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ALASKA GOES FOR SEMIS 1 MORE TIME; GIANTS KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED

For most part of the elimination round, the Alaska Aces have been on top of the standings and a virtual shoo-in to clinch one of two outright semifinal berths up for grabs.

But a bad stretch late in the second round is becoming a nightmare for Alaska coach Tim Cone and threatens to spoil the team’s bid to join early semifinalist San Miguel.

RP Gilas makes semis of Dubai basketball meet

DUBAI — Smart Gilas Pilipinas crashed into the semifinals of the 21st Dubai International Tournament after fending off Egypt's Al Jazeera, 82-78, Wednesday night (early Thursday in Manila) before a horde of overseas Filipino workers at the Al Ahli Club here.

Skipper Chris Tiu converted five freethrows in the dying seconds as the RP dribblers advanced to the Final Four match against Al-Riyadi of Lebanon – a team bannered by ex-Gilas reinforcement CJ Giles and former PBA import Nate Johnson - Friday night.

Marnel Baracael scorches from the outside in Gilas’ semis-clinching win over Al Jazeera of Egypt. GMANews.TV

Barrios fines TNT for 'wrong uniform' but upholds win over SMB

The number of votes in the board won’t matter in San Miguel Beer’s protest against Talk ‘N Text.

The decision is on the hands of one man – Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Sonny Barrios – who decided to turn down the Beermen’s protest and uphold the Tropang Texters’ 93-91 triumph last Saturday in Zamboanga City.

Carter Says No to Shaq's Dunk Contest Idea

ORLANDO -- Vince Carter was shaking his head "no,'' before the question was even finished.

Returning to the NBA Slam Dunk contest -- even in the name of raising funds for charity -- at the urging of Shaquille O'Neal was not something he would consider.

"No. Dwight (Howard) can do it,'' Carter said after Wednesday morning's practice. "Nobody should feel obligated to do anything they don't want to do.''

Kobe Bryant Still Wears the NBA's Most Popular Jersey

As the 2009-10 season approaches the midway point, last year's playoffs are a distant memory, right?

Perhaps not. The NBA released their list of the best-selling jerseys for the first half of the season, combining sales from the NBA Store in New York City and orders placed on NBAStore.com, and several of last year's most notable postseason heroes have made the most dramatic climbs.

After winning yet another ring, Kobe Bryant remains the top seller for the second year in a row (his real secret? They taste as good as they look!), followed by the marketing machine that is LeBron James.

When Jordan Met Leno (Video)

As one friend of mine said this morning, "Michael Jordan's appearance on The Jay Leno Show was so stupid, I can't even make jokes about it." He's right, which is why I'll leave the recap alone. If you haven't watched it yet, venture down below the jump; I saw it first at NESW Sports.

The reason I'm still stuck on this totally forgettable meeting of the minds is how perfectly these two men parallel each other. I'm trying to avoid an all-out gimmick post here. But what Leno's doing to late night with his bloodless coup is pretty much the same harm Jordan continues to inflict on the NBA.

On-court tussle’s all in the past for PBA’s ‘Chairman of the Board’ and ‘Destroyer’

As players, Abe King and Rudy Distrito can be considered fierce rivals. In one of their games in 1982, King, then playing for Toyota, even got involved in a melee with Crispa's Distrito and Bernie Fabiosa. The on-court rivalry lingered until the latter stages of their respective careers.

But all these are in the past now insofar as the Philippine Basketball Association’s “Chairman of the Board" King and “The Destroyer" Distrito are concerned.

Barrios to uphold TNT win; SMB elevates case to board

Unhappy to get favorable response to its protest on its loss to Talk 'N Text, San Miguel Beer is now elevating its case to the Philippine Basketball Association board of governors.

This after PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios hinted the possibility of turning down the Beermen’s protest against Talk ‘N Text’s 93-91 win in their out-of-town duel Saturday in Zamboanga City.

BURGER KING STALLS ALASKA ANEW

An outright semifinal berth has suddenly become elusive for Alaska Milk.

Burger King foiled Alaska's second shot at an automatic semis passage as the Whoppers whipped the Aces, 87-80, in the penultimate playdate of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup elimination phase at the Cuneta Astrodome Wednesday night.

TAULAVA SCORES GAME-WINNER AS COKE ELIMINATES BARAKO BULL

The life support system that has kept Barako Bull alive for the latter part of its campaign in the 2009-10 KFC Philippine Cup was finally been removed by Coca-Cola Wednesday night.

Asi Taulava’s 12-foot jumper in the lane lifted the Tigers to a breathtaking 91-89 decision past the stubborn Energy Boosters at the Cuneta Astrodome.

RP Gilas 5 seeks semis slot vs Egypt's Al Jazeera

DUBAI — Smart Gilas steered clear of danger after getting a relatively lighter rival - Egypt's Al Jazeera - in the quarterfinals of the 21st Dubai International Basketball Tournament here.

After finishing with a 3-1 record, Gilas grabbed the No. 2 seeding in Group B behind Al Jalaa of Syria, which swept its elimination-round assignments. The Syrians will meet the United Arab Emirates’ national team in the crossover quarterfinals.
Chris Tiu defies taller defenders from Al Nasr during RP Smart Gilas’ last game in the eliminations of the 21st Dubai International Basketball Tournament. Albert Alba

Will the Suns Make the Playoffs?

The Suns dropped their fourth in a row on Monday, to a Grizzlies team that they now find themselves even with in the loss column in the standings. After jumping out to a 14-3 start to the season, the team has lost 15 of its last 25 games. And with more problems than apparent solutions at this point, it's fair to wonder whether or not the team can fix things in time to hold on to one of the eight available playoff spots in the uber-competitive Western Conference.

Billups: McGrady, Iverson Don't Deserve All-Star Berths

DENVER -- The Massachusetts Senate race isn't the only vote this week in which health issues are at stake.

The NBA will release fan voting tallies Thursday when starters are named for the Feb. 14 All-Star Game in Dallas. While health care was a concern in one vote, the health of All-Star balloting is involved in another.

LeBron helps Cavs beat Raptors, move to 15-3 at home

CLEVELAND -- Shaquille O'Neal had one regret about moving into elite NBA scoring air. It should have happened long ago.

O'Neal became the fifth player to score 28,000 career points, and the Big Diesel made his enormous presence known at both ends of the floor as the Cleveland Cavaliers began a long stretch of home games with a 108-100 win over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

Wade sparks big 1st quarter with 18 as Heat run away from Pacers

MIAMI -- Of the 119 players on the NBA's 3-point accuracy chart this season, the Indiana Pacers might be surprised to learn who ranked next-to-last.

Dwyane Wade might not stay there much longer.

Only a 27 percent shooter from long range, Wade made his first four attempts from beyond the arc -- including one that counted after goaltending, of all things -- and scored a game-high 32 points as the Heat easily beat the Pacers 113-83 on Tuesday night.

Nate Robinson Talks About His Filipino Roots

Manila might be more than a dozen time zones away from Los Angeles, but people in the Philippines are fully aware of what’s going on with the Lakers as well as the other 29 teams in the league.

To put things bluntly, Filipinos are crazy for the NBA. And by crazy, I mean like what college football is to people in South Bend. Or what soccer is to people in England and what hockey is to folks in Toronto. Get the point? The league has also taken notice of the passion Filipinos have for basketball.

Suddenly a sense of urgency

HE may not admit it, but Alaska coach Tim Cone must be very disappointed with the result of their game against the Purefoods TJ Giants on Friday.

The Giants plastered the Aces, 94-77, but it’s not the wide margin that irked the multititled coach.

Against the Giants, Willie Miller and co. didn’t seem to care. They played with no urgency. Disinterested even.

Down to the wire

With only four games left in the PBA Philippine Cup schedule, it’s still not certain which team will join San Miguel Beer in the semifinals as an outright qualifier and which team will drop out of contention at the end of the double round eliminations.

Two doubleheaders remain in the calendar. Today, the twinbill features Barako Bull (3-14) against Coca-Cola (5-12) and Alaska (12-4) against Burger King (5-12) at the Cuneta Astrodome. On Friday, the last two games will pit Rain Or Shine (4-13) against Alaska and Purefoods (11-6) against Sta. Lucia Realty (10-7) at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

If Alaska defeats either Burger King or Rain Or Shine or both, the Aces advance to the semis outright.

Gilas survives rugged UAE five

DUBAI –Smart Gilas Pilipinas kept its cool and poise against the rugged Al Nasr of United Arab Emirates side, pulling off an emotional 79-72 victory to sustain its momentum going into the quarterfinal round of the 21st Dubai Invitational here Monday night.

Cheered on by the Filipino OFWs at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium, the Nationals hit the big shots down the stretch to frustrate the hosts and nail their third straight win following an opening day loss to Al Jalaa of Syria.