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THE
Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang
Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) has secured a temporary
restraining order (TRO) from the courts late Monday,
allowing Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
commissioner Renauld Barrios to name a head coach for a
national team.
“I can
now proceed with fulfilling my assignment, which is to
name the national coach,” said Barrios after getting a
copy of the TRO issued by Judge Juan Enriquez Jr. of the
Eleventh Division of the Court of Appeals.
The TRO
called for a status quo within the national basketball
community, after the BAP-SBP of Rep. Luis Villafuerte
and former congressman Prospero “Butch” Pichay got a
regional trial court (RTC) ruling that prohibits the
BAP-SBP of Manny Pangilinan from acting as the national
sport association for basketball.
An RTC
ruling made the BAP-SBP faction of Rep. Luis Villafuerte
and Pichay as the legitimate basketball group in the
country.
The PBA
will again back a national team that will be competing
in the regional qualifier next year for the 2010
International Basketball Federation World Championships.
Miller
time in preseason
WILLIE
MILLER displayed the kind of game that made him the
league’s two-time Most Valuable Player and accounted for
21 points as the Alaska Aces stayed unbeaten in the
Philippine Basketball Association preseason tournament
with an 88-71 romp of the Purefoods TJ Giants on Monday
at the Arellano University Gym.
In a
game that featured a lot of running and banging, the
Aces asserted their dominance against the equally tough
Giants and led by as many as 24 points.
Their
second win moved the Aces within a win of sweeping Group
A and a return to the finals of the tournament they
ruled three years ago. Alaska plays Barangay Ginebra
(0-1) on Wednesday at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Gym.
After a
scoreless first quarter, Miller picked his rhythm in the
second quarter as Alaska pulled away. The charismatic
guard made eight-of-19 attempts, including five-of-nine
from three-point range, and also dished six assists in
35 minutes on the floor.
Alaska’s
improved frontline rotation of Joe Devance, Sonny Thoss,
Irvin Sotto, John Ferriols and Reynel Hugnatan were also
a sight to behold. They kept Kerby Raymundo and the rest
of Purefoods’s biggies away from the lane with tenacious
defense and strong rebounding.
Devance,
acquired from Rain or Shine via a trade, scored 15
points and Sonny Thoss added 12 for the Aces who took a
57-24 advantage early in the third quarter.
Raymundo
has 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting and Jun Simon
contributed 18 for the Giants, who shot just 24-of-62 in
the absence of injured star James Yap.
Yap sprained his ankle Saturday during their game against
Ginebra which Purefoods won, 83-82. (With Dave Coros) |
