The Pilipinas - Taiwan Twin Jersey connection

As you have seen in the ongoing FIBA Asia Cup, Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 has been sporting a new jersey style similar to other Nike sponsored national teams around the world. Having the same cut and template means that one way or the other, we're going to have the same uniform as another team with a similar colored flag.

Enter their FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinal opponents, the Chinese Taipei National squad, same color, same cut, even the same font. While we're not complaining because those new threads are definitely awesome, we're also glad that we are getting the same technology as the top nations even if it is just jersey wise. One way or the other we are still going to end up with someone looking like us anyway since the colors red and blue are too common in flags. It is a good thing that we have the PHL coat of arms and the middle of the jersey (homage to the Caloy Loyzaga era).

Back in 2009 we had a similar issue with the Taiwan squad, but unlike now, it was still distinct because they had white trims in front and red at the back while we had red in the front and white at the back.

We then ended up changing to red come FIBA Asia 2009.

So, It remains to be seen if the PHL team will have a tertiary color but the recent kits are awesome by themselves. Be it having twins or not.

Review: Smart All Stars Jersey

It's been months after the Smart Ultimate All Star Weekend has ended. But the country is still not over from the high that it generated. From the High the NBA stars' aura, to their mesmerizing plays and Gilas' heroic stand. Surely, this is one of the biggest moments for the country's average basketball fan.What better way to commemorate such an event with a jersey of the Smart All Stars.

The microshiny fabric added with the  side designs and twilled numbers (the all star player's request) adds to the pro look of the jersey. No rubberized or screen printed graphics here. It feels like the authentic pre-revo 30 NBA jerseys.

What's good about this is that the patches at the back and the jock area are all sublimated. The smart logo in front is sublimated and Twilled at the same time. 

In detail closeup of the patches.

The National team bandwagon fiesta: The worst in a Filipino Sports Fan

                                                                                                                                                                 The Prototypical Image of a Pinoy Bandwagoner

Pinoys love hype. 

Every time we see something monumental and out of the blue, we turn around and appreciate it for what it's worth, and once they served its purpose, we spit them out like gum.

Late 2010, 2 major events occured in the Philippine sporting world. Our Football team, known as the Azkals, won against a perennial Southeast asian football nation Vietnam at the group stages of the AFF Suzuki Cup., reporters, casual bloggers and other pundits start celebrating and rejoicing after the Azkal's Monumental victory.  The team went on to the semifinals but was no match for Indonesia as they went down 0-2 on aggregate score. 

The Azkals, were crowned as the countries' darling underdogs, With the PFF leadership row in dispute, The team was short in funds, with the Martinez faction being investigated for missing funds, the team claiming not to receive a single centavo from it and instead is being supported by its manager, Dan Palami. The "Surviving on their own" underdog story of the Azkals caused them to earn more love and sympathy from the general public. Even though the Azkals were pwned by the Indonesians, there was a "We're not Prepared, we'll get them next time" feel to them.

On the other hand, Like the prototypical Filipino soap opera, there had to be a villain, and it has to be rich and popular. 

Smart Gilas Pilipinas, The national team representing the country on its most popular and most lucrative sport, Basketball went to compete in the Asian Games, a tournament where it has always ended at the top 4 spot for the last 40 years. Like the azkals, they had problems of their own, Their Naturalized center, Marcus Douthit, did not make the cut in the lineup due to his naturalization papers still being processed. Days before the start of the tournament, Slotman Japeth Aguilar got himself injured and missed the tournament. The Country faced a narrow 2 point loss to Japan which relegated them to an early quarterfinals meeting with powerhouse Korea. The end result was a 6th place finished, tying the Philippines' worst ever finish in the 60s.

Bandwagon fans clearly jumped on football. Sensationalist reporters, wanting to join the hype started to give the team unrealistic notions of being world cup contenders.The Azkals were the darlings of the media especially since they had good looking meztisos to be the banner boys. Endorsements, Merchandise and more donations are now coming its way. While it was great to finally see the football team, setting the public the mentality of raising the bar too high is dangerous for any team.

Add to that, media has to create a controversy. Reporters hurrying to jump on the bandwagon were questioning why Filipinos are still playing basketball, Back then, every time you tune into the nightly news the main anchors are all praises on the azkals and all negativity on basketball. Then flame wars, debates and attacks started happening in message boards, twitter and facebook.

Come 2011 Gilas gained a bit more respect. Placing 2nd in the Dubai tournament, 3rd at the PBA Comissioner's cup, 3rd at the Jones Cup, 4th at the Fiba Asia Champions cup, 1st in Seaba and a narrow 9 point loss against an NBA squad led by Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul. But even then, It never gained enough media mileage as the Azkals were. 

The Azkals now is being treated as "THE" National team. Upgraded with a more experienced coach, better Filipino-European players in the roster and a ton load of monetary support due to advertisements. Their games are now covered live complete with long commericals and a pregame show that takes nearly as long as the game itself. With everyone's support they started doing good. The team started their 2011 conquest by demolishing mongolia at the panaad stadium. BBC covered it and concluded it to be a turning point where the country finally embracing football as a sport. 

From February to early July, the team had a great run. They were either drawing teams or winning on aggregate. However they were fighting against lesser teams, teams ranked way below them. Teams like Mongolia, Bangladesh, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. The fans just went high with especially with the 4-0 demolition of Sri Lanka at the world cup preliminary qualifiers. It felt like the start of Rocky 3 with Balboa off to a win streak before he met Clubber Lang. Having beaten/drawn a lot of weak opponents to give the bandwagoners a false sense of security.

And the Azkal's Clubber lang was the Kuwaiti football team. 

After the Azkals' loss to Kuwait, the bandwagon fans started blaming everything. From coach  Weiss to the players and the endorsements. Those fans dropped the support like a hot potato.

A few weeks after the Azkals lost, The Philippine Dragon boat team started winning gold medals. The Dragon Warriors ended with 5 gold medals. Like the pre-December 2010 Azkals, the Dragon warriors now face problems with their NSA, The PSC and the POC. Bandwagon fans who got disappointed with the Azkals quickly jumped ship to the Dragonboat warriors. While what our paddlers had done was remarkable and splendid at the very least. Bandwagon fans now have to place a villain to compare them to, a villain to make them reek of envy. 

And that villain is the same team they "supported" the past few months, The Azkals.

In Conclusion, It is nice for the sport of football to grow. It would be great if middle class elementary and secondary schools, as well as inter baranggays would take a look at a secondary or tertiary team sport to hold a tournament such as Futsal or Rowing. It would help the youth lacking in height or basketball skills still enjoy sport. But bashing one team after the other simply isn't the way to do it.

Laban Pilipinas

Congrats to Gilas for placing 3rd in the Jones cup and Sinag for winning the Seaba youth title.

Smart Ultimate All Star Weekend

Last weekend, the Smart Araneta Coliseum hosted the most vital game since the Washington Bullets came here late in the 70s. The Smart all stars led by Bryant, Drose, CP3 and the Durantula stormed in manila and played 2 games against the PBA all stars and the Philippine National Basketball team.



Apologies for the grainy shots as DSLRs were not allowed in the arena


Overall, I paid 800 not to see the nba stars, but for gilas to fight against all odds and the price was worth it.

2010 Team Pilipinas Nike Jersey Review

How times have changed.

When I reviewed the 2009 Team Pilipinas Jersey,  there was still a lack of National inspired merchandise in the country. Nowadays, you can see them in every sidewalk store or makeshift bazaar. Almost all local and international brands have stepped on or are stepping in with this trend.




Today, we review the 2010-11 version of the team Pilipinas Jersey. Due to our national team, Smart Gilas now having a concrete and long term program, we now see this Jersey more exposed in Television.

The Talk and Text Grandslam Question

1998, during the Centennial Team formation, the Alaska Aces (Then Milkmen) were on a roll. The Milkmen won 2 straight titles at the expense of the Beermen (1998  All Filipino Cup and Commisioner's Cup) and was nearing a grandslam. However, their core of the Flying A, Jolas and Captain Marbel including their  coach went up  went up and compromised the core of the PBA Centennial Team. While the Sacrifice was moderately Successful, (1998 Asian Games Bronze Medal) It did tamper Alaska's bit for the governor's cup championship as Davis, Chambers and their role players clearly weren't enough. As Shell and Mobiline (Talk N Text) dominated the Governor's Cup and the Pocket tournament Centennial Cup.

Now in 2011, The Tropang Texters are facing the same dilemma. The Texters will loan key players Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams to its Sister team Smart Gilas Pilipinas as they go battle in the Fiba Asia Championships later this year. The last time they loaned their players to the national team, they wounded up second place in the 2007 Fiesta Conference.

Record in PBA tournaments with loaned stars:

1998 Centennial Cup: Champions
1998 Governor's Cup: 1st Runner Up
2002 Governor's Cup: quarterfinals, eliminated by 8th seed SMB (but was top in win loss rankings)
2002 Commissioner's Cup : 1st Runner Up
2007 Fiesta Conference: 1st Runner Up

A decent showing, However, Key players from other teams were also pulled out from the squad back then. Unlike now where only 3 teams will be affected. Competition will be tougher for sure, even with 20 minutes a game from a rumored "answer" or even from a former NBA journeyman would be a guarantee.The Texters, even without 2 key players would still be a formidable team. heck, with how imbalanced the league is today, It's reserves can even be starters or star players for the lower tier teams. As for accomplishing a grand slam the first year the league has reformatted back to the 3 conference format remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, they have a legitimate chance at it.

RP Basketball Charity Event

From Mr. Nardy of IBN/SBP

“pinoy basketball, kakampi ninyo,”

monday october 5 2009, 5pm to 9pm. Benefits of these games will go to the victims of ondoy

1st game: Uaap/ncaa selection vs liga/pbl selection
2nd game: Pba powerade national team vs. Smart gilas national team
tickets prizes: Available on wednesday at the ticketron; araneta center

ringside/patron- p200; lower box– p100; upper a– p50 ; upper b & bleacher– free


call 911-5555

to our basketball fans, players, coaches, etc kindly donate rubber shoes and rubber slippers.

Final Thoughts on Fiba Asia

Western powers once again proves they're the team to beat. At first I thought china was still to reign supreme because they still have a good intact team with a lot of experiences. But then I was wrong. Iran, not only beating china but crushing them in front of their home crowd. I can say is just wow. No Mid ranking Asian team got beat that bad by Iran. Not Korea, Not Jordan, Not Taipei, Not even Powerade Pilipinas. China also had down to the wire games against Lebanon and Jordan.

And so ends the 19 year odyssey of PBA backed national teams. It is now up to the new batch of soldiers that will represent the 3 stars and a sun. Frankly speaking, I'm more optimistic this time around with Smart Gilas. The team has been practicing longer than the all pro squad and they're still 2 years ahead. They also have a naturalized player and a coach who was the brainchild of the team that just demolished China. Yes, Matic may be the coach, but Toroman was the "Red Auerbach" of that Iran team.

Gilas Is a good program, Do not destroy it Help It. Hopefully the PBA board gives in to help them by reinforcing them with the 3 players from the powerade team. This will help the league as well, since they can have a solid participation with the national team while not having major loses.