DPinoyCosmonaut

 Sports. Basketball. Tennis. Commentary. Fun.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

CELTICS GET OVER HUMP, END 16-YEAR DROUGHT WITH RECORD 18th NBA TITLE

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 29, 2024

The Boston Celtics and their supporters pose with the Larry O’Brien championship trophy after clinching a record 18th championship.  (Photo by Charles Krupa of The Associated Press)

The 2024 Boston Celtics didn’t only have the burden of trying to win the franchise’s first title since 2008 but also disproving the notion that their two leading stars – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – would never win together. This is because the All-Star wing duo had made the conference finals in four of their first six years together and lost in the end.

Exactly 16 years to the day a team led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen won the Celtics’ last championship on June 17, 2008, this squad led by Brown and Tatum finally won another, getting over the hump and proving many pundits wrong by dominating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to clinch this year’s championship 4-1 and capture a record 18th title.

It took all of 16 years and many heartaches, including a heartbreaking seven-game loss in the 2010 championship series to the arch-rival LA Lakers and a six-game downfall to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Finals, but when the Celtics finally won another title, there can’t be any greater high nor any better feeling for this bunch given the vindication that it gave.

“It means the world,” Tatum said after the Celtics received the championship trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “It’s been a long time. And damn I’m grateful.

"You know what it feels like to be on the other side of this and be in the locker room and hearing the other team celebrating, hearing them celebrate on your home floor,” Tatum continued, referring to their Game 6 loss to the Warriors two years back. “That was devastating. Now, to elevate yourself in a space that, you know, all your favorite players are in… It's a hell of a feeling. This is more – I dreamed about what it would be like, but this is 10 times better."

And he and Brown fittingly anchored the Celtics’ successful run, which finally ended a streak of 107 playoff games they have played together without winning a title, the longest in league history by any duo before finally clinching one. Along the way, these Celtics beat both the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers by a 4-1 count in the first two rounds, and then swept the Indiana Pacers in four games to make the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

And the denouement saw the Celtics end up with a 16-3 postseason record and finish with an 80-21 overall mark, which was 15 victories more than any other team in the league, including both regular season and the playoffs. That .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history behind only the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship club that finished 82-18 (.820).

In this clinching contest, Brown and Tatum combined for eight points and, together with Sam Hauser’s three-point shot, sparked a finishing 11-3 run that gave Boston a 28-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. Brown and Tatum then combined for 19 more points in the second quarter even as Tatum passed for five of his game-high 11 assists in the period to keep the Celts in control.

The Celtics had erected a 46-31 lead with 7:08 left in the second quarter on a three-point play by Tatum, and when the Mavericks cut it to 48-39 a little more than two minutes later, the Celtics responded with a 19-7 spurt that was capped by a half-court buzzer-beater by Payton Pritchard, who was sent in precisely for such a possible play, to take a 67-46 bulge at the break. That parking-lot heave by Pritchard, his second such shot of the series, seemed to take the wind out of the Mavericks even as the TD Garden crowd erupted in a pandemonium

It's something taken out of Boston coach Joe Mazzulla’s playbook that told the Celtics to finish every quarter strong, and the Celts did precisely that. Over the last two minutes of the first and second quarters, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22-4, and that made all the difference in this game as the Mavericks never recovered and could not come nearer than 17 points before Boston took an 86-67 lead into the fourth quarter. The Celtics would then duplicate the biggest lead they took in the third, 26 points, with 3:40 left at 104-78, and Dallas coach Jason Kidd finally raised the white flag with 2:37 left and Boston up 106-85 when he took out Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Tatum had another double-double with a game-best 31 points (on 11-of-24 floor shooting but just 1-for-7 from three) and 11 assists, his third in the Finals (he also had a double-double in scoring and assists in Game 2, when Boston beat the Mavericks 105-98, and a double-double in scoring and rebounds in Game 1, when the Celtics set the tone for the series with a 107-89 blowout) on top of eight rebounds and two steals.

Jayson Tatum raises the championship trophy as the Celtics and their fans celebrate. (Photo by Charles Krupa of The Associated Press)

But Brown took the Bill Russell Trophy as Finals MVP after scoring 21 points (though he shot just 7-of-23 from the floor, his worst in the series) and collecting eight rebounds, six assists and two steals. It was Brown, after all, who dominated in the crucial Game 3, scoring 15 of his 30 points in the third quarter of a 106-99 victory by Boston, during which the Celtics took control of the game – and the series – by outscoring the Mavericks 35-19 in the period, while assuming most of the defensive job on Doncic.

That Game 3 victory afforded the Celtics an all-too-human letdown in Game 4, when Dallas scored an anomalous 122-84 walkover that sent the series back to Boston and enabled the Celtics to clinch it before a raucous home crowd.

“I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after being awarded his Finals MVP trophy, the second hardware he has won in this year’s playoffs after also taking the Larry Bird Trophy as Eastern Conference finals MVP.

Jaylen Brown, the Finals MVP, drives against P.J. Washington of Dallas in Game 5 of the Finals, which Boston won 106-88 to clinch it.  (Photo by Charles Krupa of The Associated Press)

But these Celtics are not all Brown and Tatum as most everybody sent in by Mazzulla contributed to the victory to finally nail down that elusive 18th championship banner, which has given back Boston the distinction as the team with the most number of titles in NBA history by breaking a tie with the Lakers, who won a 17th title during the “bubble” season of 2020. This included an injured Kristaps Porzingis, who was sent in by Mazzulla midway through the first quarter and had five points and was a plus-8 in 16 minutes on the floor, Hauser, who had eight points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal, as well as Pritchard, who made that miracle three at the halftime buzzer that took the air out of the Mavericks’ sails.

Of course, the Celtics’ starters after Tatum and Brown that the team’s president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, has painstakingly put together over the last three years assumed much of the responsibility, as expected. Jrue Holiday, whom Stevens acquired before the season for Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III after being traded by Milwaukee to Portland, also had a double-double with 15 points, a team-high 11 rebounds, four assists and a steal for a game-best plus-21 plus/minus rating, White chipped a front tooth and was bloodied on the way to contributing 14 points on a team-best 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc, as well as eight rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block, while Al Horford, who started at center the whole series with Porzingis hobbled, chipped in vital totals of nine points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals for a plus-20 plus/minus rating.

With the victory, Horford also ended a streak of 186 playoff games without a title, the second-longest streak in history behind only the retired Utah great Karl Malone’s 193. James Harden of the LA Clippers now holds the longest title-less streak among active players with 166 playoff games.

And the championship victory also made Mazzulla, the target of much criticism especially in his first year as head coach last year because of his unorthodox ways, which include not calling timeouts even when rival teams are in hot pursuit, the youngest coach at 35 to win a title since Celtics legend Bill Russell led the Celtics to the championship in 1968 at 34 as a player coach.

Stevens’ faith in Mazzulla certainly paid off. After all, it was he who put Mazzulla at the helm after erstwhile coach Ime Udoka was suspended in 2022 for violation of team rules, and liked Joe for his dedication to his craft and discipline, his analytical mind and, most of all, his passion.

"He may have been unproven to other people, but not to me," Stevens said. "He was put in a tough situation last year. But he grew from it, and this year he got a chance to really prepare for a season." “You have very few chances in life to be great,” Mazzulla said when it was all over.

But the historic triumph means the most to the two Jays, who finally achieved their ultimate goal after having been the target of much vitriol for their supposed inability to win the ultimate prize despite reaching the conference finals together four times in the previous six years and for purportedly being soft especially in crunch time. "I mean, this is going to be a night that I will remember for the rest of my life, from the game, the celebration, these moments," Tatum said of their landmark triumph. "Over the last couple years, we had some tough losses at home in the playoffs. We've lost the NBA championship at home in front of our fans. We had a chance to beat Miami in Game 6 a few years ago and lost that one.

"So to have a big win – the biggest win that you could have in front of your home crowd – I felt like that was really important to go out there and do everything in my power to make sure we won this game tonight."

"I can't even put into words the emotions," Brown, meanwhile, said. "It's just I'm blessed and I'm grateful. This was a full team effort. We had a great team. My teammates were great. They allowed me to lead us on both ends of the ball, and we just came out and performed on our home floor. It's just amazing.”

"I just think we had passed the phase where we'd both been All-Stars and been on All-NBA teams," Tatum noted of his partnership with Brown. "Not saying that (expletive) is not important, but we'd done it. And God willing, we'll keep doing it. But it was time to start sacrificing points or shot attempts or whatever to win and have the best team in the league.

"Just our growth together," the three-time All-NBA First Teamer, who in this year’s playoffs has passed erstwhile idol Kobe Bryant for the most playoff points in history before the age of 27 with 2,711 to Bryant’s 2,694, added. "We've been through a lot. We've been playing together for seven years now. We've been through a lot, the losses, the expectations. The media have said all different types of things: We can't play together, we are never going to win. We heard it all. But we just blocked it out, and we just kept going. I trusted him. He trusted me. And we did it together."

And on top of all that, Tatum and Brown must have also benefitted from that innate Celtic culture that long-time Celtics writer Marc D’Amico calls “Celtics Basketball,” which referred to a way of life, an approach to the game and a method of building a team that has been handed down for several generations from the time of Celtics patriarch and legend Red Auerbach.

“On the court, Celtics Basketball means playing with pride,” D’Amico said. “It means playing for each other. It means celebrating each other. It means giving all-out effort. It means being unselfish. It means buying into roles. It means putting a product on the floor of which the fans can be proud.”

These 2024 Celtics, with their two Jays and their core, personified all that, and the result was an unprecedented Banner 18.

Confetti rain down on the TD Garden floor as the Celtics and fans celebrate the championship victory. (Photo by Brian Fluharty of USA Today Sports)

[dpinoycosmonaut]

SAN BEDA’S RECORD-EXTENDING 23rd CHAMPIONSHIP VINDICATES RED LIONS’ PROGRAM

by Bert A. Ramirez / December 18, 2023

The San Beda team and its supporters celebrate after the Red Lions clinched their 23rd NCAA championship.  (Photo from Tiebreaker Times)

                Yesterday’s landmark championship victory by the San Beda Red Lions not only extended their NCAA record to 23 men’s basketball titles won but, more importantly, has vindicated the Mendiola squad’s basketball program.

                The Red Lions overcame a four-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to beat top-seeded Mapua University in their winner-take-all duel going away 76-66 and in effect avenged a close defeat in the championship battle between the two teams’ predecessors 32 years ago.  This, incidentally, was the Cardinals’ last championship victory in the league, a three-decade-plus drought that they wanted to end this year.

                It was not to be, however, as Yukien Andrada and James Payosing, the eventual Finals MVP, combined in the last quarter to deliver the killer blows that eventually wilted the favored Cardinals. Down by their biggest deficit 57-53 when the season’s final frame started after having led most of the way from the start, the Lions showed the heart of their mascot king of the jungle, coming up with their most lethal assault when everything was on the line.

Yukien Andrada unleashes one of the three-point bombs that eventually took the life out of the Mapua Cardinals’ cause.  (Photo from NCAA Philippines’ Facebook account)

                After top Mapua scorer and rebounder JC Recto (18 points, 13 rebounds) gave the Cardinals a 61-58 lead with a layup with eight minutes to go, the Red Lions, through Andrada, Payosing and Jacob Cortez, came up with a crippling 10-0 blow to take irretrievable control of the game.  Andrada first tied it up with a three-point bomb, Payosing then put San Beda up for good with two free shots, and Andrada then hit another triple before Cortez came up with a banked floater as the Lions roared to a 68-61 lead and their supporters from the 23.077 fans that packed the Araneta Coliseum cheered them on.

                Then, after Paolo Hernandez ended the Mapua drought with a long two, Clifford Jopia, playing in his last game for San Beda along with birthday-boy Peter Alfaro and Damie Cuntapay, scored on a putback to make it 70-63, time down to 3:22.  Payosing then clustered three more points to complete a murderous 15-2 San Beda onslaught and give the Lions their biggest lead at 73-63 and all but take the fight out of the Cardinals with barely two minutes remaining.

                Andrada topscored for San Beda with 20 points and also had six rebounds while Payosing had another double-double with 11 points and a game-best 14 rebounds and Cortez, who was cramping up as early as the third quarter, contributed eight points and eight assists after leading the Bedans to their series-tying 71-65 victory in Game 2 with 21 points as San Beda won its first men’s title since 2018.  That was when the NCAA still allowed foreign student athletes and the Lions, then with Donald Tankoua, was the object of protests, if not envy, by a number of league members owing to their dominance after having won 11 championships in 14 years employing such players, a stretch that started in 2006.

                But since the NCAA has banned foreign student athletes in 2020, San Beda has failed to win a championship, further fueling sentiments that they only won because of such players, not even considering that many home-grown talents that went on to excel in the pros were also developed by the school through its basketball program.

                This latest championship should put that issue to rest, particularly after several key home-grown players left the school for various reasons just before NCAA Season 99 started.  Five of these players, for example, chose not to return following the Lions’ Final Four exit last year, with veterans James Kwekuteye and JB Bahio making the jump to the pros and younger guys like Tony Ynot, Justine Sanchez and Gab Cometa all transferring to De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.  Just to show how vital these five departing players were, they combined for 46.2 points of the Red Lions’ 75.7-point average in Season 98.

                Kwekuteye alone was the Lions’ undisputed go-to guy and was a member of the Season 98 Mythical Five, while the 6-foot-3 Bahio finished third in the MVP voting and was likewise in the Mythical Five while also making the All-Defensive Team, and Ynot averaged 9.1 points and 5.4 rebounds and the 6-5 Sanchez 5.6 points and 3.4 boards.

                This is why Andrada, a 6-5 frontliner with a deadly three-point shot, now fittingly symbolizes San Beda’s basketball program as he is the only remnant of that old core they expected to build upon and, along with such guys as Payosing, Cortez, former Mapua Red Robin star Nygel Gonzales and 6-6 Fil-Canadian recruit Jomel Puno, would now make up the Red Lions’ new core in the next few years.

                San Beda’s resounding victory in this year’s senior basketball competitions should also entrench coach Yuri Escueta as the new undisputed head of San Beda basketball.  Escueta, in just his second year at the helm, has shown an excellent grasp of the nuances of the game and the psyche of his players.  Left without those major departures, it could have easily been a rebuilding year for the Bedans.

                But Escueta, armed with great leadership and motivational skills, made do with what he had and, as a scribe described it, “resharpened” the Lions’ claws in just one year.  Sure, he got help from elite basketball minds in consultants Norman Black and Boyet Fernandez, a San Beda champion coach himself, but on his own, Escueta has shown adept basketball knowledge.

Coach Yuri Escueta gets a victory lift from his players.  (Photo from Tiebreaker Times)

                When the Lions lost four of their first five games in the second round, for example, which eventually deprived the Lions a twice-to-beat advantage, Escueta rallied his guys and regrouped them to take the succeeding games one game at a time, and it worked.  The Red Lions won their last four assignments in the eliminations, including a crucial win over Lyceum of the Philippines, and they beat the second-seeded Pirates in the semifinals twice before losing their first game to Mapua in the finals to see that streak end at six.

                Yesterday’s clinching victory, however, showed that whatever Escueta cooked up and the Red Lions executed is just what they needed to show even the doubters that they were the best team in the league once more, and the San Beda program is indeed one of the country’s elite, with or without foreign talent.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

GILAS’ GOLD IN 19th ASIAN GAMES: ONE FOR THE AGES

by Bert A. Ramirez / October 8, 2023

Members of the Gilas Pilipinas team, which broke a 61-year gold-medal drought in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, join hands on the podium in a symbolic gesture that spoke of their solidarity after their historic triumph over Jordan.  (Photo by Lee Jin-man of The Associated Press)

When last Friday’s 70-60 victory by the Philippines over Jordan in the men’s basketball finals of the 19th Asian Games is remembered, it will be regarded as historic, massive and epochal, and certainly one for the ages, literally and figuratively.

The Philippines, after all, had been without a gold medal in the Asian Games in its favorite sport since winning the first four editions of the event in 1951, 1954, 1958 and 1962, a period that spanned a good 61 years, or practically a lifetime for some people.  The last Asiad championship in fact that the country won in 1962 in Jakarta, Indonesia still had the legendary Carlos Loyzaga, now a FIBA Hall of Famer, anchoring a team made up of some of the greatest names in local basketball history, including Narciso Bernardo, one of the greatest scorers in Asia during his prime, and such other mythical names as Alberto “Big Boy” Reynoso, Kurt Bachmann and Edgardo Roque.

The gold-medal drought had covered a total of 14, repeat, 14 Asian Games, and during this barren stretch that was endured by this basketball-crazy country, its roundball practitioners had accounted for just three podium finishes, including a bronze medal in 1986, a silver in 1990 and another bronze in 1998, when the country was celebrating its Independence Day centennial, while finishing as low as seventh in 2014 and missing the event altogether because of a suspension in 2006.

The enormity of the odds against the Filipinos’ winning another gold medal was particularly magnified by the fact that they had to hurdle a now-expanded field and much stronger competition that included defending champion China, which was playing in its home ground and which, despite a lopsided 96-75 defeat to Gilas Pilipinas last September in the last FIBA World Cup held in Manila, was aching for revenge and was, in fact, going great guns during this Games.  And one should remember the Chinese have been the dominant basketball force in the Asian Games since arriving on the scene in 1974, having won the gold medal in eight of the 12 Asiads they have participated in from that time on.

What compounded matters for this Philippine team was what happened just before the Asiad, when the squad that was supposed to be anchored on the nucleus of Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup roster suffered a massive loss of personnel even without considering naturalized player Jordan Clarkson’s return to the US for the start of the NBA’s training camps.  Can you imagine losing such guys as Dwight Ramos, A.J. Edu, Kai Sotto, Rhenz Abando, Roger Pogoy, Kiefer Ravena and Jamie Malonzo?

So basically the carryovers from that team that were called to carry the cudgels in the Hangzhou Asian Games a couple of weeks later were June Mar Fajardo, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and C.J. Perez, and called to take the place of Ramos and company, most of whom had to return to their respective pro teams in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, were naturalized players Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame, Calvin Oftana, Chris Newsome, Kevin Alas, Marcio Lassiter, Arvin Tolentino and Chris Ross. And some of these players were just inserted at the last minute after original choices Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Mo Tautuaa, Jason Perkins and Stanley Pringle were rejected by the Asiad organizers for supposedly not having been part of the original 37-man pool the Philippines submitted to them.

So this version of Gilas Pilipinas was practically a new one especially when one considers coach Tim Cone, who was tasked to take over Chot Reyes’ job as headman after Reyes resigned following the FIBA World Cup, hardly had a chance to work everybody out together with all the turnover of personnel that happened.  Meanwhile, the rest of the field had the luxury of having been together for a long time, particularly China and Jordan, which turned out to be the Filipinos’ main rivals in the end.

The Filipinos give coach Tim Cone a victory ride to celebrate their landmark feat.  (Photo by Lee Jin-man of The Associated Press)

Yes, Jordan.  This was the same team that finished dead-last in the last FIBA World Cup but with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who powered Talk ‘N Text to the PBA Governors’ Cup title this year, had turned many heads around.  True enough, when the disjointed Gilas team first met the Falcons in the group stage, it was blasted by 25 points 87-62.

This forced the Philippines to qualify for the quarterfinals through the back door, eventually doing that after blowing out Qatar 80-41.

But Gilas still seemed a bit far away from the podium at this point, especially after losing a 21-point lead against Iran in the quarterfinals and had to bank on Brownlee’s endgame heroics to pull off an 84-83 decision in the end.  This was especially because they now had to play the reigning champion Chinese team in the semifinals.

Could this team overcome the home team that was humming at this point?  It certainly looked it wouldn’t when Gilas spotted China a 20-point advantage early in their semis matchup.  The Chinese, working like a well-oiled machine, shot 57 percent in the first half to race to a 48-30 lead.  The Filipinos made some inroads in the third quarter, with Brownlee scoring 10 points to pare that deficit down to 62-50 going into the final period.

Still, the Chinese didn’t look like they were bound to capitulate, that was until Brownlee, showing the mettle of a transcendent star in the mold of the Loyzagas, Bernardos and Allan Caidics of the past, exploded in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 of his game-high 33 points, including the last two three-pointers, the first of which cut the Chinese lead to 76-74 with 58.1 seconds left and the last giving the Filipinos a 77-76 edge with 23.3 ticks to go that stood until the end, as the Philippines broke through its biggest tormentor in the past five decades.

“Coach Tim (Cone), he told us before the game to be something special to win this game,” Brownlee said after the stirring comeback win that marked the first time the Philippines beat the Chinese two straight times after that FIBA World Cup blowout and sent them into a return match, this time for the gold medal itself, against Jordan, which blasted Chinese Taipei 90-71 in the other semis match.

In the finals against Hollis-Jefferson and the Jordanians, the Filipinos never allowed themselves to be headed early unlike in their first meeting, racing to a 28-15 lead early in the second quarter.  But Jordan, with Hollis-Jefferson heating up, unloaded an 11-0 bomb to make it a nip-and-tuck battle, even taking the lead at 31-29 before Gilas tied it at the half at 31-all.

But with Newsome, Thompson and Oftana stepping up with the Jordanian defense focused on Brownlee, the Filipinos grabbed the lead for good at 40-37, closing out the third frame with a 14-4 blast to take a 51-41 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Philippines never wavered in the payoff period, clamping down on the Jordanians on defense even as Kouame, who had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with five steals and two blocks, scored eight points in the last six minutes to help hold off the Falcons.

The Filipinos are shown here celebrating shortly after holding off Jordan 70-60 in the finals.  (Photo by Lee Jin-man of The Associated Press)

It was Kouame, Newsome and Thompson who made the difference this time with Brownlee unable to take off with the Jordanian defense keying on him, no matter if Brownlee also had a double-double of his own with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds to go with five assists and two steals.  Newsome contributed 13 points while helping hold Jefferson to a miserable 8-of-29 shooting from the floor as the latter had to work hard for his 24 points that went with 12 rebounds and five assists.  Thompson, meanwhile, chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists while serving as the primary ballhandler for the Filipinos.

“Our guys were just really disciplined tonight.  It was just a good game by us tonight and they (Jordan) had an off shooting night,” Cone said shortly after Gilas’ historic, almost-fairytale-like victory.  "I thought we just had a beautiful defensive performance led by Chris Newsome.  He really handled their star Rondae Hollis-Jefferson really well.  He was disciplined, he didn't give Jefferson much room to get to the rim, and that was what we were concerned tonight."

Cone, who is not usually given to blowing horns even during his greatest triumphs as the winningest coach in PBA history with 25 titles, said he knows what this breakthrough triumph means to a lot of Filipinos.  "We know it means so much to everyone back home.  We're passionate about our basketball.  For us to be able to do that for our countrymen is such a huge thing and we can't wait to get home and share it with them," he said.

But he also said an Asiad gold medal for a Philippine basketball team had to happen sometime.  “Had to be somebody, sometime.  We’re just too good of a basketball nation not to win this thing,” he said.

The 65-year-old Cone, however, may still be downplaying a feat that means a lot more than a victory in an event where the country has faltered over most of the last six decades with the coming of China and Middle East teams into the Asiad fold and the general ascent in basketball culture among countries that the Filipinos used to beat.

“Witnessing our Gilas Pilipinas take back the Asian basketball throne was one of the monumental victories for Team Philippines here in Hangzhou,” Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Richard Bachmann, whose own father Kurt was a member of that 1962 Asian Games champion team, said.  “My father, who was a part of the team that last won the gold at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, would be very proud of this Gilas squad, who showed resilience and team spirit.”

“It was awesome, unbelievable, unforgettable, which filled me with many precious moments,” PBA Chairman Ricky Vargas, meanwhile, said.  “We were happy with being No. 4.  But when we beat China, it dawned on us that we could be No. 1, and there was no turning back after that.”

Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino might have put it best when he said that Gilas Pilipinas’ gold-medal breakthrough after 61 years “is worth a thousand golds.

“Of course we have (gold medalists) EJ Obiena and Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez from jiu-jitsu and all our other athletes,” Tolentino said.  “But that (gold in basketball) was worth a thousand golds. It’s God’s will.  Our prayers were answered.”

Indeed, the Philippines might win the basketball gold again in future Asian Games, or it might not for however long it might take, but one thing is certain: This victory will forever be etched in the minds and hearts of every basketball-loving Filipino as it serves as a true benchmark.  It’s one for the ages.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

THE BEST OF FIBA WORLD CUP 2023: A TRADITION UPHELD

by Bert A. Ramirez / September 18, 2023

Photo from FIBA.com

Basketball’s premier test, the FIBA World Cup, has been decided, but a look at its best individual performers is worth taking for dyed-in-the-wool roundball aficionados.  After all, this is the same event where the country, no matter how early in the sport’s history it was, and its greatest player ever, Carlos Loyzaga, first gained recognition.  Remember 1954?  That’s almost 70 years ago now but it was when the Philippines, led by King Caloy, achieved a podium finish in basketball’s World Cup (still called World Championship then), a feat that, to this day, no country in Asia has matched.

And Loyzaga, The Great Difference to fans and historians alike, was then among the five best players in the world, having been named to the event’s All-Tournament Team.

Fast forward to 2023, and for the first time in its history, the FIBA has come up not only with its traditional All-Star Five but also an All-Second Team to honor this year’s best individual performers.  People now know, of course, that Dennis Schroder, by virtue of his having led Germany to its first-ever world championship, won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award, following Ricky Rubio of 2019 champion Spain who didn’t make it to this year’s competition, in winning the honors.

Schroder leads four other players on the tournament’s All-Star Five, which also includes Bogdan Bogdanovic of losing finalist Serbia, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of bronze-medal winner Canada, Anthony Edwards of fourth-placer USA, and Luka Doncic of seventh-placer Slovenia.

Photo from FIBA.com

Making it to the inaugural All-Second Team, meanwhile, are Arturs Zagars of surprise fifth-placer Latvia, Simone Fontecchio of No. 8 Italy, Jonas Valanciunas of sixth-placed Lithuania, Nikola Milutinov of Serbia, and Franz Wagner of the champion Germans.

If one would be more discerning, he would notice that all members of both teams, with the exception of All-NBA First Teamers Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic, belong to just the second tier of players in the NBA.  For that matter, Schroder and Rubio, the last two MVPs in the FIBA World Cup, are not even NBA All-Stars, and three of the players on the World Cup All-Stars – Zagars, Fontecchio and Milutinov – are not even in the NBA – yet.

But this doesn’t mean the quality of players in the FIBA World Cup is not at par with that of the acknowledged top pro league in the world.  If anything, the latest denouement of the world competition just proves two things – efficient teamwork and commitment to a system will always be an advantage in basketball wherever it is played, and, second, if one is to go with the concept of winning with the best individual players, it better be with an overpowering cast similar to the original Dream Team where the US won by an average of 45 points, the biggest average winning margin in Olympic history next only to the Bill Russell-led 1956 US team’s 53.5-point winning edge.

One, however, has to qualify that that one and only Dream Team was not only made up of great individual players – despite the fact that one, Larry Bird, was already hobbled and was in his last tournament, it turned out, before retiring – but also of players whose instincts for team play were unmatched and whose passing skills seemed to have been with them since birth.  Try Magic Johnson, Bird, John Stockton, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, who averaged no less than five assists in their careers, both in the regular season and the playoffs.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that this year’s FIBA World Cup standouts should be dismissed.  They deserve recognition as much as their more heralded predecessors in world competitions, whether it be the World Cup or the Olympics, and should thus be extolled.

Schroder, for one, proved that perseverance pays off in the end.  Having tied a dubious tournament record for most missed shots in a game when he shot just 4-of-26 from the floor in Germany’s 81-79 quarterfinal victory over Latvia, the 6-foot-1 point guard that has played for seven NBA teams delivered when it counted most.  He helped his team beat the US 113-111 in that fateful semifinal matchup with 17 points and a game-best nine assists, and then followed it up by scoring a game-high 28 points in the finals against Serbia, including a deft driving layup that iced the contest and the championship with 21.4 seconds left. 

Schroder averaged 19.1 points, 6.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals for the tournament as he deservedly won the MVP trophy.

Bogdanovic, meanwhile, was the most consistent player on the Serbia side, topping his team in scoring with 19.1 points while also norming 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals, sixth in the tournament.  He led the Serbians to their decisive 95-86 triumph over Canada with 23 points in the semifinals and had 17 points and a game-high five assists in the final.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who until he hit a rough patch against Serbia in the semifinals, battled for the tournament’s scoring championship, was one of the FIBA Worlds’ top all-around players, averaging 24.5 points, 6.4 boards, 6.4 feeds and 1.6 steals.  Gilgeous-Alexander asserted himself in that third-place game against his NBA counterparts on the US squad, putting up a big double-double with 31 points and 12 assists as he combined with Dillon Brooks to give the Canadians that historic first-ever podium finish.

Edwards, who assumed the role of primary scorer for the Americans with the absence of such guys as Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, led the US with 18.9 points while also averaging 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals.  He had a personal high of 35 points in a meaningless 110-104 loss to Lithuania in the second round.

Doncic was the tournament’s top scorer with an average of 27.0 points per game as he became the only player to score 200 points in this year’s games with 216.  This is besides averaging 7.1 caroms and 6.1 assists and finishing third in the games in steals with 2.5 per contest.  The Dallas Mavericks’ franchise star had 29 points, 10 rebounds, eight handoffs and three steals as the Slovenians salvaged seventh place with an 89-85 victory over Italy.

The All-Second Team, on the other hand, may not be that star-studded but it’s made up of players who were no less impactful in determining their team’s fortunes.

Zagars, for example, must have made a lot of heads turn by leading Latvia to a surprising fifth-place finish despite missing top player Kristaps Porzingis.  Zagars, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 12.4 scores and a team-leading 7.4 assists, orchestrating the Latvians’ team-oriented style that saw five of them average double figures in scoring and, most importantly, coming up big in the clutches.  In Latvia’s surprising 98-63 blowout of Lithuania for fifth place, for example, the 23-year-old Zagars set a World Cup record with 17 assists without a single turnover.  But Zagars’ coming-out party came during that heartbreaking 81-79 quarterfinal loss to Germany, during which he was red-hot with 24 points on 9-of-17 floor shooting while passing for eight assists, both game highs.

Fontecchio, meanwhile, normed 18.0 points and 5.6 rebounds as he continued to be one of Italy’s premier players.  In that 78-76 comeback win over Serbia, for example, which dealt the Serbians their only loss in the tournament before the finals and clinched for Italy a quarterfinal slot, the 6-7 Fontecchio had a game-best 30 points, seven caroms and three assists, hitting what turned out to be the marginal basket with 33 seconds left.

Valanciunas led Lithuania in both scoring and rebounding, finishing with norms of 14.8 points and 8.8 rebounds, which ranked sixth in the tournament, while also averaging 1.3 blocks.  The 6-foot-11 center, now with the New Orleans Pelicans, became only the second player after Jose Ortiz of Puerto Rico to have recorded multiple double-doubles in three World Cup tournaments since 1994.

Milutinov, meanwhile, was the second-best player on the Serbian team as he averaged 12.1 points and a team-best 8.4 boards.  The seven-foot center, who plays for the Greek League squad Olympiacos, provided Serbia its primary option inside in these games with his 66.1 percent shooting from the field.

Wagner, who injured his ankle right in Germany’s first game against Japan and subsequently missed the next four games, earned his slot for having been instrumental in the Germans’ historic championship triumph.  He averaged 16.8 points, a team-best 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the four games he played for the Germans, and it may be safe to say that his team wouldn’t have finished on top had he not recovered.   The 6-foot-10 forward, a two-year veteran with the Orlando Magic, played a crucial role in Germany’s 81-79 quarterfinal victory against Latvia, taking over when Schroder struggled with just nine points as he led his team with 16 points and eight caroms.  He also scored 22 in his team’s semifinal triumph over the US and, finally, capped his memorable campaign with 19 points in the championship match.

For the first time in the World Cup, the tournament has also come up with awards for the Best Defensive Player and Best Coach, and winning these seminal honors are Dillon Brooks of Canada and Latvia headman Luca Banchi.

Brooks, the feisty former Memphis swingman in the NBA now with Houston, was the primary defensive force for Canada, helping the Canadians to a crucial 100-89 victory over Doncic and Slovenia in the quarters with his physical one-on-one defense and holding down the US’ potent wing scorers in their 127-118 overtime victory over the Americans to clinch a historic bronze medal even while burning the hoops in this one with a tournament-high 39 points, including 7-of-8 from three-point range.  

Banchi, of course, might have done the most with the least by leading an undermanned but gallant Latvian squad to fifth place in its first-ever World Cup.  With Banchi orchestrating the Latvians, the latter showcased a beautiful brand of team basketball that saw them average 24.4 assists throughout the tournament, the most among the eight quarterfinalists and third among all teams, as they bucked the absence of Porzingis while overcoming a lot of other talented, more loaded teams.

This year’s FIBA World Cup might not have seen the best players right now with the missing NBA superstars from the game’s cradle, the US, along with what arguably may be the best big men in the world today, Nikola Jokic of reigning NBA champion Denver, who could have made a huge difference in Serbia’s campaign, and Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee, who could have provided Greece an irresistible force on the floor, as well as such other stars as Jokic’s Nuggets teammate Jamal Murray of Canada, Domantas Sabonis of Lithuania, Al Horford of the Dominican Republic and this year’s top NBA draft pick Victor Wembanyama of France.

But, as Schroder, Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic have shown, the game wouldn’t be short of talent and elite brand of basketball as long as its practitioners will continue to move on with unbridled passion for the sport regardless of the circumstances and the continuum.  Loyzaga and company, among the game’s pioneers, had paved the way for today’s generation of players with what then was the best brand of basketball, and the best performers in this year’s World Cup have certainly upheld that tradition.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

GERMANY MAKES HISTORY

by Bert A. Ramirez / September 12, 2023

Members of the champion German team that includes tournament MVP Dennis Schroder (holding trophy) and coach Gordie Herbert (in glasses at right) celebrate after receiving their championship trophy.  (Photo from FIBA.basketball)

Germany has made history.  The Germans won their very first world title of any kind when they held off Serbia 83-77 in a fitting climax to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup last September 10 before more than 12,000 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena.

It was undoubtedly a breakthrough triumph for a team that’s in the middle of a three-year program, winning a championship even before it sees that program come to its full cycle in next year’s Olympics in Paris.  But the Germans wouldn’t have it any other way.  With Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner leading the way, they finally achieved what their great predecessors Dirk Nowitzki and Detlef Schrempf could not: win a world championship.

And they did it in the best possible way by finishing with an unbeaten record, winning all eight of their games even as the rest of the 32-team field lost at least twice.

“It's an unbelievable group,” tournament MVP Dennis Schroder said of his team. “It's unbelievable going 8-0.”

Dennis Schroder drives against the Serbian defense in the FIBA World Cup championship game.  (Photo from News.CGTN.com)

Germany coach Gordie Herbert, who took the job in 2021 and built a close relationship with Schroder, was ecstatic that their partnership has borne fruit.  “It's a little bit of a surreal moment,”

Herbert said.  “It's like I told the players.  It's a tremendous group of players, but we were a team first.  Guys cared about each other and they challenged each other.”

The finals that featured several runs from both teams lived up to its billing despite the absence of top favorite and basketball mecca US.  The Serbians took a 26-23 lead after one quarter but the Germans tied it up at the half.  But after the game’s last deadlock at 51-all with 6:52 to go in the third quarter, the Germans ignited a 13-2 run capped by Moritz Wagner’s layup even as Serbia’s guns went cold to take a 64-53 cushion 4½ minutes later.

The Serbians had to play catch-up from there as they trailed by 12, 69-57 at the end of the third.  The Eagles were not finished though.  They would ride a spectacular fourth-quarter performance by guard Aleksa Avramovic to make a game of it.  Avramovic scored 16 of his team-high 21 points in the period, hitting 10 of them in a span of three minutes, 10 seconds to bring Serbia to within 73-69 with still 4:50 to play.  His three free throws then put Germany within three at 78-75, time down to 1:21.

But the former Yugoslavian republic could not take advantage of a steal by top star Bogdan Bogdanovic as Marko Guduric missed a tying three-pointer with 56 seconds left.  After a split from the line by Schroder, who led all scorers with 28 points, Guduric made up for that miss with two free shots to make it 79-77 going into the last 39 seconds.

But Schroder iced the game by craftily penetrating the lane and making a layup with just 21.4 seconds left, and the Serbians would finally see their championship hopes die out as Avramovic, worn down by his earlier heroics, shot an air ball from long distance and Guduric would turn it over with 13 ticks remaining.

The defeat sent Serbia to its third bridesmaid finish in the last four major international tournaments.  The Serbs also lost in the finals of the FIBA World Cup in 2014 against the US and bowed to the Americans in the gold-medal game in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.   They finished fifth in the 2019 FIBA World Cup in 2019.

But the Eagles seemed destined for such a finish from the start.  Starting power forward Borisa Simanic was lost for the rest of the tournament in Serbia’s third group-stage game, a 115-83 win over South Sudan, after taking a blow to his midsection and had to have a kidney removed during an emergency surgical procedure.  Starting guard Ognjen Dobric, meanwhile, had to be carried off the floor in the championship game after just 2:20 after injuring his ankle, and never returned.

The Germans, however, would take it any way it could to win a historic first world championship.  After all, their previous best finish in the tournament, or any other world competitions, was when the greatest player in their history, Nowitzki, the former Dallas Mavericks superstar, led them to a bronze medal in the 2002 edition of this tournament.

“They deserved this win,” Serbia coach Svetislav Petic himself conceded.  “They played 40 minutes at a high level.”

And even Nowitzki himself wouldn’t mind.  Tweeting on X (the former TWITTER), Nowitzki said, “World champions!!!  Incredible!  What a team!!!!”

What a team, indeed.

Franz Wagner, the Germans’ second-best player in the tournament, shoots over Nikola Jovic of Serbia during the finals.  (Photo from News.CGTN.com)

Making up the champion German team are Schroder, who averaged 19.1 points, 6.1 assists and 2.0 rebounds in the tournament, Franz Wagner (16.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.0 apg), Moritz Wagner (11.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg), Daniel Theis (10.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Andreas Obts (10.4 rpg, 2.0 apg), Isaac Bonga (7.8 rpg, 2.3 rpg), Johannes Thiemann (7.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Maodo Lo (6.6 ppg, 2.5 apg), Johannes Voigtmann (5.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Niels Giffey (3.1 ppg), David Kramer (2.8 ppg), and  Justus Hollatz (2.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg).

[dpinoycosmonaut]

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE US AS IT ENDS UP MEDALLESS

by Bert A. Ramirez / September 11, 2023

Jalen Brunson of Team USA is stymied by Isaac Bonga of Germany in their semifinal matchup won by the Germans.  (Photo by Dante Diosina Jr. of Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The United States basketball team, which was expected, as it always is, to take home the championship in this year’s FIBA World Cup no matter how its all-NBA aggrupation is configured, finished without a medal after being beaten by Canada 127-118 in overtime in their bronze-medal game to fall out of the podium for the second straight World Cup competition.

The Americans not only fell to a less loaded Germany in the semifinals but also ended up medalless by being unable to overcome a history-making Canadian team despite a miraculous three-pointer by Team USA’s Mikal Bridges with six-tenths of a second left that forced their game into overtime.

So what happened to the bastion of the sport, the game’s undisputed stronghold to fail to even get on the podium?  Simply saying that the rest of the world has caught up doesn’t tell the whole story.

First, the lack of time to play together has always given Team USA a problem.  Unlike European teams, for example, whose nucleus play together every summer for years on end even in the case of those who have commitments to professional leagues, including the NBA, the Americans can’t do that, resulting in a lack of chemistry inside the court.  Take note, “inside the court,” and not in the locker room as in the case of this US team whose players obviously liked each other.

Team USA revelation Austin Reaves defends against Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Canada in their bronze-medal game won by the Canadians for their first-ever podium finish in the FIBA World Cup.  (Photo from Agence France Press via Getty Images)

US coach Steve Kerr admitted to this problem but said there’s no clear solution to it.  "I'm not sure how you would do that," Kerr said.  "If you want to ask the same 10 guys to play every summer, I think that's very unrealistic.  I love being part of USA basketball.  I think our players really enjoy it as well.  And part of the deal is you pass the baton."

Jerry Colangelo, who was at the helm of the men’s basketball team as its managing director for 16 years until the 2021 Tokyo Olympics before Grant Hill took over, also wanted players to make a commitment similar to what their European counterparts do, even if for just a few years, but that apparently did not work out.

So what has happened is that in this FIBA World Cup, only the second-tier players were generally available as those who led Team USA to the gold medal in the last Olympics, like its top two scorers Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, apparently begged off.  This has got to stop if the US is to avoid a continuous slump in the FIBA World Cup.

 “This issue is the biggest challenge to American basketball supremacy since the Dream Team,” ESPN senior writer Brian Windhorst, who came over to Manila for the FIBA Worlds, said.  “It isn't a new problem, but it's a real one.  And unless the US brings its premium and older perimeter talent –Stephen Curry hasn't played for Team USA since 2010, LeBron James hasn't since 2012, Kevin Durant has skipped the past two World Cups -- the burden to overcome this challenge is getting higher.”

Corollary to this issue is also the quality of big men the US has been able to present against opposing teams.  In this tournament, the American bigs were clearly outmanned by their counterparts.  In their games against Montenegro, Lithuania and Germany, for example, the Americans were “outsized,” in the words of Windhorst, inside, giving up 53 offensive rebounds and 64 second-chance points.  No wonder Team USA had to come from behind a double-figure deficit against the Montenegrins before winning by 12 points and lost to both Lithuania and Germany.

Illustrating the disparity in play between the US bigs and those of their counterparts is that crucial semifinal game against the eventual champion Germans, where Daniel Theis had a total of 21 points and five rebounds against the combined 13 points and five rebounds of Team USA’s Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bobby Portis Jr.

Jackson is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA and Paolo Banchero, this year’s Rookie of the Year, is no wimp either but it’s obvious they still need a lot of seasoning in order to measure up, nay, overpower their European rivals, particularly as the defense in the international game has become more physical compared to the NBA where the no-hand-check rule has turned the league into what some say is a “soft” league.

Still, there are some who’re saying that Team USA’s All-Star coaching team of Kerr, Erik Spoelstra and Tyronne Lue might not have maximized their lineup enough to get the most of the team.  Kevin O’Connor, for one, said that seven-foot Walker Kessler, the No. 4 shot blocker in the NBA with 2.3 per game as a rookie with the Utah Jazz, did not get enough floor burn, averaging just eight minutes of playing time throughout the competition.

“Not playing Walker Kessler was a massive mistake by Team USA,’ O’Connor said.  “Kessler is an elite rim protector and rebounder, and we saw all season in Memphis how Jaren Jackson was way better at the ‘four’ next to Steven Adams.  Things would’ve slotted better into place with this lineup.”

Of course, the presence of Bam Adebayo of Miami and Brook Lopez of Milwaukee, to name just two, would have made a big difference for the US at the power slots.

But polishing things up at the seams might also do just so much considering the way European teams play nowadays, utilizing a system of good, precise ballhandling as well as player and ball movement to go with a combination of defenses that can stymie the one-on-one style NBA players are fond of.  And that can only be made possible for the Americans if they – both players and officials alike – come together to commit to a program that will make such a system and style of play possible, which means spending the time that their rivals do every offseason. 

Anthony Edwards of the US tries to elude the defense of Canada’s Kelly Olynyk and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.  (Photo by Dante Diosina Jr. of Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Bottomline: The Americans may still be the best players in the world but short of overpowering opponents with an All-NBA Team lineup (which is different from a mere all-NBA squad), there’s no realistic way for them to consistently dominate anymore except through such a system that gives more premium to precision and teamwork.

As Kerr himself said, “The game has been globalized for the last 30 years or so, and you know, these games are difficult.  This is not 1992 anymore.  So players are better all over the world, teams are better, and it’s not easy to win a World Cup or the Olympic games.”

[dpinoycosmonaut]

DENVER OVERCOMES TOUGH HEAT, FREE-THROW WOES, WINS FIRST NBA TITLE

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 13, 2023

Nikola Jokic and his Denver teammates celebrate after being given their NBA Finals trophies.  (Photo by Jerilee Bennett of The Denver Gazette)

When you miss 10 free shots in a very close and crucial game, chances are you’re going to lose, right?

Well, maybe not when you’re the Denver Nuggets, who overcame such woes from the line and a tough challenge throughout by the never-say-die Miami Heat to beat them 94-89, close out the NBA Finals 4-1 and capture their very first NBA title in 47 years in the world’s premier hoops league.

The Nuggets trailed the Heat much of the game, losing a 15-8 lead seven minutes into the contest after franchise star Nikola Jokic took his second foul at the 2:52 mark of the first quarter and had to be taken out. The Heat scored six straight points, all by Bam Adebayo, after that to take the lead, with Adebayo’s hook shot then giving Miami a 24-22 edge going into the second frame.

Miami then maintained the lead even as Jokic got back three minutes into the quarter as Caleb Martin and Duncan Robinson combined to give the Heat a 39-29 cushion before Denver scored six straight points and the Heat settled for a 51-44 advantage at the half.

The Nuggets then started to make their move in the third quarter, finally tying the game at 60 on a seven-point volley by Aaron Gordon and Jokic, who led the newly-crowned champions with game-best totals of 28 points and 16 rebounds. Jokic easily won the NBA Finals MVP, averaging a near triple-double of 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists, missing on that rare feat only after submitting four assists each in the final two contests.

The Nuggets then took their first lead since the first quarter at 69-66 on a three-pointer by Michael Porter Jr., who had been in a series-long slump but backed Jokic up in this game with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Even as Kyle Lowry’s three-pointer gave the Heat a 71-70 lead going into the final period as the Nuggets continued to miss their free shots, Denver then settled down in the decisive frame, with Jokic and Jamal Murray, who finished with 14 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, combining to give Denver an 83-76 lead, their biggest to that point, at the 4:43 mark.

That was when Jimmy Butler, the moving force behind this Miami team’s incredible playoff run who to that point just had eight points, scored 13 points all by himself to put Miami back on top twice at 87-86 and 89-88, time down to one minute, 58 seconds.

But the Nuggets then clamped down on defense, and Bruce Brown, who had a big game in the decisive Game 4 where Denver took control of the series, put the Nuggets ahead for good with a follow-up of Murray’s miss for 90-89 with 1:31 left. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope then added two pressure-packed free throws to give the home team a 92-89 edge, time down to 24.2 seconds.

After a timeout by coach Erik Spoelstra, Butler, who finished with a team-high 21 points but shot just 5-of-18 from the floor, then missed what could have been the biggest shot of the game, a quick turnaround three-pointer at the 17-second mark, and Brown put the game – and the championship – on ice with two free throws with 14.1 seconds remaining before Lowry missed a desperation three with 12.1 seconds on the clock.

This NBA championship, which the Nuggets won on their very first trip to the NBA Finals, is historic not only for its significance but for the length of time it took the Nuggets to finally nail down an NBA crown – 47 years – or since they became one of four teams from the old American Basketball Association, where the three-point shot originated, to be absorbed by the rival league in 1976 along with the Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn (then New Jersey) Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. But while all the three other teams have had their turn at trying to win an NBA title, with the Spurs being the most successful of them with five won diadems thanks to the drafting of all-time greats Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Nuggets were not as successful, despite having won a number of division crowns and entering the NBA with such a star-studded squad with the high-flying David Thompson, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones and Paul Silas, who joined them fresh from a championship with the Boston Celtics that year.

Many more great stars, like Alex English, Dikembe Mutombo and Carmelo Anthony, would don the Mile-High City colors with aplomb through the years, but none of the Nuggets teams would create much more ripple than they did in earlier years, despite a number of changes in ownership that culminated in the franchise’s sale to its current owners led by Stan Kroenke, who bought the franchise along with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center in July 2000 for $450 million.

Jokic shows his adept passing against Miami top star Jimmy Butler. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett of The Denver Gazette)

But the drafting of a little-known player from Serbia, Jokic, with the 41st pick in the second round of the NBA draft in 2014 would turn out to be the first step in changing the Nuggets’ fortunes. They finally put it together this year under coach Michael Malone, who took over the reins once Jokic started playing for the team in 2015. Murray, who tore his left anterior cruciate ligament late in the 2021 season and missed all of that year’s playoffs and the entirety of the 2022 campaign, also came back as good as new this year, and the Nuggets were thus able to function like a well-oiled machine as they earned the top seed in the West.

The Nuggets then eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-1 in the first round before disposing of the highly-touted Phoenix Suns, with Kevin Durant having joined Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul in a trade deadline deal, in six games. They then swept the resurgent Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals to get into the NBA championship series for the first time in their history.

Now, the Nuggets are champions, having put an end to the eighth-seeded Heat’s phenomenal run in the playoffs. No team could be more deserving this year of being called “champions” than this group of hard-working but low-key players led by a once-unknown teenager from Sombor, Serbia.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone gets a victory lift from Jokic’s brothers Strahinja and Nemanja during the celebrations.  Malone helped develop Nikola Jokic into the player that he is now.  (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz of The Denver Post)

[dpinoycosmonaut]

ROGER FEDERER AND RAFAEL NADAL: INEXTRICABLE

by Bert A. Ramirez / September 19, 2022

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal pose before their very last meeting in the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships.  (Photo by Clive Brunskill of Getty Images)

Roger Federer’s announcement of his retirement last week brings to mind not only his legendary exploits but also the rivalries with which he has been identified, and there’s no other rivalry that will come to mind whenever the Swiss superstar is mentioned but that with his Spanish counterpart, Rafael Nadal.  Federer may have formed rivalries with other players but there’s none that stands out more and would be remembered for all time than his tennis feud with Nadal.

Sports history has actually been marked and enriched by rivalries that became legendary in their magnitude, impact and closeness.  Basketball, for example, has seen such a magical rivalry between, well, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, whose careers will forever be intertwined with each other.  From the time they met in the 1979 NCAA finals, incidentally still the most-viewed NCAA game in TV history, where Bird’s hitherto unbeaten Indiana State Sycamores fell to Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans, both superstars carried that rivalry over to the NBA as Bird achieved legendary status with the Boston Celtics and Magic reached his own magical prominence with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Roger-Rafa – or Rafa-Roger – rivalry is the version of the Bird-and-Magic show in tennis.  Both players’ legendary careers would always be inextricably linked to each other the way those of Bird and Johnson would always be.  Since the two met for the first time in 2004, with Nadal as an 18-year-old and Federer already a 23-year-old Grand Slam champion (he won his first major at Wimbledon in 2003), the two have played 40 times and have figured in some of the greatest matches ever seen in the sport’s annals.  Their 2008 final in the Wimbledon Championships, for example, is regarded by many as the greatest tennis match in history.  In a match that lasted four hours and 48 minutes, then the longest singles final at the All England Club before being surpassed by the 2019 final that also saw Roger lose this time to Novak Djokovic, the then-second-ranked Nadal beat Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 to eventually take over the No. 1 ranking from the Swiss superstar a month later in August.

Rafa and Roger, best of friends off the court, are also the greatest of rivals on it.  (Photo by Al Bello of Getty Images)

Fact is, the two met in the finals of a Grand Slam event a record nine times, which is matched only by the number of such matches between Nadal himself and Djokovic, and four of these matches went the maximum five sets, including the 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon finals, and the 2009 and 2017 Australian Open finals.  Rafa won six of these nine finals confrontations with Roger, and in the 40 times that he and Roger actually met, 14 times in all took place in Grand Slam tournaments. 

Rafa holds a 24-16 advantage overall in these head-to-head matchups, and also has a 10-4 lead overall in major tournaments, which means he beat Roger in four of five confrontations outside a Grand Slam final.  Of these 40 meetings, 13 reached a deciding set.  They also played in 12 Masters 1000 finals, including their lone five-hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters, which Nadal won in a fifth-set tiebreak after saving two match points.

Broken down further in terms of surface played, Nadal has a 14-2 bulge over his arch-rival and good friend on clay and an 8-6 edge on outdoor hard courts, while Federer holds a 5-1 advantage on indoor hard courts and a 3-1 lead on grass over his Spanish counterpart.  Fact is, Nadal is the only player who has competed – and won – against Federer in the final of a Grand Slam on all three surfaces (grass, hard, and clay).

The inextricable link between Roger and Rafa started with their outstanding play in the first decade of the millennium, which saw them become the only pair of men to have ever finished six consecutive calendar years at No.1 and No. 2, a stretch where Federer stayed at the top for a record 237 consecutive weeks starting in February 2004.  Nadal climbed to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before dislodging Federer at the top in August 2008.  Both Federer and Nadal held either of the top two rankings from July 2005 to August 2009 and again from September 2017 to October 2018.

Despite Nadal’s advantage in numbers over Federer (he actually held a 23-10 upperhand head-to-head against Roger at one point), the contrast in their styles, with Roger the epitome of the elegant, power-hitting tennister and Rafa the swashbuckling, physical racquet-wielder, captured the imagination of the fans that whoever had the edge didn’t seem to matter.  In fairness, however, Roger later appeared to have solved the Rafa puzzle by winning six of their last seven encounters, including their last meeting in the 2019 Wimbledon semifinals, where Federer prevailed 7-6 (7/3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up that finals showdown against Djokovic.

But regardless of the numbers, Federer and Nadal dominated like no other pair until Andy Murray at one point, and later Djokovic, rose to their level.  But Murray later declined partly because of injuries, and though Djokovic stayed up there with them to form what eventually became the immortal Big Three, he couldn’t quite match the rivalry that had been established between Roger and Rafa, no matter if he and Rafa himself have met the most number of times among any pair of players in tennis history, with the Serbian holding a 30-29 edge head-to-head against the Spaniard. 

It's a reality that Djokovic has to accept in the case of his Big Three colleagues.  When either Rafa or Roger is mentioned or remembered, it's inevitable that the other also has to be mentioned or remembered, just like it is in the case of Larry and Magic. There’s an inextricable connection there between them, a rivalry or inevitable comparison of some kind between equals that can never be ignored or erased.

Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, shown during Bird’s numbers retirement at the sold-out TD Garden in Boston in 1993, are two of the greatest players in NBA history whose rivalry transcended their sport the way the Nadal-Federer rivalry did theirs.  (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein of NBAE/Getty Images)

 So where does that put Djokovic in the entire scheme of things?  Simple.  Remember Michael Jordan, whose career also straddled those of Bird and Johnson, no matter if, just as it's likely going to be in the case of Nole vis-à-vis Roger and Rafa, he would be the last one of them to hang up his sneakers?  That’s where Djokovic seems to be destined.  No matter what the numbers might eventually say, this unmatched era in tennis history won’t be remembered for Djokovic or his exploits, but for what Rafa and Roger did particularly in their personal rivalry.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

BILL RUSSELL, THE GREATEST WINNER IN HISTORY, PASSES ON

by Bert A. Ramirez / August 2, 2022

Bill Russell blocks arch-rival Wilt Chamberlain in this iconic picture autographed by the Boston Celtics legend.  (Photo by Dick Raphael of Getty Images)

Bill Russell celebrated his 88th birthday last February 12, but even as the Boston Celtics’ legendary center had reached the autumn of life, his accomplishments both as an athlete and as a person had assumed even greater significance, and never before perhaps than it has now.  The greatest Celtic of all time passed away last July 31 in a sad, quiet farewell that triggered a deluge of paeans from every imaginable sector in America, and, quite surely, more from beyond, albeit more quietly, in a world whose connective barriers have been broken forever.

This is, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime human being, whose matchless accomplishments as an athlete are perhaps matched only by his character and sense of commitment to human dignity and justice. On the playing field, how can anyone ignore what Bill Russell accomplished?  Eleven NBA championships in 13 years, eight of them coming uninterrupted in eight years, five MVP awards, two NCAA championships, one Olympic gold medal with the US team, and the general belief as the greatest defensive player in the history of basketball, period.

You’re just talking sports here.  Bill was also ahead of his time as far as involvement in the civil rights movement is concerned.  One of the most outspoken and fearless critics of racial prejudice and discrimination during his time, Russell lent his name and reputation to gain for the movement significant strides, and, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in tribute to him, it’s a legacy he “stamped into the DNA of our league” and “passed down to generations of NBA players who followed in his footsteps.”

As a testimony to his contributions to breaking down the walls of prejudice in America, then-US President Barack Obama in February 2011 awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award that can be given to an American.  The White House, in conferring the award, said, “Bill Russell is the former Boston Celtics’ captain who almost singlehandedly redefined the game of basketball.  Russell led the Celtics to a virtually unparalleled string of 11 championships in 13 years and was named the NBA’s most valuable player five times.  The first African-American to coach in the NBA – indeed he was the first to coach a major sport at the professional level in the United States – Bill Russell is also an impassioned advocate of human rights.  He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and has been a consistent advocate of equality.”

But it was in basketball that the iconic center really made his mark, as it is where bare numbers can more easily quantify one’s success.

His trail-blazing dominance started at the University of San Francisco, where he averaged more than 20 points and 21 rebounds in two years as he led the Dons to two straight NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, and anchored a team that included future Celtics teammate K.C. Jones to a then-NCAA-record 55 consecutive victories, a record that stood for 17 years until a star-studded UCLA team led by Bill Walton broke it in 1973 en route to a new standard that ended at 88 straight wins. 

Russell after graduation then led the US team to the gold medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, anchoring the Americans’ eight-game sweep that saw them beat opponents by an average of 53.5 points, still an Olympic record that only the original US Dream Team in 1992 could approximate at 43.8 points.  Fact is, the 1956 US Olympians’ average winning margin even surpassed their opponents’ average score of 45.6 points, and it was no doubt primarily because of Russell’s intimidating presence in the middle.

This dominance extended once Bill joined the Celtics after the Olympics. As the fulcrum of the greatest dynasty in NBA history – some say in all American sports history – Russell anchored the Celtics to 11 titles in 13 years, including an unheard-of eight straight from 1958-59 to 1965-66.  That could have been 10 straight actually had Russ not been injured in the 1958 NBA Finals, where the Celtics eventually succumbed to the St. Louis Hawks, whom they beat the previous year for Boston’s first-ever title.  This was after Russell suffered a severe right ankle sprain in Game 3, thus crippling the Celts as he could not play until the sixth game, where he struggled while Bob Pettit exploded for 50 points with Bill almost unable to move around with a cast on his injured leg.

Russell lost one other year – to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1967 Eastern Division finals during his first year as player-coach of the Celtics.  This was after Red Auerbach retired after that eighth straight title the previous year and made him the first-ever Black to coach any professional sports team, breaking down that racial barrier and paving the way for the equal rights the minorities are now enjoying in the front offices of American pro sports teams.  Fittingly and symbolically perhaps, the NBA for the first time has half of its 30 franchises now – 15 – being led by Black coaches in Russell’s year of death.

But even that trail-blazing accomplishment would not have merited any attention – and inspired duplication – had Bill not succeeded as a bench leader.  True, Bill was also coaching a player named Russell but had he not proven worthy of that leadership position, there was no way Boston, even with him at center, could have won those two titles in 1968 and 1969 with him filling two roles, the second as bench tactician.  Boston, after all, was up in 1968 against the same Philadelphia team to whom it lost in the East finals the previous year, ending their championship streak at eight.  This time, the Celts fell behind 3-1, but Russ and company won the next three games to become the first team in playoff history to come back from such a deficit and win a series.  The Celtics went on to win their 10th title in 12 years by beating the Lakers in the NBA Finals in six games.

Russell and his Celtics set another record the following season when they became the first squad in history to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the Finals and win the championship, doing it in seven hard-fought games against a Laker club that now featured their former Eastern nemesis, Wilt Chamberlain, who that year joined Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in a Big Three setup that Boston nevertheless frustrated.  That would also be the last year for both Russell and Sam Jones, who teamed up with the 6-foot-10 center for 10 of his 11 NBA titles, as the duo later retired after their clinching 108-106 victory over the Lakers.

Some 53 years to the day Russell played his last game, his amazing accomplishments have not lost their glitter.  In fact, they could have assumed an even more awe-inspiring nature given the stats-driven analytics that are in vogue nowadays.

The Obnoxious Boston Fan, for example, once cited in The Boston Globe a record that Russell accomplished as a player, which was to win all deciding Game 7s his Celtics played during his reign.

“Of all the stats and numbers produced by Russell, one stands out as perhaps the greatest single numeric stat in Boston sports history (not counting of course Ted Williams' 39-0 record in the Korean War).  Bill Russell was 10-0 in Game 7s.  10-0.  LeBron, M.J., Kobe, Wilt, Larry, no one will ever match that Perfect 10.  At least not in this time-space continuum.”

And talking about deciding do-or-die games, his record in winner-take-all battles over his entire career – NCAA, Olympics and NBA – is worth noting as Russell played in 21 such games, and won all of them.  Twenty-one and zero!  Can anybody match that, much less top it?

There’s a reason the NBA Finals MVP award was named the “Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.”  The great Celtics center is, quite simply, the greatest winner in all sports history, as attested to by those 11 NBA championships in 13 years, a record that will probably be unmatched till the end of time, unless perhaps somebody with Russ’ toughness, character and heart, cerebral powers, athleticism and innovative skills comes along.

Russell had more rings than fingers.  (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler of Getty Images)

Consider: He has career playoff averages of 16.2 points, 24.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists, and even if he was not that big a scorer, one just has to reverse those rebounding and scoring numbers to come up with, yes, an out-and-out dominant player whichever way one cuts it.  He is not only a perfect 10-0 in Game 7s (1-0 in Game 5s) and led the Celtics to eight straight championships (which could have been 10 straight as we said had he not been injured in the 1958 Finals, the only time by the way he lost in the championship series) but he did all that at a time when all teams in the NBA were loaded with two or three All-Stars each because expansion had not yet diluted it, battling the likes of Chamberlain, Baylor, West, Pettit, Nate Thurmond, Walt Bellamy, Willis Reed, Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson, Rick Barry, and, later, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes.  Don’t for a second believe today’s observers overwhelmed by current-day players’ athleticism and size that the league in the ‘60s and ‘70s was not as good as it is now.  Had Russ and company had the benefit of today’s modern medicine and other amenities, they would have seamlessly grown into today’s game and beat the hell out of many of these players, who would certainly not match up with them in terms of smarts alone, or toughness and cerebral focus.

Of course, that undefeated record in deciding games has been extolled with the passage of time, along with Russell’s preeminent role in revolutionizing the game with his defensive skills, which could not be fully appreciated at this stage with the absence, for example, of statistics in shot blocks during his time (the NBA started keeping stats in blocked shots and steals only in 1973).  His redefining the game with his defense, rebounding and shot blocking, however, was amply demonstrated in his averaging 18 points and 29 rebounds in those 11 do-or-die games (including that Game 5) he all turned into wins.  He holds the Finals record for most rebounds in a game with 40, doing it twice, and also grabbed 30 rebounds in three straight games in the 1959 finals against the LA Lakers, in the process setting the record for highest rebounding average in a Finals series with 29.5.  He pulled down 30 boards in 15 straight Finals games between 1960 and 1963 and would have also held all blocked-shots records had records been kept of that stat at the time.

For all of what Russell has done, Adam Fromal of Bleacher Report put the 12-time All-Star in his mythical Mount Rushmore, which is populated by only the four greatest players in NBA history.  Fromal justifies his position by saying, “Russell was the NBA’s first superduperstar, and he was the No. 1 player in history before Jordan came around.  Championships galore were won for the Boston Celtics while he was patrolling the paint, and the biggest dynasty in the history of American professional sports thrived with Russell blocking shots and running in transition.

“Beyond that, he helped shrink the racial divide and continues to serve as an ambassador for the game.  There’s a reason people listen when he talks.  There’s a reason he’s treated with undeniable reverence by anyone who encounters him.  There’s a reason he hands out the Finals MVP trophy every year, which just happens to be named after him.” 

Yes, and there's also a reason – even when he would no longer be celebrating birthdays – that William Felton Russell will always be regarded as the greatest winner of all, bar none.

Russell was an iconic figure in the civil rights movement. (Photo from the Celtics’ Facebook Page)

[dpinoycosmonaut]

HOW THE WARRIORS BROUGHT HOME A 4th CHAMPIONSHIP IN 8 YEARS: A POSTSCRIPT

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 11, 2022

The Warriors pose with their championship trophy along with team officials after beating Boston in Game 6 of this year’s Finals.  (Photo from Joe Murphy of Getty Images)

It’s been almost a month since the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in the sixth game of the NBA Finals at the TD Garden to clinch their fourth championship in eight years, during which they made the championship series a total of six times.  While this may not be as dynastic as the dominant reign of those Boston Celtics or Chicago Bulls of the good old days, one may make a case that it may very well be the greatest stretch of any team in the last 10 years, despite the two intervening years when the Warriors failed to make the playoffs simply because they were decimated by injuries.

But how the Warriors reached this stage is an interesting topic to dissect.  Before the championship series started, experts were divided on who would win and emerge champions.  The Warriors had the edge in championship experience but there were those who thought these Celtics were good enough to go all the way.  After all, they had a tougher road to the Finals, sweeping in the first round Brooklyn, the team every Eastern club feared, beating defending champion Milwaukee in the second round and overcoming Miami, the East top seed, in the conference finals.

Jeff Van Gundy, the ESPN analyst, initially picked Boston while Charles Barkley, the Hall of Famer who doesn’t run out of colorful views, went as far as betting with Kenny Smith that he would eat “a plate of horse s…t” if the Celtics lost.  Of course, the Celts lost in six in the end, and it’s anybody’s guess if Charles did what he promised.

But levity aside, what really happened?  Why did the Celtics, a team that could have had the edge in talent as well as in athleticism and size, capitulate to the Warriors, losing the last three games after going ahead 2-1 in the series?

We tried to break the factors down and we came up with these:

1.  Experience.  The Warriors were simply the more poised and tougher team under pressure.  This is why these Celtics failed to produce during crucial stretches of this series, like in the fourth quarter of Games 4 and 5, and in the decisive second quarter of Game 6, where the Warriors clinched it.

During a stretch of three minutes and 36 seconds in the fourth quarter of Game 4, which could have been the most crucial in the series as this changed the whole complexion of the Finals with the Warriors being able to tie it up at 2-2 instead of falling behind at 3-1, the Celtics missed six consecutive shots after taking a 94-90 lead while allowing the Warriors to score 10 straight points to fall behind 100-94 with 1:42 left before finally losing 107-97.  In Game 5, they again allowed the Warriors to go on a 10-0 blast at the start of the fourth quarter by missing four straight shots and committing two turnovers in that stretch to fall behind 85-74 before eventually going down 104-94.  And in that fateful second quarter of the clinching contest, the Warriors detonated a 21-0 blast during a four-minute, 15-second stretch spanning the first and second quarters to go up 37-22 at the 10:13 mark of the second period and basically put the game away.  Just to put things in perspective, that’s the biggest unanswered spurt in any Finals game over the last 50 years, and you simply never give this Warriors team that much of a leeway in a close-out game like this and expect to get back, no matter if Al Horford and Jaylen Brown gallantly tried to bring back the Celtics within single digits at various points of the third and fourth quarters.

2.  Turnovers.  These Celtics’ lack of maturity and poise also contributed in a big way to their continuously beating themselves up throughout the series by coughing up the ball so many times.  In Game 5, they played themselves out of a one-point game by turning the ball over 18 times while missing 10 free shots.  In the close-out Game 6, just as every Tom, Dick and Harry had told them they couldn’t win without protecting the ball and cutting down on those turnovers drastically, they coughed up possession a total of 22 times!  Where in the world can you find a team that knew very well that its chances of winning directly depended on its ability to protect the ball and then goes out and does precisely the opposite of that?

For the series, the Celtics averaged 16.8 turnovers against Golden State’s 13.8.  Jayson Tatum, Brown and Marcus Smart combined for 10.3 of that total, underscoring the fact that the team’s primary ballhandlers gave away too many possessions.  Boston actually finished the playoffs 1-8 in games where it committed 16 or more turnovers, again highlighting the fact that turnovers were its Achilles’ heel during the postseason.

3.  Bench production.  In terms of bench production, the Warriors definitely had the edge especially during the crucial stages.  And nobody exemplified that production more than Jordan Poole, who topped all bench scorers in the Finals with 13.2 points, effectively serving as the second-best shooter on the Warriors next only to Stephen Curry (yes, even better than Klay Thompson, whose 35.6 percent floor clip and 35.1 percent rate from long range were dwarfed by Poole’s 43.5 percent and 38.5 percent, in that order).  Fact is, Poole authored two of the most memorable shots in this year’s Finals, the first in Game 2 when he beat the third-quarter buzzer with a three-pointer just two steps away from midcourt to give the Warriors an insurmountable 87-64 bulge, and the second another third-quarter buzzer-beater from long range, this time in Game 5, that gave Golden State a 75-74 edge that they built on to take control in the payoff period.

But Poole was not the only productive bench player for the Warriors, who were also able to get significant help from Gary Payton II (7.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.6 spg) after he recovered from an injury he sustained against Memphis in the second round, Otto Porter Jr. (3.0 ppg, 58.8 FG pct., .56.3 percent from three) and even Nemanja Bjelica during the spots that he was called upon.

In contrast, the Boston bench was inconsistent.  Derrick White, who played the Celtics’ sixth man, shot just 32.7 percent from the floor and was largely erratic after a big Game 1 where he scored 21 points, scoring just one and two points in the Celtics’ last two losses.  Grant Williams, after that career game in the clinching Game 7 in the second round against Milwaukee where he scored 27 points that were fueled by seven three-pointers, was largely ineffective and averaged just 4.2 points while Payton Pritchard shot just 30.0 percent from the field and could not consistently provide the outside shooting that Boston needed when the Warriors packed the lane.

 4.  Fatigue.  As a result of the less-than-ideal bench production, Celtics coach Ime Udoka was forced to depend heavily on his first-stringers, even the less-than-healthy Robert Williams III who was just less than two months removed from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.  Tatum and Brown thus played two of the three most minutes among all players in the Finals, with Andrew Wiggins coming next to Tatum’s series-high average of 40.7 minutes.  And Tatum, who logged the most minutes among all players in the playoffs (his Finals average in fact was the lowest as he normed 41.7 minutes against Brooklyn, 40.9 against Milwaukee and 40.8 against Miami) was undeniably worn down in the end, inevitably affecting his play in the process.

The 24-year-old Tatum has already been almost without rest for the past 22 months, hardly having had a break since the NBA bubble in 2020, then going on a quick turnaround to the 2020-21 season and representing the US in the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021 before going all the way to this year’s Finals after a chaotic early season during which the Celtics had to stage the greatest in-season turnaround in league history to earn the No. 2 seed in the East.  And Boston had to go through a grueling seven-game series in succession against Milwaukee and Miami to get into the Finals, while the Warriors took three less games to dispatch their second-round and third-round rivals, Memphis and Dallas, respectively.  Throw in a nagging shoulder injury Tatum sustained in the Miami series and it could partly explain a miserable performance (by a supposed alpha dog) in the Finals, where he normed just 21.5 points while shooting a horrid 36.7 percent from the floor and just 65.6 percent from the line while committing a series-worst 3.8 turnovers despite averaging a series-best 7.0 assists.  Fact is, Tatum’s dwindling scoring as the playoffs wore on was a clear indication that he must be wearing down as he went from a 29. 5-point average against the Nets to 27.6 against the Bucks to 25.0 against the Heat until bottoming out against Golden State.

5.  Coaching.  It was obvious, too, that Warriors coach Steve Kerroutcoached Udoka, his Celtics counterpart who, for all the great job he had done with this group, still has a lot to learn in terms of adjusting to the other team’s moves.  Starting in Game 4, for example, Kerr started Otto Porter Jr. to provide the Warriors a stretch big man and make it harder for Williams III and Horford to assert themselves inside, where they had an obvious advantage against Kevon Looney and the other Warriors.  Udoka failed to make a counter-adjustment perhaps because his bench was not producing as expected.  But regardless of the reason behind that, the first-year Boston coach could have also made adjustments to make his offensive schemes less predictable for the Warriors to check, and he could have also lengthened his rotation of players to prevent fatigue among his starters, particularly the two Jays and the 36-year-old Horford, despite the less-than-ideal production from his reserves as the starters ultimately got worn down and less productive themselves.  And in that series-changing Game 4 loss, the Celts also failed to take advantage of the Warriors’ penalty situation with still more than three minutes left of a close game by opting to fire away from beyond the arc despite hitting blanks, and Udoka should have called out his players to play out the percentages in that case. 

Udoka’s losing the coaching battle is not in any way a great shame considering that Kerr may now be regarded as one of the all-time great coaches, and the Celts’ mentor is just starting out.  Kerr, after all, has become the sixth coach to capture four titles, joining Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley on the elite list.

6.  Stephen Curry.  If one is looking for the single greatest reason Golden State is back at the top, then that’s the name.  “We’ve had so many great players," Kerr said, “but Steph, ultimately is why this run happens."  This is not an indictment of Kevin Durant, of course, who helped the Warriors to two of these four titles in 2017 and 2018 before opting to move to Brooklyn in 2019.  But Steph it really is.  Back in 2018, when Durant won his second straight Finals MVP award, we felt Curry was robbed of that rightful honor that he deserved, but he now has gotten his due with one of his own, his own “bad boy” as he called it.  “Finally got that bad boy," Curry said, referring to the MVP trophy.  “It’s special... Everybody mattered in that process.”

But Curry it was who mattered most of all.  In that clincher against Boston, Curry scored a game-high 34 points, putting Golden State ahead for good 24-22 with a three-pointer near the end of the first quarter as it overcame an early 12-point deficit.  When Curry, who also had seven assists, seven rebounds, two steals and one block, hit his sixth three-pointer of the night to give the Warriors a commanding 96-81 lead with a little more than three minutes left, he sent home the message that he could arguably be the game’s best player over the past decade, even better than LeBron James who, after all, had to bring fellow superstars with him to have any chance of winning championships, in contrast to Curry who had to make do with basically home-grown talent, except in those two years when Durant came over to the Bay Area to help him to those twin banners.  Still, the question begs, did the Warriors win in those two years because of KD, or did KD win because of the Warriors?

But there’s certainly no question about Steph’s greatness nor his place in history.  In that series-changing Game 4 victory, Curry shook off a foot injury in a losing game two nights before to score 43 points, 14 of them in the third quarter when he was making ridiculous three-point shots any which way, even when being nudged by Tatum in one of those seven threes that he made.  The 6-foot-2 great, who made 14 of 26 floor shots and also had 10 rebounds and four assists, put the finishing touches to the victory with another three to cap a 10-point blast by Golden State that he himself sparked as his team overcame a 94-90 Celtics lead and took a 100-94 advantage that was never headed. 

With this fourth championship in the last eight years, Curry has indeed cemented his place as one of the greatest players in history.  One scribe put him in the top five, but we’ll put him in the top 10 for now considering the way he has revolutionized the game (whether for better or for worse is up for dispute, but he is the primary reason this game has found a whole new weapon in the three-point-shot).  No question, Curry is revolutionary, and the only question left now is if he has a few more titles left.  He has now spearheaded four of the seven the Warriors have in their history, which makes them the third-winningest team in NBA annals just behind the Celtics and the LA Lakers after pulling from a tie with Chicago, and regardless of what happens from now, the impact that Curry has made on the game simply can’t be questioned.  That’s what winning does, particularly when winning is done differently.

EPILOGUE: A few weeks after winning the NBA championship, at least three members of the Warriors’ team have left to go elsewhere.  Gary Payton II has signed a free-agent contract with Portland and so has Otto Porter Jr. with Toronto.  Nemanja Bjelica, meanwhile, has decided to return to Turkey.

The Warriors, however, were able to re-sign starting center Kevon Looney to a three-year, $25.5 million contract, and used the taxpayer’s midlevel exception to sign Donte DiVincenzo to a two-year, $9.3 million contract.  The 25-year-old DiVincenzo, a 6-foot-4 guard, played for Sacramento last year after being traded by Milwaukee following an ankle injury during the Bucks’ run to the 2021 title that required surgery and sidelined him for the first two months of last season.  He was not quite the starter that he was for the Bucks upon his return but still averaged 10.3 points for the Kings, and could eventually be a valuable piece for the Warriors with his ballhandling and decision making.

The Warriors also acquired Ryan Rollins, the No. 44 pick in this year’s draft, from Atlanta in exchange for their own No. 51 pick and cash and could sign the 6-4 guard from Toledo with the remainder of the midlevel exception that they had left after signing DiVincenzo.

The Celtics, meanwhile, wasted to time in reinforcing a bench corps that fell short in the Finals, trading for Indiana guard Malcolm Brogdon and signing Danilo Gallinari once the 6-foot-10 forward cleared waivers after having been traded by Atlanta to San Antonio.

The Celts kept their corps after sending Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts and Juwan Morgan plus a 2023 first-rounder to the Pacers to get their starting point guard, who averaged 19.1 points, 5.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds for Indiana last season.  Brogdon, the only non-first-round pick in the common draft era in NBA history to win Rookie of the Year in 2017, is slated to come as the first man off the bench as the Celtics revive their hallowed tradition of using an elite talent as the sixth man, a practice that has in fact led to the institution of the Sixth Man of the Year Award by the league.

Gallinari, meanwhile, averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Hawks last season while shooting 43.4 percent from the floor (38.1 percent from long distance) and .904 from the stripes.  A career 38.2 percent three-point shooter, he's expected to provide some relief for the 36-year-old Al Horford with his shooting and size, although he's just an average defender.

With the addition of Brogdon and Gallinari and the departure of Payton and Porter from the Warriors, the Celtics have been quickly installed by several bookmakers as the top favorite over their Finals conquerors to win next year's NBA championship.  And those odds would hardly be shaken up even if Kevin Durant, who has asked Brooklyn for a trade, ends up in either Miami or Phoenix, as he has made it known he prefers to be.  Those teams, after all, would have to give up a ton just to get KD, something that Boston never did in adding Brogdon and Gallinari to a team that came within two games of an 18th banner.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

THE DIFFICULTIES OF RAFA’S 22nd GRAND SLAM TITLE

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 8, 2022

Rafael Nadal raises his 14th La Coupe des Mousquetaires after winning yet another French Open title.  (Photo from Pete Kiehart of The New York Times)

The numbers in the finals could be misleading.  Rafael Nadal, after all, blitzed Norwegian rival Casper Ruud in the second-most lopsided of his 14 championship victories in the French Open, one of seven finals in Paris that he won in straight sets and one of three where he scored a bagel. 

Nadal’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory over the 23-year-old Ruud almost a week ago is dwarfed only in lopsidedness by the Spanish superstar’s 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 romp over, almost incredulously, Roger Federer in the 2008 finals at Roland Garros, and is tied with his own 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 rout of Stan Wawrinka in the 2017 finals in terms of number of games given up.

But if one gets the impression that this is one of the easiest French Open titles, much less most trouble-free championships among the record-extending 22 Grand Slam titles Rafa has won, he is mistaken

This is because Nadal, just like he did at the Australian Open earlier in January this year, had to overcome numerous problems and what, at times, looked like insurmountable hurdles before coming out triumphant in the end.

First, after that dream-like victory in Melbourne where he wasn’t even certain of participating just a few weeks before the year’s first Grand Slam event, Nadal, just as he looked as good as new with 20 straight victories and three titles in as many tournaments punctuated by that Australian Open championship, suddenly suffered another injury: a stress fracture in his ribs in the semifinal of the BNP Paribas Open in March that he won against young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, which partly contributed to his loss in the finals to American Taylor Fritz.  That painful injury that made it hard for him to breathe forced Rafa to take a six-week break and miss most of the clay-court season before returning for the Madrid Open just before the end of April with hardly any practice.

He was beaten by Alcaraz in the quarterfinals of that tournament and, in the last event that he tried to use as tuneup before the French Open, the Italian Open in Rome, he was also beaten by Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the round of 16, and that’s where he suffered a recurrence of the left foot injury that sidelined him for the last half of 2021, the degenerative bone disease called Mueller-Weiss syndrome.

It was not surprising that going into the French Open, Nadal did not have the preparation, much less the health that he needed to perhaps be considered as even among the favorites at Roland Garros.  He wasn’t only lacking in practice and competition, as it were, because of the health issues he suddenly had to deal with once more seemingly without respite but also in the requisite confidence that’s essential in any top-level sports competition for one to be at his best.  Nadal, in fact, had to bring with him for the first time in Paris his long-time physician, Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro, to help manage his painful foot.

Cotorro had to inject Rafa’s left foot with a pain killer to enable him to play through the two weeks at Roland Garros, doing it daily 20 minutes before Nadal went on the court and keeping it numb for seven to eight hours.  “We played with no feeling in the foot, with a (pain-killing) injection on the nerve.  The foot was asleep, and that’s why I was able to play,” Nadal explained of the process he had to go through after his historic victory.  “They blocked the sensory nerves at a distance…  That was the only way to give myself a chance here.  So I did it.  And I can't be happier and I can't thank enough my doctor for all the things he did during all my tennis career, helping me in every tough moment.”

Besides his physical problems, what compounded matters for Nadal was his having been grouped in a loaded bracket, with the top half of his draw including six of the top 10 seeds that included himself, top-seeded defending champion Novak Djokovic, third-seeded Alexander Zverev, sixth-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 10 Cameron Norrie.  This virtual group of death projected him to face Djokovic in the quarterfinals, which, under normal circumstances, was already a daunting task.  But Nadal not only beat Djokovic in a four-hour, 11-minute classic but also Auger-Aliassime just before that in the round of 16 in a five-set, four-hour, 21-minute marathon before hitting upon some good fortune of sorts when Zverev had to retire near the end of the second set in the semifinals against him after badly twisting and tearing the ligaments in his right ankle.

Still, Nadal had to defeat four of the top nine seeds in order to take his 14th Roland Garros title – No. 9 Auger-Aliassime, No. 1 Djokovic, No. 3 Zverev and No. 8 Ruud – the first man to do so in a major event since Roger Federer did it in his run to the Australian Open title in 2017.

Then, there were the heavy conditions at night that Nadal was forced to play under especially during his quarterfinals against Djokovic, prompting even Rafa’s coach, Carlos Moya, to criticize the tournament organizers for not giving Nadal enough “credit,” if not respect.  “I wouldn’t say disrespect,” Moya said before Rafa beat Djokovic.  “He has won the tournament 13 times, if he has a request, you should listen to him.  He is part of the history of Roland Garros.”  But as Toni Nadal himself said, it’s all about money as more TV money is earned by the organizers with the night-session matches, negating whatever advantage Nadal has during daytime matches.  Almost everybody knows that Nadal plays better under the sun and in broad daylight, in contrast to a closed-roofed stadium, as he did against Aliassime and Zverev, as the ball bounces higher and the spin increases unlike in the latter conditions where the surface tends to become slower and his weapons are thus minimized.

“The conditions have been the slower conditions I played since long time ago here, because have been very humid this afternoon and if we had big humidity with indoor, the ball was super big and difficult to create a spin on the ball,” Nadal himself said after that abbreviated semis match against Zverev, which still lasted three hours and 13 minutes.  “So I think the conditions were not the ideal (one) for me this afternoon or the way that I like to play normally here.  That’s why I was not able to create the damage that I wanted over him, no?... But honestly under these conditions – well, when Sascha is playing well in any conditions, he’s an amazing player.  Under these conditions, even was more difficult for me to put him away from the court, no?  Because probably with these heavy conditions, he felt that my ball is not creating the impact that (it) normally creates against his forehand or against his backhand.  For example, when I hit the forehand down the line or when I hit my forehand in and out for against his forehand, I mean, my ball was not bouncing as usual here, no?  So he was able to recover well from that position.  The same thing happens when I hit my ball against his backhand, that his backhand is probably the best of the tour today.  So with (such) conditions, I was not able to push him back.  He was able to hit a clean ball all the time, so (I) was surviving, a lot of surviving moments during that match.”

But Nadal was able to survive that handicap, as he did the in-game situations that presented themselves to him along the way and made it harder for him to annex this year’s title than it did during his other victories here, like in 2020 when he won his 13th La Coupe des Mousquetaires without even losing a single set.  Against Auger-Aliassime, who’s now coached by his Uncle Toni, he had to survive a five-setter that ensued after the 21-year-old Canadian won the fourth set, only the third player to extend him to the limits at Roland Garros after Djokovic in the 2013 semifinals and John Isner in the first round in 2011.  But Nadal proved equal to the challenge, as he has so many times at the red-clay courts in Paris.  While leading 4-3 in the deciding set, he hit his trademark forehand for a winner down the line to set up two break points.  He got the break on the second by chasing an Auger-Aliassime shot for a backhand winner before serving out the match by scoring the last four points of the ninth game to set up a quarterfinal match against Djokovic, as expected.

He then staged another classic Rafa show against his Serbian rival with an improbable fourth-set comeback that enabled him to clinch the match, which actually gave him his 23rd career win over a world No. 1.  Down 0-3, 1-4 and 2-5 after having been broken early, he never flinched and gave up despite what looked like a certain Djokovic set win that would have forced a fifth and deciding set.  He held for 3-5, then broke Djokovic in the next game before holding and eventually setting up a tiebreak.  Then, after seeing the Serbian score three straight points in the tiebreak to narrow his 6-1 bulge to just 6-4, Nadal came up with the workmanlike shot that closed it out, a backhand that he set up by forcing Djokovic to go to the opposite corner with a deep shot that made it impossible for the latter to recover for that backhand return of his.

Before Zverev’s fateful retirement in the semifinals, Nadal also had to come from the depths to even take the lead as Zverev raced to a 3-1 lead in the first set.  But Rafa broke back to eventually take a 5-4 lead and once the set turned into a tiebreak, it was Nadal’s legendary toughness under adversity that again broke through as Zverev led at four set points at 6-2 after scoring five straight points to overcome an early 2-1 Nadal lead.  As he has often shown in his legendary career, however, the Spaniard would not be disheartened by four set points as he faced in this case.  Slowly and patiently, Nadal tried to stave off Zverev’s huge advantage, working relentlessly to score five straight points of his own and unbelievably grab a 7-6 edge, finally closing it out at 10-8 with a spectacular passing forehand that whizzed past his German rival’s reach.

Against Ruud, of course, he also overcame the lone tight spot that he found himself in after being broken early in the second set, losing his serve at love with a double fault as he struggled with his serve to fall behind at 3-1.  But what followed next was something that gave the world another glimpse of why Nadal may be the toughest and most indomitable rival on the tennis court, and, quite possibly, the greatest of all time, injuries and all.  At 30-30 and Ruud serving for a 4-1 advantage, Rafa pounced on a forehand error by his young rival, who used to train at his academy just four years before, and then broke him on the next point.  That started something seldom seen in all of tennis especially on the professional tour – a virtual avalanche where one player never allows his opponent to win another game.  That break, which put Rafa back on serve at 3-2, started a string of 11 consecutive games won by Rafa as he clinched the second set and scored a bagel in the third, a repeat of the 2020 French Open finals where he did the same to Djokovic in the opening set in spectacular fashion before holding his arch-rival off in the third and clinching set.

When the Spaniard finished off the victory with a backhand down-the-line winner, Ruud – and the whole world – knew this guy belongs up there in rarefied air in terms of the ability to produce in clutch situations and overcome adversity.

With his latest Grand Slam victory in Paris, Nadal has thus won again 17 years after first accomplishing the feat as a long-haired and sleeveless-shirted 19-year-old wiz kid back in 2005, a stretch that’s long enough to have seen contemporaries like Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Maria Sharapova and now, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, retire even at a relatively young age.

Rafa is shown with his 14 French Open titles.  (Photos from STF, Agence France Presse and Getty Images)

“For me, (to) have this trophy next to me again means everything, no?” Rafa said after his landmark feat, which put him two slams ahead of both Djokovic and Federer.  “So, yeah, have been emotional victories, without a doubt, unexpected in some way.  Yeah, very happy, no?  Have been a great two weeks, honestly, no?

“I for sure never believed I would be here at 36 being competitive again, playing in the most important court of my career one more time in the final.  It means a lot to me, means everything.  It just means a lot of energy to try to keep going.”

But though Nadal expressed his desire to play at Wimbledon later this month, he said there’s no guarantee he can do so as he doesn’t intend to go through the pain-killing injections or play again with a numb foot.  After having gone back to Barcelona earlier this week, he underwent a procedure known as radio frequency ablation, in which radio waves were sent through a hollow needle inserted into the nerves in his left foot that are causing his constant pain.  If the procedure works, which is not guaranteed, the heat from the radio waves could prevent the nerves from sending pain signals to his brain.

“If that works, I’m gonna keep going,” Rafa said before the procedure.  “If that does not work, then it’s gonna be another story.  And then I’m gonna answer to myself, I’m gonna ask myself about if I am ready to do a major thing without being sure that the things are going the proper way, for example.  A major surgery that don’t guarantee me to be able to be competitive again and it’s gonna take a long time to be back.”  That of course has been seen in the case of Federer, who at 40 is still recovering from another knee surgery he underwent several months back. 

For Rafa, however, what he just did was another milestone that he keeps notching.  He has not only won another French Open in a way that may not be as spectacular as he did in the past but he has also demonstrated an unmatched greatness in overcoming the odds while doing it, in the process winning the year’s first two slams for the first time in his career despite all the hurdles he had to surpass.

At this point, he’ll go down as one of the toughest competitors ever seen in any sport and has now secured a lofty place there among the immortals whose names will always be remembered and revered, regardless of whether he can still add to those 22 Grand Slam titles or not.  As Joel Drucker said in tennis.com, “At Roland Garros, once again, here is Nadal, like no one in tennis history, simply and powerfully occupying an eternal presence.”  An eternal presence, indeed, in sporting history.

Rafa’s team and family, which includes his parents and wife Mery as well as coach Carlos Moya, celebrate his latest victory.  (Photo from Eurosport)

[dpinoycosmonaut]

TITLE NO. 91 FOR RAFA

by Bert A. Ramirez / March 1, 2022

  Rafael Nadal raises the 2022 Mexican Open trophy after winning the 91st title of his career.  (Photo from Rafael Nadal The Champion FACEBOOK Page)

                Rafael Nadal has simply lived a fantastic career.  He has been tested by more injuries than most of his contemporaries, much less his two other peers in the so-called “Big Three,” Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, have been but he has also been able to overcome more than anyone of them to get to where he is now.  Either the Spanish superstar is so lucky and has lived a charmed life given what he’s been able to accomplish despite those hurdles, or he’s simply so determined and unrelenting, so mentally tough that no challenge seems insurmountable to him.

               This is what his fans and avid followers of the game alike again felt when the 35-year-old legend, just fresh from an unprecedented 21st Grand Slam title after winning the Australian Open at the end of January, won the Mexican Open title in Acapulco over the weekend, his third championship in as many tournaments this year, to clinch the 91st title of his career while extending his personal-best start to any year to 15 victories without a defeat.

               Nadal clinched his fourth title in Acapulco by beating Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4, in a match that felt like a workmanlike dissection of one of the hottest players on the tour.  No, Norrie, riding an eight-match winning streak, came without any kind of baggage and engaged the Spaniard with the best possible game that he could dish out, but in the end, Nadal simply was a cut above one of the circuit’s rising stars with his consistent forehand and a service game that saw him win 71 percent of the points on his first serve.

               Despite rallying from a 5-2 deficit in the second set by breaking Nadal in the eighth game – a game that looked very much like that fateful sixth game for Rafa in the third set of the Australian Open against Daniil Medvedev where the Russian led by three break points 0-40 before losing it, except for Rafa this time failing to hold after similarly rallying from 0-40 down and forcing two deuces – Norrie could simply not prevent Nadal from cutting him down to size in that fateful 10th game, where the Spaniard easily held serve against the world No. 12 to close him out.

               Both sets in the finals actually looked like a carbon copy of each other, with Norrie serving first and taking the initiative early in the first set. But the British was the first to drop his serve at 2-2 when he committed two unforced errors and Nadal made a perfect passing shot to go up 3-2.  The Spaniard then held on to take the first set.

               The two then exchanged service breaks early in the second, but at 2-2, Nadal broke Norrie with an overhead smash that made it 3-2, starting a three-game streak that Norrie snapped with a break of Rafa in the eighth before holding in the next game and then finally being closed out after one hour, 54 minutes by the eventual champ.

               "Cameron is a very solid player, he's a tricky player, he makes you feel that you cannot play comfortable against him at all," Nadal said after the match.  "I had been going through some very difficult moments in the match. but I was able to survive and take advantage when I had opportunities."

Nadal is shown with his vanquished rival, Cameron Norrie, at the awarding ceremonies.  (Photo from rafaelnadalfans.com)

               Nadal, who became the youngest champion here at 18 when he won his first Acapulco title in 2005, and then became its oldest champ at 33 when he won a third title in 2020 after having won a second time in 2013, thus extends that “oldest champ” distinction to 35 years old, and now shares the record for the most Mexican Open titles with compatriot David Ferrer and Austria's Thomas Muster with four.  

               With his title win in the ATP 500 event, Nadal has also won a tournament for the 30th time without dropping a set after having defeated Americans Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-2, Stefan Kozlov 6-0, 6-3 and Tommy Paul 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) in his first three matches here before repeating against his Australian Open adversary and now-world No. 1 Medvedev in the semifinals 6-3, 6-3 in a match that showed his victory in Melbourne was no fluke, if but hard-earned.

              Fact is, Nadal has won all four of his Acapulco titles without dropping a single set, extending the record for most tour-level titles clinched without losing a single set to 30, which is unmatched by any other player in history, with the retired Ivan Lendl coming closest to that number with 28, and fellow retirees Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe coming next with 27 titles each.  It does seem that Nadal would be left untouched for this record as the closest active player to him is Federer with 21 titles earned without losing a set.

               "I'm very pleased," Nadal said of his latest accomplishment.  "It was a very important title for me, so I can't be happier."

               Indeed, Nadal’s three straight tournament victories, which have now enabled him to win at least three straight titles in nine seasons – his Big Three rivals, Djokovic and Federer, just have five seasons each with such a feat – are another testimony to either a charmed life, a great streak of luck, or simply a demonstration of the legendary star’s great work ethics, toughness and determination not to give up despite seemingly insurmountable challenges.

               It would be recalled that Rafa was forced to miss the last half of the season last year because of a recurring injury in the left foot caused by a degenerative and congenital bone disease, Mueller-Weiss syndrome, that causes a deformity of one of the bones in the central part of the foot.  It became so bad that a few weeks before the Australian Open, Nadal wasn’t even sure if he could ever play again.  Then, after playing, and losing, two exhibition matches against Andy Murray and Denis Shapovalov in the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi in December, he contracted Covid-19 just before the start of the season and suffered with strong symptoms.

               “Looking back, a few weeks ago this would have looked impossible," Rafa recalled.  "It's amazing how things can change in such a short span, from not being able to practice and now to be where I am today."

               Reflecting further on his latest victory before the media later, Nadal said, "There are many people who have a hard time in this world, I can't be angry and not value how lucky I am to be a professional player.  I received this type of education since I was little, values that remain for the rest of your life and that I have grown in.  I have had the capacity for self-control even when things weren't going well.”

               Then, in perhaps an allusion to some of his peers who have not been exactly a model of good public demeanor, he said, "To be honest, nobody is exemplary in every way.  We all make mistakes, the important thing is that they are not very big and that they are not repeated.  I really like what I do and we tennis players are lucky.  I have made a career from my hobby when I was little, and on top of that I have been very successful."

               He added that despite the physical demands of the Mexican Open, including the intense humidity that the players had to contend with, he physically felt very well.  "I've responded well.  It's been a long career, when I came the first time everything was new to me and perhaps victories are more valued now than when you're 18,” he said, obviously referring to the first time he won in Acapulco.  “It's incredible to be able to win a tournament like this again at 35.  Throughout my career as a professional tennis player there are many tournaments that have left an important mark, and I have incredible memories of this place."

               Aside from the aforementioned records that he has set with this latest championship, Nadal also became the second male player in the Open era to win at least 25 titles on two different surfaces with his Acapulco triumph, along with Lendl.  Rafa now has 25 hardcourt titles and 67 clay-court trophies while Lendl has 32 hardcourt championships and 28 clay-court titles.  

               In addition, Nadal is also the only player now in the Open era to have won at least 450 matches on both hardcourt and clay-court surfaces.  The Spaniard, who has moved to No. 4 from No. 5 in the rankings with this latest title, has won a total of 506 matches on hardcourt, trailing only three players – Federer (783), Novak Djokovic (613) and Andre Agassi (592) – in match wins on the surface.  Nadal’s career total of 464 wins on clay is also the third-highest on the surface after Guillermo Vilas (681) and Manuel Orantes (569).  Neither one among Djokovic, Federer and Agassi comes close to him on the red dirt, highlighting his proficiency on either the cement court or clay and his counterparts’ inability to match him beyond the hardcourt.

               Indeed, Nadal can now rest and his place in history won’t be challenged. But by the looks of it, the Spanish legend may not be finished yet, as the pattern in his illustrious career shows. Lesser mortals would have long given up rather than go through the excruciating pain and difficulty of recovering and coming back from injury – in his case one that has no cure – but Nadal’s unmatched determination and mental toughness have simply shown us, and anyone who is willing to learn a lesson from him, that one can overcome with the proper mindset and willingness to “suffer,” as he has called what he goes through to prepare for competition.  No wonder Rafa seems to have lived a charmed life and career all his own, something that, yes, even ordinary mortals can take a lesson from and use as real-life template.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

SUNS UP 2-0 IN BATTLE OF EXPANSION SIBLINGS

semifby Bert A. Ramirez / July 9, 2021

Devin Booker of Phoenix drives against Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee in Game 2 of the NBA finals.  (Photo from sportskeeda.com)

               The Phoenix Suns are theoretically halfway through their bid to win their very first NBA championship after taking down the Milwaukee Bucks 118-108 to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA best-of-seven final series.

               Even as the series shifts to Milwaukee for Game 3 three days later on Monday (Manila time), did you know that there is more than meets the eye between these two teams, which may be considered as now engaged in a familial feud, a parochial rivalry of sorts owing to the fact that they were both born in the same year?

               Yes, the Suns and the Bucks, or the Bucks and the Suns, if you will, were both born in 1968, the fourth and fifth expansion teams of a then-14-team league, and while the Bucks have won an NBA title just three years after that birth, the Suns have never done the same despite having made it to their third finals this year, the same number of times the Bucks have advanced to the championship series.

               The Bucks did win it all in 1971 simply because they won the coin flip that determined who would get the top pick in the 1969 draft between them and their fellow expansion club after having finished with the worst record in their respective divisions.  (The league then was still divided into two divisions, and the rights to picking first in the draft was not yet decided by today’s hi-tech lottery but by the simple ceremonial process of a coin flip.)

               This meant the Bucks got the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to draft a future legend named Lew Alcindor, who would later become the iconic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, still the all-time leading scorer in NBA history with 38,387 points.  The Suns, on the other hand, had to settle for the consolation prize, the late Neal Walk, the second-best big man that year who went on to play just seven years in the league and averaged 12.6 points and 7.7 rebounds.  While the 6-foot-10 Walk was not a bust as busts like LaRue Martin and Greg Oden, two players Portland took with the very first pick in 1972 and 2007, respectively, go, he was certainly a far cry from what Alcindor eventually became.

               Everybody knows what the latter turned into - a six-time league MVP and six-time NBA champion who eventually left for Los Angeles in 1975 and won five more titles with the Lakers, but not before teaming up with Oscar Robertson, another all-time great, for that lone title in 1971 in the city also known as Brew City, and a second finals appearance in 1974 against the Boston Celtics, who beat them in seven games with a team starring John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Jo Jo White and Paul Silas.

               The Suns, of course, are not without their own stellar history despite not having won a title yet, making it to the title series eight years after birth in 1976, during which they'd forever be enshrined in basketball lore for being involved in what many still consider the greatest game in history, that legendary triple-overtime Game 5 (see link here: https://www.nba.com/history/top-moments/1976-boston-phoenix-finals) where they eventually lost to the Celtics (yes, that Celtics team again of Havlicek, Cowens and White) 128-126 to fall behind 3-2 before losing the next game and the series in their homecourt.

               Then 17 years later in 1993, a Suns team led by Charles Barkley, Kevin Johnson (who would later become the first African-American Mayor of Sacramento, California) and Dan Majerle again went to the NBA finals after posting the best record in the league only to lose to the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant also in six games.

               This is why this ongoing series between the Bucks and the Suns simply have an added element of a rivalry between siblings.  Would the Suns finally be able to break through and equal their contemporary’s feat of one championship won in their 53-year resume?

               Based on their playoff performance thus far, they seem to have the slight edge over the Bucks.  They have not only continued with their stellar campaign this year after finishing with the second-best regular-season record in the league with a 51-21 mark, but they may have the better wall-to-wall talent, that is, before the loss for the season of Dario Saric, their main reliever to starting center Deandre Ayton, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after landing badly in the first quarter of Game 1.

               While the Bucks have made the playoffs in six of the previous 10 years and the Suns missed postseason play all through that time, the latter made history this year by becoming the very first team in NBA annals to make it right into the title series after having missed the playoffs the previous 10 years.

               Right in Game 1, the Suns showed that they were not dazzled by the spotlight, with Chris Paul, the big difference in the Suns’ amazing turnaround this season, providing Phoenix the big lift in this game just as he did in the Suns' conference finals-clinching win against the LA Clippers, when he scored a career playoff-high-tying 41 points.

               Paul, who hit 16 of his game-high 32 points in the third quarter when Phoenix broke away for good, also provided the steady hand in the fourth period when the Bucks cut a 20-point deficit to seven with still more than seven minutes left by combining with Devin Booker for 10 of the Suns' 12 points in that stretch to put the game away 113-99.

               The Suns' Big Three of Paul, Booker and Ayton combined for 81 of the team's total as they served notice that for Milwaukee to win, it has to come up with the same firepower that they pack in their arsenal even as Khris Middleton didn't do badly with 27 points of his own to go with seven rebounds.

               In the second game, meanwhile, it was Booker who carried the Suns, shaking off his cold shooting in his four previous playoff games, where he shot less than 40 percent from the field, to carry the Suns this time as he topscored for his team with 31 points, making seven of 12 three-point shots en route to a 12-for-25 shooting from the floor.

               Booker was particularly at his best in the payoff period when Milwaukee made its last runs, hitting a 25-foot three-pointer when the Bucks closed in at 90-84 with some 10 minutes left, and again canning two more treys after their rivals moved within 93-88 with 8:45 left to make it 101-88 with 7:18 to go.

               And when the Bucks made their last run with a 7-0 spurt to make it 103-97 with 5:15 left, it was Paul who effectively snuffed out Milwaukee with a three-point dagger to put Phoenix up by nine at 106-97, time down to 4:10.  The lead would never go below eight points the rest of the way as Mikal Bridges would score 10 of his 27 points down the stretch, eight of them on free throws.

               The Suns' victory spoiled Giannis Antetokounmpo's heroic 42-point, 12-rebound effort, which included a 20-point third quarter, tops in any finals game in the last 25 years as it beat Kobe Bryant's and LeBron James' 19-point quarters during the period.

               Paul contributed 23 points and eight assists this time despite an uncharacteristic six turnovers, while Jae Crowder chipped in 11 points and Ayton had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, although the 6-foot-11, 250-pound big man this time did not have his usual efficiency inside.

               For Milwaukee, Jrue Holiday had 17 points and seven assists and Middleton had 11 points, six rebounds and eight assists, but both had a bad shooting night as Holiday went just 7-of-21 from the floor after going 4-of-14 in Game 1, and Middleton was just 5-of-16.

               A 2-0 lead is nothing to crow about, especially with the Bucks showing they can come back after also falling 2-0 down against Brooklyn in the East semifinals, but it can’t be denied that the Suns are functioning more efficiently at this point.  If the Desert City team continues with its current form, I pick it to win in six games and bring all the marbles for the very first time to the Valley of the Sun.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

YOUNG GUNS: THE TOP 5 NBA SUPERSTARS IN THE 2021 PLAYOFFS UNDER THE AGE OF 25

by Cholo Hermoso / June 24, 2021

               The 2021 NBA playoffs have proven to be a platform for the young stars to showcase their true skills and creep towards superstardom. 

               While this year’s playoffs featured superstars like LeBron James, Damian Lillard and NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, as well as guys like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and MVP finalist Joel Embiid, there is no doubt that the spotlight has been stolen by the NBA’s star youth. 

               This article will tackle the top young NBA superstars in the NBA playoffs. 

               Honorable Mention: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (Age: 21)

               This may be a top five list, but it is hard to leave a guy of Morant’s stature off this list.

               Making his NBA playoff debut while only in his sophomore year, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft has proven that he truly is prime time – he seems to enjoy stepping his game up when the lights are the brightest.

               In the five games he played against the Utah Jazz, Morant averaged 30.2 points on 49-percent floor shooting and 8.2 assists. 

               Without a doubt, the Memphis Grizzlies have found their franchise player. 

               5. Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks (Age: 22)

               The list begins with the fifth overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, Trae Young. 

               In the regular season, Young’s stats dropped compared to his sophomore year where he earned his first All-Star nod.  He went from basically a 30-point scorer to averaging 25.3 points while hitting on only 34 percent of his threes.

               However, talks of his regression have been put to rest as he has been excellent for the Hawks, leading them to their first playoff series win since 2016 with a five-game victory over New York in the first round and an epic seven-game triumph over Philadelphia in the second. 

               As of now, Young has been a walking double-double – averaging 29 points and 10 assists in the postseason.

Trae Young tries to beat then-Orlando guard D.J. Augustin (Associated Press)

               4. Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (Age: 24)

               This man is criminally underrated. 

               Throughout his career, Booker has always been one of the best scorers in the league, yet does not garner the same attention other players get. 

               Remember, this guy scored 70 points in a game in his second year in the NBA in 2017, the youngest player to score more than 60 points in league history. 

               The elevated stage has not stopped him from scoring. 

               He is averaging 27 points in this year’s playoffs, including a first round-clinching 47 points against the Lakers.

               Now that he has finally made the playoffs and is playing in the Western Conference finals, the whole world has taken notice. 

Devin Booker tests the defense of Brooklyn star Kyrie Irving (Associated Press)

               3. Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz (Age: 24)

               Donovan Mitchell is a superstar.

               He has never missed the playoffs and always elevates his game at this time of the year. 

               After his inspiring play in the bubble where he averaged 36 points, he averaged 32 points on 48-percent field goal percentage in this year’s postseason play, making 4.4 threes a game on a 44-percent clip. 

               He is also etching his name in Jazz franchise history with four 40-point games in the playoffs, having tied Karl Malone for that distinction.  It is important to note that Mitchell only needed 27 playoff games to do this while Malone needed 193. 

               The next step for Mitchell is to deliver a championship to Utah, a potential first in franchise history.

Donovan Mitchell goes against a New Orleans defender (Associated Press).

               2. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics (Age: 23)

               The Boston Celtics had an unfortunate NBA playoffs, but Jayson Tatum continued to prove that he is now among the NBA’s elite. 

               For the first time in his career, Tatum averaged 30 points in this year’s playoffs, including a 50-point effort in Game 3 of Boston’s first-round series versus the Nets. 

               At his length, mobility and shooting touch, Tatum is absolutely the most ideal NBA superstar. 

Jayson Tatum drives against the Washington Wizards (Associated Press).

              1.  Luka Dončić, Dallas Mavericks (Age: 22)

               Luka Dončić is the wonder kid; he is the future face of the NBA. 

               An European who can be – or perhaps already is! – marketable around the world and someone who is about to take over the league, Dončić has taken over as the Mavericks’ franchise superstar.

               In his two career playoff series these last two years, he has been nothing short of magnificent.  It is only a matter of time before he begins winning MVP awards and possibly delivering Dallas’ second chip since Dirk Nowitzki’s team did it in 2011. 

Luka Doncic shoots against the Sacramento defense (Associated Press.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

YUKA SASO: A WHIFF OF FRESH AIR

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 8, 2021

Yuka Saso holds her 2021 US Women’s Open trophy.  (Photo from United States Golf Association)

               Nineteen-year-old Yuka Saso has made history.

               Saso, the country's first gold medalist in golf in the women's individual and team event in the Asian Games back in 2018, also became the first-ever champion in any US professional major golf event by emerging on top of the 76th US Women’s Open golf tournament after a sudden-death playoff with Japanese rival Nasa Hataoka, which was necessitated after both of them remained tied after two playoff holes.

               Saso overcame two double-bogeys at the start of the final round, where she finished with a two-over-par 73 to finish with a 72-hole aggregate of 280 along with Hataoka.  The atrocious start would have been enough to unsettle her and destroy a bid that saw her take the lead in the tournament after two rounds.

               But true to her youthful determination and unflappable toughness under pressure, Saso, who will turn just 20 this coming June 20, kept her poise to recover and play her best when it most counted.

               We were actually able to watch the closing holes by accident, and never left in front of the TV set.  When American Lexi Thompson, who led by two strokes with three holes to go, bogeyed the last three holes and Saso played solidly to finally catch up on the leaderboard, we thought she had a chance.

               True enough, Saso showed a solid driving and short game in the end to overcome Hataoka.  The last two holes that Saso played especially showed her poise under pressure.

               In the second playoff hole, Hataoka holed a par after hitting the ball just over a foot from the hole while Saso had all of eight feet from which to hole in to force a sudden death. But Saso did par it herself to force a final playoff hole.

               Then, after Hataoka again hit the ball to within 10 feet on the ninth hole with her second shot, it seemed as if she had the advantage once more even as Saso was within 10 feet herself after her second shot.  But Hataoka's third shot fell short, and Saso then holed it on her third shot to clinch the historic title.

               How significant is Saso’s victory in the US Women’s Open?  Well, in terms of magnitude, in equivalent importance in the sporting scheme of things, it’s just like winning one of tennis’ Grand Slam events, like the ongoing French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open or the Australian Open.  In men’s golf alone, it already has an exact equivalent – the legendary Masters in Augusta, Georgia, the British Open, the PGA Open or the US Open itself.

               In team sports, it’s like winning the Super Bowl, the NCAA men’s basketball championship or the NBA title or the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.  Or if one is in the Olympics, simply the gold medal, the rare and precious gold in any dreamy athlete’s fantasy or imagination.

               The only difference perhaps between an Olympic gold-medalist and Saso now is that she is a pro, albeit a prodigious pro at her age, who now plays her sport for a living.

               But we’re going too far.  It’s not hard to see where the talented Yuka’s rare and trail-blazing victory yesterday in one of America’s major golf tournaments actually belongs: in the history books for future generations to see and appreciate for all time.

               “I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now, but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me,” Saso, who was just a 16-year-old when she became a double gold-medalist in the Asian Games, said.  “I don’t know how to thank them.  They gave me so much energy.  I want to say thank you to everyone.”

               If one were closely following Yuka’s phenomenal career, he would surely know that she’s really gifted in her sport, which, just like other sports greats like Rafael Nadal in tennis, she started to play very early in her life at eight years old in 2009.  (The great Rafa started playing tennis at three years old in 1989 and turned pro at 15 in 2001.)  This, along with Yuka’s natural gift for golf, perhaps explains why she has accomplished so much this early in her career.

               Born in San Ildefonso, Bulacan on June 20, 2001 from a Japanese father (Masakazu Saso) and a Filipina mother (Fritzie Saso) by whom she has four other younger siblings, the 5-foot-5 Saso led the Philippines to the gold medal in the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship team event, earning an award at the 2017 Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards in the process.  She, as earlier said, also became the country’s first Asiad gold-medalist in golf when she won in both the individual and team competitions.

               After turning professional in November 2019, Saso won two back-to-back titles at the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association, where she had earned a Tour card, to become the first Filipina golfer to do so in the Japanese circuit after nailing her first at the NEC Karuizawa Championship, and then did it again a short time later at the Nitori Ladies Golf Tournament.  The feat earned for Yuka the country’s 2020 Athlete of the Year Award from the PSA “for being an inspiration to Filipinos during the Covid-19 outbreak.”

               With her victory in the US Women’s Open, Saso not only earned the top prize of $1 million (almost P50 million in local currency) but also exemption from qualifying for the next 10 US Women’s Opens as well as into the next five editions of the four other major women’s golf tournaments on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour like the British Open, the Women’s PGA Championships, the rich Evian Championship in France that became part of the LPGA Tour in 2000, and the ANA Inspirations (the Dinah Shore event) in Rancho, Mirage, California.  Yuka also got the Mickey Wright Medal and custody of the Harton S. Semple Trophy for one year.

               With the way Yuka Saso has done so far, it may not be superfluous to say that she still has a lot, and even bigger things, to come in her golf career, and she will not only be doing it for herself but also for a country that’s been aching for real-life heroes at a time when such heroes are so rare, particularly in a landscape dominated by corrupt, power-hungry politicians who have nothing in mind but to perpetuate themselves in power, even at the cost of totally ignoring the rules and their long-suffering but ignorant countrymen.

               As we told a colleague, she's just like a whiff of fresh air in a glum atmosphere.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

ANOTHER PUREFOODS ICON GOES

by Bert A. Ramirez / June 3, 2021

Marc Pingris blocks a bigger Asi Taulava in a defensive play typical of the Purefoods frontliner’s PBA career.  (Photo from philstar.com)

                How do you remember a legend?  Obviously, this question is now being asked after Marc Pingris, the last remaining member of the Magnolia Hotshots’ iconic Big Three that also included James Yap, now in his last legs with Rain or Shine, and Peter Jun Simon, who retired from the game last year to start a family of his own, announced his own retirement from basketball last week.

               Pingris, or simply “Ping” or the “Pinoy Sakuragi” to fans who have identified him with that anime character in “Slam Dunk” that their favorite has declared a liking for, leaves behind a legacy that in basketball parlance may be considered as revolving around the intangibles and character he brought to the sport.  If one were looking for gaudy statistics, the 6-foot-4 native of Pozorrubio, Pangasinan will pale in comparison to other all-time greats.  In a 16-year career spanning 658 games, after all, he never averaged more than 9.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocked shots and 3.1 assists, finishing with career averages of just 7.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and less than a block.

               But Pingris is one of those players whose value would go way beyond the usual numbers, whose presence provided the team he played for the leadership, the hustle, the intensity and the winning ingredient that’s so essential in any team sport.  He never cared about stats; all he cared about was winning a damn game and, at the right opportunity, a championship.  His value was like that of a Ben Wallace, the former Detroit Pistons center who was recently elected to the Hall of Fame despite never scoring in double figures in his career (although he did lead the NBA in rebounds twice), yet was always considered an indispensable cog on the team he played for.  The similarity between Pingris and Wallace may be reflected in the fact that both were multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year awardees in their respective leagues, with Pingris winning it three times and Wallace four.

               “He was the consummate soldier,” former coach Ryan Gregorio said of Pingris, whom the then-Purefoods TJ Hotdogs acquired in a 2005 trade from the now-defunct FedEx Express, who picked the power forward third in the 2004 draft after Rich Alvarez and Yap, the future Purefoods superstar with whom Pingris would form a long partnership along with another player, Simon, whom Gregorio also signed as a free agent in the same year both Yap and Pingris were drafted.

               Gregorio was trying to rebuild the Hotdogs who had then fallen on hard times with the retirement in 2004 of Alvin Patrimonio, the face of the franchise the previous 16 years, just after Yap and Simon had come aboard.  And Pingris appeared to have completed that rebuild.  

               "His raw enthusiasm.  That is where it all started," Gregorio said of Pingris.  "And we would always have a discussion on where he came from. This guy came from the school of hard knocks, and every time you see people like that, you know that they're gonna fight to survive, put food on the table, and will always try to wiggle off from any challenges just to make sure that their head is above water."

               Indeed, Pingris had humble beginnings, providing a classic rags-to-riches story where one’s perseverance would pay off in the end.  Brought up by his single mother, Erlinda, after his French father, Jean Marc Sr., left them when Marc was just three years old to work in Morocco, they eventually lost touch for some reason and Marc thus eventually had to help his mom make both ends meet.

               "We really had a difficult life growing up,” Ping related.  “So after I got drafted, the first person I really looked for was my mother.  I hugged her and thanked her for helping us get through such incredibly difficult times in Pangasinan.  No matter what happened, she always managed to put food on the table and never allowed me and my siblings to miss even a single meal in a day.

               "Basketball truly gave my family a comfortable life," he continued. "Who would imagine that a kid who worked and slept in the wet market would become a PBA player?  When my name was called on draft night, I told myself that this is the start of great things, that I will not let go of this opportunity."

               True enough, Pingris became the prototypical workhorse, particularly when Purefoods traded for him a year after being drafted.  But perhaps because of that survival baggage that he carried, Pingris was at first short-tempered and literally fought his way around the court. But Gregorio found a way to tame him, partly because Marc was a really good guy and partly because Ryan knew how to push the buttons.  

               "When I acquired him in 2005, I got a player who was basically a live wire – he could not control his emotions and he would easily get into a fight," recalled Gregorio.  "But my message to him then was just to channel your raw emotions into a positive energy and just focus on three things that you're good at."

               And Gregorio found a guy who was willing to do anything and lay it all out on the court.  "When people would say that things can't be done, Marc Pingris would say, 'ako na bahala dyan, coach,'" Gregorio looked back with fondness.

               Pingris quickly led his new team, now called the Giants, to the Philippine Cup title in 2006, the team’s first title victory since 2002, in the process clinching Finals MVP honors as Purefoods defeated Red Bull 4-2.  In Game 2 of the series, he scored 21 points to lead the Giants to a 93-82 victory.  

               Still, the partnership would take a turn.  After then-incumbent center Rommel Adducul was diagnosed with nasopharynx cancer, the Giants in 2008 traded Pingris to the then-Magnolia Beverage Masters (now San Miguel Beer) for center Enrico Villanueva, thinking that Villanueva would make for a perfect replacement for the stricken former San Sebastian star.  It was a huge mistake that Gregorio later had to anxiously make amends for.  While Pingris won a championship with his new team, the Giants struggled.

               "I traded Ping because I thought we knew the big guy,” Gregorio later recalled.  “We needed a big guy because the opposition was trying to do it (and) was starting to get bigger and heavier. Unfortunately, the experiment didn't pan out."

               Gregorio had to plead with then-team president Butch Alejo as well as Patrimonio, then already the team manager, and governor Rene Pardo to find a way to bring back Pingris as well as Paul Artadi, whom the team also traded away, as he knew the duo would vastly improve the team’s defense, especially Pingris who would “make it miserable for the opponent to at least score inside the paint.

               “We would have gotten a lot of championships if I didn't break the team,” Gregorio admitted.

               Pingris’ return to Purefoods was thus orchestrated before the 2009-10 season, with Marc first being shipped to Burger King and then Purefoods reacquiring him 24 hours later in exchange for the Giants’ first- and second-round picks in 2010.

               "For some people, when you get traded, there is animosity but with Ping, I just told him that it was just a basketball decision," Gregorio recalled. "True enough… he was ready to heed a call to go back to Purefoods and we won a championship."

               The 2010 Philippine Cup championship that the team, now called B-Meg Llamados, would clinch via a 4-0 sweep of Alaska in the finals would, however, be the last title Pingris would win with Gregorio, who then moved over to Meralco later that year to coach the comebacking Bolts.

               But it also started a partnership with a new coach, Tim Cone, who came over from Alaska in 2011 and would steer the franchise to five more championships, including a historic grand slam and “four-peat” in 2014, and Pingris would be one of the bulwarks of those milestone victories along with, of course, his Big Three partners, Yap and Simon, plus such players as Mark Barroca, Joe Devance, Alex Mallari, Allein Maliksi, Ian Sangalang Rafi Reavis and Justin Melton.

               None of those titles, however, would come easily.  In that 2012 Commissioner’s Cup championship, B-Meg had to rely on import Denzel Bowles’ two free shots to send Game 7 of its series against Talk ‘N Text into overtime, where the Llamados pounced on the Texters to clinch it.  Marc then had to play magnificently in another seven-game barnburner in the 2013 Governors’ Cup finals against the powerhouse Petron Blaze team (another of SMB’s past incarnations) for the Llamados to clinch the first of four straight championships en route to that historic grand slam, in the process earning for Pingris a second Finals MVP trophy.

               Looking back at that partnership with Cone, the winningest coach in PBA history with 23 championships, Pingris thanked the now-Giñebra mentor, saying he “grew to understand the sport as more than a game.”  Unknown to many, Marc’s stint under Cone did not start smoothly as he found it hard to adjust to Cone’s triangle offense to the point that he requested for a trade for fear that he wouldn’t be able to cope with his new coach’s system.  Eventually, however, Pingris realized how that system would help the team win and he eventually bought into it.  

               Cone, meanwhile, found in Marc such a great soldier that he can only look back with fondness at his former frontcourt lynchpin.  When Pingris announced his retirement, Cone referred to it as the “end of an era.

               “Certainly one of a kind,” he wrote of Pingris in his Twitter post.  “I loved, in every way, coaching Ping.  Tough as nails on the court, gentle in spirit off it.  @MPingris will be the standard from which I coach future players.  My fav.”

               It was that gentleness in spirit as well as sincerity and sense of humor off the court that probably attracted Marc’s wife Danica to him.  Danica, the daughter of TV host and movie star Vic Sotto by actress Dina Bonnevie who also appeared in movies and TV before she got hitched with Pingris in March 2007, now has two kids with him, son Michael, 12, and daughter Micaela, eight.  It was Danica who would exert tremendous effort to enable Pingris to find and later get reunited with his estranged father in 2007.  They’ve since met and spent time with each other in the succeeding years particularly when Marc played with the Gilas Pilipinas national team in various tournaments in Europe, including the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

With his retirement, Pingris intends to spend more time with his family that includes wife Danica and children Michael and Micaela. (Photo from Danica Pingris’ Instagram account)

               Truth is, other coaches also found in Pingris a special trait not often seen in other players.  His last coach, current Magnolia Hotshots mentor Chito Victolero, thought so highly of him that he reserved a slot on the team for Marc even if he had hardly played in the last two years after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the 2018 Philippine Cup.  That notwithstanding, an assortment of injuries, including a right calf injury that prevented him from joining the Hotshots in the bubble last year, finally made Pingris decide to call it a career.

               "Coach Chito actually wanted me to start practicing again, and I told him I'll come back.  But along the way, I understood that I had other priorities," Pingris explained.  "So I talked to coach and apologized, and I thanked him because he really fought to keep my spot in the team.  I was embarrassed, of course, but I knew he understood my decision since he was once a player himself.

               "I'm really thankful that he's there not just as a coach, but as a friend and as an older brother who had my back all the way," Ping, who will turn 40 years old this coming October 16, added.

               Victolero paid tribute to Marc once he has decided to finally hang up his sneakers.  “A team need(s) good players like you,” Chito wrote on Twitter.  “You gained people's respect for your exemplary sportsmanship, humility, hard work, right attitude and of course your Big Puso.  Your success is not a surprise and you deserve it.

               “Thanks for the memories, brotherhood, championships at lahat ng pinagsamahan natin.  I will treasure everything.  The players, the coaching staff, the support staff, the fans and the game itself will miss you always!  Thank you for your years of dedication that has given us endless entertainment.  You may be retiring, but a new phase of your life is beginning.  Wish you a wonderful future ahead.  See you around and good luck!!  God bless you Ping.  Salute to our Pinoy Sakuragi.  I love you brother,” Victolero concluded.

               Comebacking TNT Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes, who coached Pingris on those Gilas Pilipinas teams from 2013 to 2014, said the power forward's "work ethic, selflessness and deep love for country" were what set him apart.

               "Retirements are always bittersweet," said Reyes in a message to ESPN5.  "On one hand I'll be seeing the last of a player who is very special to me; but on the other hand I'm glad he's retiring on his own terms and beginning a new phase of his still young life.  He WAS #puso not only in 2014 but also in the FIBA Asia in 2013."

               Indeed, it was Pingris who probably best exemplified the “puso” mantra that Chot first built around that Gilas Pilipinas team that won the silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships held here in Manila, which enabled the Philippines to make it back to the FIBA World Cup for the first time since 1978 the following year.  In perhaps the most memorable game that Pingris played for in the country’s semifinal matchup against South Korea before a full house that included then-President Noynoy Aquino at the Mall of Asia Arena, it was Pingris who sparked the nationals to a landmark victory over the Koreans, whom as everybody would remember had seemingly cast a spell over the Filipinos every time they met in Asian competitions.  And he did it even with a sprained foot he sustained before the halftime break even as the Gilas team had lost naturalized import Marcus Douthit the rest of the game with an injury in the first half.

               Pingris gallantly battled the Koreans’ big men to spark his teammates’ confidence even without the 6-foot-10 Douthit, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Philippines beat Korea 86-79 to make it to the finals against China.

               “I prayed,” Pingris said after injuring his ankle.  “I asked Him to help me not feel the pain.  That moment when we won against Korea, that was the happiest because every Filipino was crying (out of joy).  Everyone, people beside me, even if I didn’t know them, (they were saying) ‘thank you, thank you.’  Even if it was us who should have been thanking them.  We were thankful for the fans because of the energy they gave us. (The fans) were really the key in that win, their cheers.”

               Despite the role he played on many of those Gilas teams, Pingris still thought it was he who owed it, not the other way around.  "I'm thankful to coach Chot Reyes and to the MVP Group for giving me the opportunity to play for the Philippines.  I wasn't a star player in the PBA.  I was just a role player.  But they gave me an opportunity to try out and play for Gilas," Marc declared.  "It's truly an honor wearing the Philippine jersey and playing for the flag."

               Of course, his exploits with Gilas were typical of the effort that Pjngris always brought on the court, something that made him one of the most popular players in the local pro league while playing for what many consider the second-most popular PBA team next only to Giñebra, with whom Purefoods has spawned a rivalry called “Manila Clasico.”

               When it was over, Pingris will be remembered for such style of play that was rewarded with not only those championships, nine of them overall, but such individual honors as 15 All-Star Game berths, three PBA Mythical Second Team selections, eight All-Defensive Team slots, and recognition as one of the league’s 40 Greatest Players when the league celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015.

               No wonder Pingris is also one of the most admired and respected players by both his peers and basketball cognoscenti alike.

               Long-time Gilas captain and Rain or Shine stalwart Gabe Norwood, for example, said, "One of the true GREATS of the PBA is hanging up his kicks.  Greatly appreciate you, (Marc Pingris)!  Competing against you and repping the flag together are memories that'll stay with me forever.  More power to you, roommate!"

               Six-time league MVP June Mar Fajardo of SMB, meanwhile, said, “Salamat 'tol sa friendship at bilang kuya! Good luck sa bagong career mo at enjoy retirement!  Mami-miss kita sa loob ng court!"

               Another SMB star, Terrence Romeo, said, "Maraming salamat kuya Marc sa lahat ng nagawa mo sa basketball. Isa ka sa mga iniidolo ko on and off the court.  Napaka-humble at napakabait mo at laging nandyan yung puso sa game!  Salamat sa mga payo mo sakin kuya. Good luck sa next chapter ng life mo.  God bless you and your family always!"

               Fellow retirees Ranidel de Ocampo, Dondon Hontiveros and Doug Kramer also had something to say to Marc.

               "Thank you 'tol sa buong puso mo!  Salamat at naging part kami ng journey mo mula sa simula,” De Ocampo wrote on Instagram.  “Good luck sa bagong chapter.  God bless you and your family!  Happy retirement!"

               "Congrats bro!” said Hontiveros, a teammate with the SMB franchise during Pingris’ brief stint there as well as with Gilas in 2015.  “Hindi lang sa napaka-successful na career mo, pati sa pagiging magandang halimbawa.  Marami kang napahanga sa galing at tapang mo.  PUSO!"

               "Congrats Ping!  Awesome career!  Ph legend status.  God bless you bro!" said Kramer.

               And former PBA commissioner Noli Eala wrote on Twitter: "I first saw Marc Pingris play with the Cebuana Lhuillier National Team as a guest team in a PBA invitational when I was commish.  He impressed with his energy, strength, and passion.  He kept that all through his pro career.  Happy I saw it all.  Thanks Marc for making the game better."

               The most emotional comments, of course, came from his Purefoods teammates. Yap, in his Instagram account, recalled the many wars they went through.

                “Madami-dami din tayong pinagdaanan na giyera sa loob ng court, magkasama tayo sa hirap at sa saya. Sabay tayo nagsimula in 2004 kaya nagulat ako na mag-retire ka na,” said Yap.  “Gusto ko na take tong opportunity na to na pasalamatan ka @jeanmarc15 sa lahat ng ginawa mo para sakin.  You were one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.

               “Our brotherhood and friendship started with basketball (but I know) that we go beyond that, na kahit di na tayo pareho naglalaro di magbabago ang samahan natin.  Congrats on the retirement ‘tol.  See you around!”

               Barroca also cherished the long friendship he and Marc have forged through the years.  "Congratulations sa napakagandang career!” Barroca told Pingris.  “Napakaraming humahanga sayo on and off court.  Higit sa lahat, salamat sa napakagandang pagkakaibigan sa mga taong nagdaan at magdadaan pa.  Mahal namin kayo @jeanmarc15 @danicaspingris."

               Younger teammate Jack Corpuz, meanwhile, said, “Dati, napapanuod lang kita.  Pinapangarap na makalaban ka sa basketball at maging teammate.  Salamat sa mga advice at pag-motivate lagi sa akin.  Lagi ko tatandaan lahat ng sinasabi mo sa akin.  Stay safe.  God bless Idol.  See you soon.”

               Definitely, Marc leaves a mark in the game that not many, even those who might have had more impressive numbers, probably would simply for his persona that’s associated not only with winning but also with great comradeship.  And that’s just consistent with how he wants to be remembered, which he said will hopefully influence a generation that plays with the same passion that he played with.

               "I don't regret anything because I've given it my all for 16 years here in the PBA," he said.  "And I gave my heart to the game.  I want people to remember me for that.  I wasn't the most skilled player out there, but my heart was bigger than my talents.  That's why I played the way I played."

               So how do you remember a legend?  You remember him with fondness.  With gratitude.  And with the hope that someday, somehow, someone like him will emerge from the streets of one small, obscure and far-flung town in the countryside like Marc Pingris did, and create a similar legend that he did.

[dpinoycosmonaut]

NADAL GEARS UP FOR FRENCH OPEN WITH VICTORY OVER DJOKOVIC IN ROME

by Bert A. Ramirez / May 17, 2021

                La Decima.  Ten championships.  Now, Rafael Nadal has completed double figures in championships won in four events in his career when he beat world No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to win his 10th Italian Open title.

               The victory, completed after two hours and 49 minutes of riveting tennis, enabled Nadal to raise the total of ATP championships he has won to 88, moving him just six titles away from Ivan Lendl for third-most career ATP titles in the open era behind only Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.  He has compiled more than half of these in four events – 13 in the French Open, 12 in the Barcelona Open, 11 in the Monte-Carlo Masters, and 10 here in Rome – a phenomenal feat when others struggle to win just half of that in their entire careers.

               “It’s amazing.  To have this trophy in my hands for the 10th time, it’s just something impossible to imagine,” Nadal said after his latest victory, which came against no less than the player who has made it hardest for him to win.  Rafa also won in Rome in 2005 (the year he won his first of 20 Grand Slam titles in the French Open as a 19-year-old), 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019.  

               “I’m super-happy.  I can’t thank my team enough, and life for all these opportunities, and everybody’s support has been huge during all these years,” the always-grateful Spanish legend said.  “To have the trophy on this day, this year, it’s amazing.”

               The victory did not come without a struggle though, as it’s almost always been against Djokovic, whose edge in head-to-head battles against Nadal has been narrowed down to 29-28 in this their 57th meeting as they gear up for the year’s second Grand Slam event at Roland Garros at the end of this month.  

               As expected, this year’s clash for the Italian Open crown was a battle throughout, despite Nadal’s mostly lopsided win in his last match against his Serbian rival in the French Open finals last October.  Djokovic drew first blood by breaking Rafa to go up 2-0 in the first set, but Rafa broke right back, and the two titans exchanged holds for seven straight games before the Spaniard broke Nole in the 11th game to go up 6-5.  He then served out the set, clinching it with a sizzling inside-out forehand that was too far for Djokovic to reach.

               As in the two rivals’ last championship clash in the event in 2019, however, Djokovic would not go away, waiting for that break where Rafa would loosen his grip just a bit before pouncing to regain the advantage.  And this came with Nadal a point away from breaking Nole with the score tied at 1-1.  Once the Serbian survived that break point, he went on to break Rafa twice en route to winning the next five games to send the match into a deciding third set.

               That set had the makings of a humdinger as it started at 2-all and Djokovic then earned two break points on Nadal’s service game.  But instead of giving the game away to his arch-rival, Nadal found a way to hold in the end for a 3-2 advantage, then went on a four-point spree in the next game to break Nole at love for a decisive 4-2 edge, which he never relinquished until the end.

               The victory is almost poetic in terms of record as it gave Nadal his 36th ATP Masters 1000 title, which puts him level for the career record with Djokovic at that number, and also evened his head-to-head matchup with the 18-time Grand Slam champion in 14 Masters 1000 finals at seven victories apiece. And it looks like a virtual repeat of the 2019 finals between the two in the same event where the Spaniard beat Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.  Rafa lost in the Rome event last year when it was played under pandemic conditions during the quarterfinals against Diego Schwartzman, who went on to fall to Djokovic in the finals.

               This year, however, Rafa reasserted his Rome dominance with the help of his lethal forehand.  In his championship win over Djokovic, he hit 26 forehand winners, accounting for the bulk of his 37 total winners in the match even as he committed 23 unforced errors.

               “Well, I think I have been playing better and better with my forehand the last couple of weeks, getting to the confidence point,” Nadal assessed. “Yes, today has been a positive day, but I think I could change more times down the line than what I did, something I can’t keep doing, and I can keep improving.”

               Both Nadal and Djokovic, to be sure, did not arrange their 14th Masters title showdown without going through their own battles.  Djokovic, for example, had to spend almost five hours on the court the previous day just to complete a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 quarterfinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas and then hold off hometown boy Lorenzo Sonego in the semis 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2.  Nadal, meanwhile, had to survive the challenge of youngsters like Denis Shapovalov, who he had to overcome in a third-round bloodbath where he had to surmount a 3-6, 0-3 deficit in the first two sets and two match points in the third before prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

               “Well, I was lucky at some moments this week, especially against Shapo,” Rafa recalled when it was all over.  “I think I played a good tournament here in Rome this week.  I think I’ve been playing better and better, finding my rhythm on clay, and I think I had a very positive week, and I’m very happy.”

               All this, of course, still came down to his famed matchup against Djokovic, whom he has now beaten in five of their last eight meetings, including that decisive straight-sets victory in the finals of last year’s French Open.  Djokovic had beaten Nadal seven straight times between 2015 and 2016 during the latter’s worst seasons when he failed to win a single Slam, while Rafa had also beaten Nole six straight times between 2008 and 2009, and that makes up all the difference in their head-to-head career matchup.

               With his latest Italian Open victory, Rafa now has a 4-2 edge against Djokovic in their head-to-head clashes in the finals of this event, and has an overall 6-3 edge over the Serbian in Rome.  He also has 12 finals appearances in this tournament while Djokovic has 11, the most in the latter’s career in any event.  The duo, in fact, has won 15 of the last 17 Rome championships, with only Andy Murray in 2016 and Alexander Zverev in 2017 breaking that duopoly in the Italian capital.

               "I really wanted this title,” Nadal said after beating Nole.  “This had been one of the most important titles in my career.  I'd won 10 in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros and really wanted it here too."

               It’s no doubt a momentum-building victory going into the French Open, where Rafa is gunning for a record-extending 14th title and a record 21st Grand Slam victory that will put him one clear of Roger Federer for the all-time record in this category.  Will he continue his dominance in a tournament that he loves and on a surface where he thrives most of all?

               We shall see about a month from now.

 Photo captions:

1) Rafael Nadal poses with the 2021 Rome Masters trophy with his trademark bite at the hardware.  (Photo from rafaelnadalfans.com)

 2) Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic shake hands after their tough finals battle.  (Photo from rafaelnadalfans.com)