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It was a typical Jeremy Lin-esque clutch shot to ice the game. The man who sparked the craze called Linsanity in the NBA was in heroic form once more as he drained a step-back triple several steps beyond the arc to lift the New Taipei Kings to a four-point lead, 67-63, over the Ryukyu Golden Kings with 26 ticks left in an EASL Group B contest at the Xinzhuang Gym before 5,207 fans Wednesday night. The count wound up as the final score.
As 2023 comes to a close, let’s recall the brightest moments in Philippine basketball that made the year one of the most memorable ever. Here are five of the top 10 hoop highlights to remember:
It didn’t come as a surprise when La Salle’s Kevin Quiambao announced that he would return to play another UAAP season for the Green Archers after leading the Taft school to the men’s basketball championship early this month.
TNT will play Barangay Ginebra without an import in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup nightcap game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tomorrow but the Tropa is going all out to win, no matter what. San Miguel Beer takes on Phoenix in the opener of the Christmas Day twinbill treat for fans.
Believe it or not, the PBA’s hottest team at the moment is a so-called “independent,” meaning unattached to either the San Miguel or MVP groups. Phoenix has raced to a 6-1 record, brandishing a five-game win streak and with four games to go in its elims schedule, is in strong contention for a top four quarterfinals berth in the Commissioner’s Cup.
It’s been a long journey from Tonga to the Philippines for Asi Taulava. When he arrived here to play for Blu Detergent in the PBL in 1997, there were doubts as to his ethnicity. Was he actually half-Filipino? Taulava was deported in the wake of suspicions of fake Fil-foreigners claiming blood lineage in 2000. Sonny Alvarado, Rob Parker and Al Segova were exposed as impostors, shipped out and never heard of again. But Taulava fought for his rights, returned in 2001 and later brought his Filipina mother Pauline Hernandez to appear before a panel of immigration interrogators to argue his case. He was eventually cleared by the Department of Justice.
Mark Magsayo’s reign as WBC featherweight champion was short-lived and he hardly warmed his seat on the throne last year. He was defrocked after six months and hasn’t gotten over the pain. Now, Magsayo is campaigning as a superfeatherweight and his mission is to win a second world title before next year ends.
MANILA, Philippines — The PBA is scoreless in six games so far in EASL’s inaugural home-and-away season with five of the losses on the road. TNT and Meralco are the PBA’s reps in the eight-team tournament which is billed as “Where Champions Clash.” The best of the best in East Asia are vying for the $1-million first prize with the Final Four set to reel off in March.