Liga Pilipinas...A New Basketball League

[Liga Pilipinas]

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REGIONAL BASKETBALL fans will finally get to preview the coming inaugural season of Liga Pilipinas when the new league opens the first of its two preseason tournaments this Saturday (May 24) at the New Cebu Coliseum.

Eight southern teams are seeing action led by host Cebu Ninos of sports patron Michel J. Lhuillier and Coach Raul “Yayoy� Alcoseba. The teams will be divided into two groups that will play a single round robin. The two group toppers will meet in the one-game championship.

Aside from the M. Lhuillier-sponsored Ninos, expected to see action are the Iloilo Warriors, Negros, Zamboanga Amores, Pagadian Explorers, Ozamiz Cotta, Davao City and Misamis Oriental Meteors.

Ozamiz of Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog and Coach Albert Calvo and the Meteors of Gov. Oscar S. Moreno and new coach Jun Noel are seen as the biggest threats to knock off the favored Ninos. All the participating teams are familiar with each other having met in regional leagues of the recent past so the action will definitely be one to look out for.

Meanwhile, the Luzon-based squads will have their own preseason tilt to be hosted by the Taguig Batang Global of Mayor Freddie R. Tinga and Coach Jude Roque at the C. P. Tinga Memorial Hall in Taguig City starting on Sunday (May 25).

The Ilocos Sur Snipers, Baguio Victory, Laguna Stallions, Pampanga and Quezon Province will be the teams visiting Taguig City. The Batang Global have recently drawn the support of Harbour Centre of basketball patron Mikee Romero.

Liga Pilipinas, the country’s newest regional league sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP), will be formally launched on May 31, 2008 in Cebu City.

[d20]

nice kani na news dah..

[dieseldust]

batia sa'g monickers aning uban oi....wa ma'y killer instinct! hehehe!

"Taguig Batang Global"

[Liga Pilipinas]

UPDATE

THE Ozamiz Cotta and the entries from Davao City and Negros have begged off from the preseason games in Cebu due to different reasons. However, they will participate in the regular Liga Pilipinas season.

The Nokia-Philippine Junior NT of Coach Franz Pumaren looms as a possible guest entry in the Cebu leg.

[dieseldust]

Fil-Am hotshot coming to play in Liga Pilipinas
By Joaquin Henson
Friday, May 23, 2008

There’s a 6-5, 200-pound Fil-Am point guard flying in to play for Pampanga in the inaugural season of Liga Pilipinas and the word is Jared Bautista Dillinger could be a high pick in the coming PBA draft.

Talk ’N’ Text coach Chot Reyes discovered Dillinger during a US scouting trip and said yesterday if he’s available in the PBA draft, the Phone Pals will choose the 24-year-old phenom who was born in Rapid City, South Dakota, to a Filipina mother Gemma Bautista and an American father James Dillinger of Colorado.

Liga Pilipinas president Noli Eala called Dillinger the fledgling league’s potential “marquee player� who will suit up for coach Aric del Rosario’s Smart-sponsored Pampanga squad.

Dillinger will miss Liga’s four-day preseason tournament for Northern teams starting Sunday in Taguig. He is expected to arrive either June 2 or 3, according to Reyes, in time for Liga’s season opening on June 11.

“Right now, J. D. is rehabbing because of a slight knee injury,� said Reyes. “So he won’t be 100 percent when he starts playing for Pampanga. He’s a legitimate Fil-Am whose mother was still a Filipino citizen when he was born. I think she’s from Pangasinan or Zambales. He looks very Pinoy. He’ll be the tallest point guard in the country.�

Reyes said Dillinger plans to play the required minimum of 25 games here for eligibility in the next PBA draft where another Fil-Am Gabe Norwood is expected to be the top pick.

Dillinger averaged 9.7 points in 30 games, including 25 starts, for the University of Hawaii as a senior this past season. He led the varsity in three-point field goal percentage at .383 with 51 conversions and was second in steals with 34. In NCAA Division I games, the crack guard shot 19 points against New Mexico State, 17 against Centenary College, 15 against New Mexico, 14 against Utah State (including the go-ahead basket with a minute left), 14 against Boise State and 12 in a 40-minute no-relief job in another game against Utah State.

The year before, Dillinger played only six minutes in six games as the last player in the 14-man Hawaii roster and his scholarship was nearly taken away. But he worked hard to keep his spot during the summer and became a starter in a remarkable turnaround.

“I don’t know how to explain it,� said Dillinger, quoted by Dayton Morinaga of the Honolulu Advertiser, referring to his sudden emergence. “It’s just grit, I guess. A ball, a hoop and some hard work. Last year was what made me strong mentally. I know I can’t take anything for granted. That’s why I try to give everything I have, every minute out there.�

Before enrolling at Hawaii, Dillinger played two years for the US Air Force Academy where he said he developed discipline, integrity and character. The Air Force posted a combined 40-18 record during his two years as a reserve guard. He averaged only 1.7 points as a freshman when Air Force made it to the NCAA Tournament, losing to North Carolina in the first round.

Dillinger’s Hawaii teammate Riley Luettgorodt told Morinaga: “He was always one of those guys you wanted on your team because he plays so hard and aggressive. This year, he started knocking down big shots and that just made him a complete player.�

University of Hawaii coach Bob Nash said: “He’s done everything we asked of him even last year when he was on scout team. It’s nice to see hard work pay off like that. There’s no mistaking his love for the game and if he can transfer that to the things he wants to do later in life, I think he’ll earn it there, too.�

Dillinger, who has never been to the Philippines, took up a Tagalog course at the University of Hawaii last year.

“I can’t speak the language,� said Dillinger who grew up with his father from five years old. “When I was in Tagalog class, I was calling up my little cousins to help me. They’re only in fourth and fifth grade but they got me through class. I eat Filipino food like pansit and lumpia (which) my mom used to cook all the time.�

Dillinger, whose double majors are international business and finance, said it’s his goal to play in the PBA. Liga Pilipinas is his stepping stone to the big league.

source: www.philstar.com

[dieseldust]

Liga Pilipinas will be introduced to fans and media at a “soft� opening in Cebu and Taguig this weekend.

Liga president Noli Eala said a four-day preseason tournament for southern teams will be held in Cebu starting tomorrow. A similar four-day affair will be staged for northern squads in Taguig starting Sunday.

Teams will be allowed to use players of their choice without getting clearance from Liga officials. But once the regular season begins on June 11, each team will be required to enlist at least eight homegrown players in a 14-man roster.

“The preseason games will be a gauge of how ready we are,� said Eala. “It’s our dry-run. We’ll also test our pool of referees under Perry Martinez’ supervision. We’ve hired 28 referees for the south and 18 for the north.�

Eala said NBN will be the carrying network for the preseason games, providing air time and production. Two networks will likely be tapped for the regular season – NBN and possibly, IBC. “We’ll be using broadband transmission, not microwave facilities, so we expect to be more efficient,� he added.

source: www.philstar.com

[digitalsuperman]

what time magsugod ang preseason games ugma?

[Elschulzoo]

nus-a ni magsugod?

[digitalsuperman]

atot oi..nahan unta ko managawag sa new cebu city coliseum aron mangutana sa schedule of games wala man daw sila contact number..pastilan..

[snoillats]

ganahan ko sa monicker sa Laguna.... STALLIONS!!!!