with a championship hangover.” (SB)

source: www.pba.ph

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UFC 146: Dos Santos TKOs Mir to retain title (VIDEO)

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:51:00 +0000

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos of Brazil successfully defended his title as he put on a boxing clinic en route to a second-round technical knockout over former champion Frank Mir.

In the main event of the heavyweight-filled UFC 146 fight card in Las Vegas late Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila), Dos Santos forced Mir into a stand-up battle and dominated the former two-time heavyweight champion.

It was the Brazilian champion's first defense of the title that he won at UFC on FOX 1 last November by knocking out former title-holder Cain Velasquez in just over a minute.

"It's awesome, it's amazing," Dos Santos said of his victory. "It's not bad for a nice guy, huh?"

In pre-fight trashtalks, Mir claimed that he will be able to beat Dos Santos on the ground, but that proved to be easier said than done as the Brazilian easily stuffed the former champion’s takedown attempt early in the first round.

Mir found some success in the first round by throwing leg kicks, but Dos Santos was able to find his range and was soon tagging Mir with left hooks and right straights.

Towards the end of the first, Dos Santos came close to finishing Mir when he wobbled Mir with a big right hand and clobbered him with a flurry of punches, but Mir was saved by the bell.

It soon came to an end in the second round, however, when Dos Santos rocked Mir with a huge right hand that sent Mir to the canvas.

Dos Santos hit Mir with hammer fists while the former champion tried in vain to push the Brazilian away. Dos Santos eventually moved away of his own volition and gave Mir a chance to get up, but Mir was unable to move from the canvas.

The champion sneaked in one last right hand punch before referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at the 3:04 mark.

"He's the champ, he's fast and I couldn't get out of the way. He hit me hard. There were so many of them and they were all hard shots," Mir said in the post-fight interview.

"He's a very dangerous guy," he added.

Mir said he knew Dos Santos would be difficult to take down but he did not want to get sucked into a boxing match either.

"He just forced me into it," Mir said.

Mir was not even Dos Santos' original opponent: Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem was the No. 1 contender for the heavyweight belt but failed a drug test administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Velasquez, Nelson also win

In the co-main event, former champion Velasquez put himself back in the heavyweight title picture after a dominant victory over Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

Velasquez quickly took Silva to the ground and hit him with vicious elbows, eventually busting him open. With Silva bleeding terribly, referee Josh Rosenthal had to stop the bout as the doctor checked on the fighter.

Silva claimed that he could still continue, but Velasquez wore him down with vicious ground and pound and more elbows. The referee eventually stopped the fight at the 3:36 mark.

It was Velasquez's first bout since losing the belt to Dos Santos, while Silva was making his UFC debut.

Meanwhile, Roy "Big Country" Nelson dominated Dave Herman in their undecard bout. Nelson sent Herman to the canvas with a huge right hand and the referee stopped the contest after just 51 seconds.

Nelson shared Knockout of the Night honors with Dan Hardy, who also knocked out Duane Ludwig in the undercard.

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PostGame; NBA Playoffs 2012 Round 2; PHI at BOS Game 7

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:54:10 +0000

It took me a long while to write this because I was looking for Rondo’s stat, particularly scoring per quarter for this game. Sadly I couldn’t find any even after a thorough search of the usual online haunts, so I’ll just resort to the usual clickbait and post a pic of Rondo with that famous [...]

PBA: Peterson’s pacing matters for Barako Bull

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 03:45:00 +0000

Sure, every Barako Bull team member liked what they saw in import Jamine Peterson who torched the hoops with a conference-high 33 points and hauled down 22 rebounds in his debut last Friday. Peterson really played like an image model of the newest energy drink in the country and led Barako Bull to a 106-101 win against Powerade.

But while coach Edmundo “Junel” Baculi marveled at Peterson, in the end, he felt like his import overdid things.

He had one piece of advice: Learn to pace it.

Whether or not Peterson heeded Baculi’s advise will be put on the spotlight when the Energy clash with the Alaska Aces at 4:30 pm at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“Our import is very unpredictable. He overexerted himself in the first half. I think he’s trying to prove himself because he isn’t highly rated like the other imports. I hope he can sustain it. But we’ll instruct him not to overexert himself,” said Baculi.

True enough, Peterson wasn’t Barako Bull’s first choice as the Energy hoped two time Best Import would fit into the 6-5 height limit of the conference. But when Freeman measured a quarter of an inch over the limit, Baculi had to look for someone else. And Peterson caught his attention.

And probably, Baculi was right that Peterson’s mindset was to quickly make a good impression so much so that the 23-year old Providence Friars standout banged in 27 points right in the first half of the game against the Tigers.

But after that, he was held to a basket in the third quarter and four points in the fourth leading Baculi to feel a bit concerned.

“It’s a good thing our veterans contributed to our offensive set. But we have to be consistent, we must be always hot and minimize that coldness,” added Baculi who will continue to lean on the likes of Willie Miller, Danny Seigle, Ronald Tubid, Don Allado and comebacking Sunday Salvacion. Admittedly, Barako Bull has become deeper with the acquisition of Doug Kramer, Carlo Sharma and celino Cruz.

And that is what new Alaska Milk coach Luigi Trillo is wary of.

Trillo, who took over from Joel Banal as head tactician of the Aces, is looking forward to nailing down his first win in the PBA. Alaska Milk is coming off a 107-100 loss to Rain or Shine in the opening game of the tournament a week ago.

The Aces are led by Jason Forte who is on his third tour of duty in the PBA. Against the Elasto Painters, Forte had 25 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Main men for Alaska Milk are LA Tenorio, Cyrus Baguio, Joachim Thoss and Bonbon Custodio.

Alaska Milk also acquired Gabby Espinas from Meralco in exchange for Jay-R Reyes. Espinas, a former Rookie of the Year cum Most Valuable Player in the NCAA while playing for Philippine Christian University, is expected to work his way into the Alaska Milk system. In his first game for the Aces, he he had six points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. (BP)

source: www.pba.ph

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Rondo lifts Celtics over 76ers into East finals (VIDEO)

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 03:42:00 +0000

source: Agence France-Presse

BOSTON, Massachusetts — The Boston Celtics punched their ticket to the NBA Eastern Conference finals on Saturday (Sunday, PHL time) with an 85-75 victory over Philadelphia behind a "triple-double" by Rajon Rondo.

Rondo scored 18 points with 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Celtics won the decisive game seven in the Eastern Conference second-round series.

The Celtics will have little time to relax. They will open the best-of-seven Eastern conference finals in Miami against the star-studded Heat on Monday night (Tuesday, PHL time). That winner will face San Antonio or Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics led by three points when Paul Pierce fouled out with 4:16 remaining.

Rondo scored Boston's next nine points as the Celtics stretched their advantage to double-digits.

Rondo scored 11 points in the final quarter and notched his ninth career playoff "triple-double".

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Boston fans began chanting "Beat the Heat!"

Celtics veteran Kevin Garnett, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds, echoed the sentiment.

"Let's do it!" Garnett said of tackling the Miami team led by NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

It will mark the third straight post-season that the Heat and Celtics meet.

Boston won in five games in 2010 in the first round and the Heat won in five last year in the second round.

Brandon Bass scored 16 and Pierce ended with 15 points and nine rebounds for Boston.

Andre Iguodala scored 18 points for Philadelphia, which had eliminated injury-plagued top seed Chicago in the first round.

Iguodala drained a three-pointer from the left corner with just over four minutes remaining to pull Philadelphia within 71-68.

Pierce then fouled out, but Rondo made sure the Sixers couldn't take advantage.— AFP

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Bradley eyes November 10 rematch

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 03:35:00 +0000

source: Nick Giongco | mb.com.ph

Manny Pacquiao is assured of a rematch clause in the unfortunate event that he gets upset by Tim Bradley on June 9 in Las Vegas, Top Rank big boss Bob Arum told the Bulletin.

Arum has penciled Nov. 10 as the date for that fight, a sign that Pacquiao is not looking past the unbeaten American fighter.

“This is the reason why I haven’t talked about any other fight with Manny other than this upcoming fight with Bradley,” said Arum.

Arum checked on Bradley’s preparation in the desert city of Indio, California, and was awestruck by Bradley’s confidence level and demeanor.

Bradley knows what is in store for him if he wins against the heavily-favored Pacquiao before an expected huge crowd at the MGM Grand.

“He is getting paid well in this fight and it’ll take care of his children,” noted the 80-year-old Arum.

“And if he wins and fights Pacquiao in a rematch, the money he’s getting will take care of his grandchildren.”

Bradley is so pumped up that he appeared ready to rumble when a busload of reporters and photographers converged to see him work out on Thursday.

“I am not in this fight to survive and collect a paycheck,” said Bradley, a 3-1 underdog.

Bradley is getting the biggest purse of his career and is said to be guaranteed $5 million, a figure that is five times more than his previous best paycheck.

Pacquiao is assured of at least $26 million and should get more once the pay-per-view sales is computed.

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Lakers overhaul seen after playoff exit

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 03:08:00 +0000

source: Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol spent the final minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers’ final game arguing, disagreeing on the best way to run a pick-and-roll play.

It might have been the tandem’s last few minutes together with a franchise that has little patience when even great players stop bringing home championships.

The Lakers were eliminated in the second round of the NBA playoffs for the second straight year on Monday with a five-game loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although the Lakers had a solid season despite not having a real training camp to make the enormous switch from coaches Phil Jackson to Mike Brown, they weren’t as good as the NBA’s best.

That likely means changes for a franchise and a fan base that considers seasons ending before June to be abject failures.

“I’m really not used to it, so it’s pretty odd for me,” Bryant said of another early-by-Lakers-standards exit. “I’m not the most patient of people, and the organization is not extremely patient either. We want to win and win now, so I’m sure we’ll figure it out. We always have. I’m sure we will again.”

In Lakerland, it’s easy to forget that the large majority of NBA franchises would be quite pleased by a 41-25 win-loss regular season, yet another Pacific Division title and a decent performance against the Thunder, clearly a top-four team. Many teams would be excited to retool a squad topped by Bryant, four-time All-Star big man Gasol, and emerging All-Star center Andrew Bynum, who frequently dominated during his best pro season.

But no franchise has the incredibly high standards of Bryant and the 16-time champion Lakers, who don’t even acknowledge division titles that would be a significant achievement for other teams. A second-round playoff loss to a better team caused panic and widespread soul-searching on Tuesday.

“Come hell or high water, we’re going to be there again,” said the 33-year-old Bryant, who has repeatedly stated he’ll never leave the Lakers. “It’s just something about the Lakers organization.”

While general manager Mitch Kupchak contemplates his moves, most fans were agreed on his first job: The No. 1 trending topic on Twitter in Los Angeles was “(hash)IdTradeGasolFor.”

Gasol endured his toughest season since arriving in Los Angeles in early 2008, dealing with uncertainty and disappointment after the NBA rejected a trade that would have exiled him to Houston last December for Chris Paul. The genial Spanish giant averaged a career-low 17.4 points while failing to find a consistent role in new coach Brown’s offense before struggling mightily in the playoffs.

Gasol, who will make more than $38 million over the next two seasons, handled the scuttled trade with his usual grace, but his fans and teammates weren’t always so generous. Bryant called Bynum the Lakers’ second scoring option during the season, but called out Gasol for not scoring more in the postseason, ripping into Gasol after Game 4 last Saturday.

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Pacquiao wants to be boxing's 'all-time great'

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:56:00 +0000

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao hopes boxing fans will remember his ring exploits for many years to come. He said he wishes that his story would inspire people the way he was inspired by boxing greats that came before him.

"To be considered an all-time great is very important to me,” Pacquiao said in Boxing Scene.

“Hopefully my story can inspire people to achieve their dreams. When I was growing up, watching Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr, and Larry Holmes fight inspired me to work harder and to become better. They still do inspire me. They were great. They were my heroes.”

This is why he remains hopeful that he would still be able to fight one of his greatest rivals, the controversial Floyd Mayweather Jr.

However, he admitted that making the fight happen would only depend on Mayweather.

“Will the fight ever happen? It's up to Floyd. I hope it does. I'm a competitor and I enjoy a challenge…As long as I continue fighting I will remain hopeful that the fight will take place," said the fighting congressman from the Philippines.

Pacquiao said he thought he could make the dream fight come true three years ago, when his camp first negotiated with Mayweather’s group.

He said Mayweather agreed to everything they asked for.

But the controversial boxer suddenly came up with the drug testing issue, which has become Mayweather’s “excuse” through the years.

“He no longer wants to split the pay-per-view revenue with me equally, something he agreed to in our first negotiation,” said Pacquiao.

"The only thing preventing a fight between Floyd Mayweather and me is Floyd Mayweather.”

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German, Russian training eyed for Olympic bet

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:53:00 +0000

source: philstar.com

A month’s extensive training in Germany and Russia is under negotiation as part of the final phase of Mark Barriga’s preparation in the hope of gifting the country its first Olympic gold medal in the coming London Olympic Games.

National coaches Pat Gaspi and Roel Velasco also jointly announced during the SCOOP Sa Kamayan session Friday that, time permitting, the 18-year-old lone boxing qualifier might still see action in an international competition in Cardiff before proceeding to London in July.

Judo president Dave Carter said Filipino-Japanese grappler Tomohiko Hoshina, also the only judoka to carry the country’s colors in the quadrennial conclave, will continue his training in Japan.

Carter said during the forum, sponsored by Powerade, AKTV and FILA sports wear, that the 24-year-old Hoshina, who was in the country last week, had returned to Japan where he resumed his fine-tuning program at the Toien University.

Gaspi and Velasco, a bronze medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said Barriga, a light-flyweight campaigner, will proceed straight to London from his training in Germany and Russia and, perhaps, Cardiff.

Hoshina, whose mother hails from Malolos, Bulacan, will be back on the eve of the national delegation’s departure to London.

Hoshina’s personal coach Yasuhiro Sato might also join his ward in London, depending on whether the Philippine Olympic Committee will permit him to do so.

Carter, Velasco and Gaspi jointly disputed perception that Barriga and Hoshina made it from the “backdoor” as newspaper reports had it.

Hoshina, for one, according to Carter, earned a seat through the Asian Continental Quota Allocation.

“For the information of everybody, to make it to the Olympics, a judoka must be ranked in the top 252 athletes in the world in both the men’s and women’s divisions. They are known as direct qualifiers,” Carter explained.

“The next level is the Continental Quota Allocation made up of the top 12 Asian campaigners where Hoshina belongs, being ranked No. 10,” Carter added.

“The last classification is the wild card where one qualifies when those who made it as direct and continental qualifiers surrender their seedings,” he said.

Gaspi said Barriga earned his ticket to London in accordance with procedures, being among the top 10 junior- flyweights in the world.

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Ali Peek suffers from irregular heartbeat

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:48:00 +0000

source: Waylon Galvez | mb.com.ph

Talk ’N Text veteran center Ali Peek could miss several games of the Tropang Texters due to irregular heartbeat. The 6-foot-4 Peek already had several tests at the Makati Medical Center. The results will be known Monday.

Interviewed hours before their match with Air21 yesterday, Peek, 37, said that he first had palpitation while vacationing in the United States a few days after TNT lost to B-Meg in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals two weeks ago.

Peek said he ignored it and returned to the country where he resumed training with the team.

Last Wednesday, Peek played 31 minutes and scored 11 points with 10 rebounds in a 105-99 loss to sister-team Meralco.

The palpitation occurred again Thursday morning, prompting Peek to inform his team and undergo checkup. He said that none in the family has a heart problem.

“I noticed it when I was in the States,” Peek said.

“I’ve had something similar but it was almost 10 years ago. But back then I wasn’t really taking care of myself. Now, it raised a concern so I decided to have it looked. The fact that it happened, the palpitation, it bothers me,” added Peek.

“But I’m doing fine, I felt fine even after the game (last Wednesday). One of the doctors said it might be fatigue,” he said.

Last November, Peek was sidelined following a near-fatal gunshot in the nape by a still unidentified assailant in the parking lot of the RFM Gym in Mandaluyong City.

Two months later, the 15-year veteran center rejoined TNT and helped the team win the Philippine Cup title.

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Bradley 'solves' Pacquiao's left hand

noreply@blogger.com (dude2nuckle) — Sun, 27 May 2012 02:47:00 +0000

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Timothy Bradley believes he has already solved Manny Pacquiao’s left hand with all the preparation he has done in training camp. Bradley is aware that the left straight is Pacquiao’s mightiest weapon, which is why he devoted much of his training time learning to dodge that punch.

“In the beginning of training camp, I was getting hit a whole lot with it,” the American boxer told RingTV.

"But now, I'm eluding it. Getting to the side, stepping underneath it. It's great defense, great footwork, great counter-punching. I've been looking really good.”

Bradley also said that he has addressed his “head butts” by learning to charge with his fists first instead of the head.

This, he said, will lessen the possibility of having accidental clash of heads during the June 9 fight.

"I'm definitely trying to eliminate head butts. You know, throwing my shots before coming in with my head,” said Bradley. “I don't want a head butt or clash to happen. Because I don't want any excuses at the end of the day.”

The Pacquiao fight is the biggest break in Bradley’s boxing career.

Not only can he take Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title, he also wants his place among today’s top boxers in the world.

Bradley said he’ll try to fight smart against the speedy and power punching Filipino champion.

He said that if he is able to take Pacquiao’s punches, the Filipino superstar will likely be in trouble.

“If I feel that he can't hurt me, then I'm definitely going to step to him and I'll make a fight out of it."

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Boosters blaze past Bolts, take 2nd win

By Nelson Beltran — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Reigning champion Petron Blaze, utilizing well its retooled lineup, made it two in a row in the PBA Governors Cup with a 101-88 win over Meralco at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo last night.

Ravina seizes day in longest stage

By Joey Villar — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Road Bike Philippines’ Baler Ravina yesterday came out of nowhere to topple two-day leader One Tarlac’s Tomas Martinez off the leaderboard, ruling Stage 3 of the second LBC Ronda Pilipinas that started in Davao City and ended in this city considered as the regional center of Caraga and the seat of government of Agusan del Norte.

Health is lifetime commitment, says guru

By Joaquin Henson — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Visiting fitness expert Jamie Howell yesterday called on impatient weight-loss chasers to stay away from quick-fix solutions that could create damaging side effects and instead redirect their efforts in making a commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

Deaf tanker tries mettle in Asia-Pacific Games

Sat, 26 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000

A 27-year-old recipient of the 2011 Go Negosyo Award and the PLDT small-medium entrepreneurship next-generation Bosing Ako award finally fulfills his dream in swimming when he competes in the seventh Asia-Pacific Deaf Games slated May 27-June 2 in Korea.