By Jasmine W. Payo
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines–The University of the East Warriors got as much production from their bench as they did from their stars to put the University of Santo Tomas Tigers’ title defense off to a bad start via a 73-60 trashing Sunday in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

“I’m very happy that everybody played well, especially the five guys from the PBL (Philippine Basketball League),” said coach Dindo Pumaren, who cited the solid performances of Mark Borboran, who paced UE with 13 points, Marcy Arellano, Elmer Espiritu, Kelvin Gregorio and Jorel Cañizares.

James Martinez added 12 markers, including back-to-back triples that pushed the Warriors ahead, 65-54, with 2:52 remaining.

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WHO’S your pick for the University Athletics Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament? Why do you believe your team will be the champion this year?

In Saturday’s opening ballgames, comebacking La Salle massacred my alma mater, University of the Philippines, while National University shocked Far Eastern University in overtime.

Here’s an excerpt from Jasmine Payo’s story for the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

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SO, what do you think of former senator Robert Jaworski’s possible return to the Philippine Basketball Association?

Here’s an excerpt from Musong R. Castillo’s story for the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

MANILA, Philippines–Robert Jaworski will be making his much-anticipated return to the Philippine Basketball Association, the league he helped make great, in the next season.

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THE CLEVELAND Cavaliers gamely tried to carve out a come-from-behind victory with a big fourth-quarter run, but in the end their efforts just weren’t good enough as the San Antonio Spurs won 103-92 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the National Basketball Association finals.

The question now is: Do the Cavs still have what it takes to make a comeback? Or will the Spurs’ championship experience just be too much for them? Could the Spurs score a sweep?

And if you were the Cavs, what adjustments would you make to get back in this series?

WHO are you rooting for in the National Basketball Association finals? And why do you think your team will win?

As for me, I’m a Dallas Mavericks fan so olats na hehe I was a big Chicago Bulls fan during the Michael Jordan years. Not yet that devoted to the Mavs, but they’ve been my fave team for the past few, frustrating years.

Anyway, I know the San Antonio Spurs are favored to win but I’m rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James.

Oh, and here’s an interesting fact about this NBA finals: it will involve a record nine non-US players.

Will King James pull it off? We’ll see.

SO, does Kobe Bryant want the Los Angeles Lakers to trade him or not?

Almost as if he’s channeling Hamlet (”Kobe or not Kobe?” heh), Kobe first pleaded with the LA Lakers to trade him, then apparently changed his mind, and then… well, does anybody really know what he’s thinking now?

Anyway, this near-meltdown in public has a bunch of NBA teams dreaming of what it would be like to have Kobe suit up for them, but do you think he’s worth it? Or will he turn out to be a nightmare for whichever team gets him?

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SHOULD the Philippine Basketball Association have allowed this deal to proceed?

And now that the controversial Romel Adducul-Enrico Villanueva trade has some board members from other teams up in arms, what should the PBA do?

Well, the PBA board will be tackling in a special meeting Thursday the Restricted Trading List (RTL) rule that the Romel-Rico deal allegedly violated.

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