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Nine-year NBA veteran Jeremy Lin is eligible to play for Chinese-Taipei against Gilas in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifying window game at the PhilSports Arena on Feb. 25. He could suit up as a naturalized “import,” having acquired a Taiwan passport in August 2020 or as a local if FIBA grants an exception like it did with Indonesian-American Brandon Jawato.
For a while, it looked like the Golden State Warriors were heading nowhere near playoff contention in the NBA this season. They lost their first game then won five in a row but stumbled into hard times, once dropping six straight in an alarming tailspin. Closing out tight outings became a challenge as in one-point deciders, the Dubs bowed out in four while winning just twice. In five OTs, Golden State lost four.
In the Bible, there’s a story of how the Israelites marched around the city of Jericho for seven days with the priests blowing their horns until the walls collapsed. In Game Five of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last Sunday, Jericho Cruz was indestructible as he fired 30 points, including 8-of-14 triples, to lift San Miguel Beer to a 108-98 win over Magnolia. The victory pushed the Beermen up, 3-2, in the best-of-seven duel. Now with a twice-to-beat advantage, San Miguel can wrap it up by taking Game Six tonight.
It’s not like they’ve never matched up before. Magnolia’s Tyler Bey and San Miguel Beer’s Bennie Boatwright have dueled since their NCAA days although not on a marquee platform. They know each other well. In the raging PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, their mano-a-mano battle is on center stage, like a boxing match between Ali and Frazier. Who’s who isn’t determined at the moment. When the series ends, we’ll find out.
With the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals now underway, the four remaining imports are showing why they’re still in town. Three of them are originals, meaning they started the conference with their teams – Magnolia’s Tyler Bey, Barangay Ginebra’s Tony Bishop and Phoenix’ Johnathan Williams. San Miguel Beer’s Bennie Boatwright checked in to replace Ivan Aska with three games left in the elims.
Phoenix coach Jamike Jarin isn’t thinking about the 2018 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals where the Super LPG Fuel Masters blew a twice-to-beat advantage and lost to Meralco in a meltdown that was capped by an overtime setback.
In reply to the question of who’s your choice as next Gilas coach, the majority of the entries to our “Pasko Sa Enero” contest picked Tim Cone with Chito Victolero, Jimmy Alapag, Brian Goorjian, Rajko Toroman, Nenad Vucinic, Jong Uichico, Topex Robinson, Goldwyn Monteverde, Ryan Gregorio, Charles Tiu, Tab Baldwin, Norman Black, Erik Spoelstra, David Blatt and Sergio Scariolo, among others, getting votes.