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Season 22 U21 Asian Championships Begins!

Like a child opening his Christmas presents on Christmas day, 20 yo Marc Madrigal was very happy and estatic when he was informed 15 minutes before game time he would start in the first game of the Season 22 U21 game vs India for the Pilipinas U21 squad. A massive 20,000 crowd jam packed the Granada Stadium in Hongkong, the site of this year's U21 Asian Championships with a lot of Pinoy OFW's cheering the Pilipinas U21 Team on. Marc Madrigal started with a 1-7 shooting night but slowly and confidently regained his composure to finish with 6 of 11 shooting with 14 points and a game high 14 rebounds along with 3 big blocks starting at the center position. Senior U21 bigmen Luis Angelo Rubi and Karl Suobiron chipped in 19 and 16 points respectively as the Pilipans frontline overwhelmed their opponents to cruise to an easy 104 to 74 win against the Indian U21 squad.

U21 Pilipinas manager Lolo Smithz when asked why he chosed to start Marc Madrigal over his more senior U21 teammates had this to say. “We wanted Marc to experience this early what it takes to play internationally, for him to experience the pressures of the international game. We believe it would help him immensely next season if we ever get to the World Championships. There are a lot of other 20 yo's worthy to be in our current U21 team but we only have so much roster space sadly.”

Another reporter chipped in and asked why the point differential was so low as compared to the games of the Asian region heavyweights like that of China. Lolo Smithz had this to say also. “First game jitters for everyone I guess. We didn't do so badly as we shot 50 percent from the field and limited the other side to 37 percent. By the time the 4th quarter started it was clear already we had the win in the bag so we opted to play it safe and went into cruise mode.”

When asked what Filipinos should expect from this years Pilipinas U21 squad especially the thousands of OFW's here in Hongkong Lolo Smithz replied. “We thank all our supporters for the moral support they gave us by coming here to cheer for our boys. Believe me it means a lot to them. Tonight's win is just the first step to our ultimate goal which is to win another U21 Asian Championship trophy and to qualify for the World championships next season. Trust me when I say this the road ahead isn't easy, there are better teams out there but with faith and belief in ourselves I think we can overcome all obstacles. Win or lose we promise to play our best as not to shame our compatriots who will come to cheer for us in our upcoming games. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas U21 team!”

No Mercy Nothing Personal

“Marc is the Man! I'm so proud of my boy!” Coach Ivan of Gwapsak was heard bragging to reporters after the Pilipinas U21 team's 122 to 62 win over the UAE U21 team. “He maybe weaker in terms of skills compared to his more senior U21 teammates but what he lacks in skill he compensates with his work ethic and basketball smarts. He scored his second straight double double! And lead all scorers and rebounders also!”

Coach Ivan had much to be proud of Marc Madrigal, the 20 yo junior center for Pilipinas U21 team, as he top scored with 24 points and hauled down 19 rebounds in 31 minutes of play but it was John Dispo, the quiet and unassuming starting small forward who set the tone early as he scored 12 of Pilipinas U21's 40 1st quarter points ending with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 blocks.

Before the game, Lolo Smithz manager of the Pilipinas U21 team order his boys to play their hearts out and have no mercy after receiving scathing criticisms from critics and fans about the performance of the team during the first game. Joey Castellano set the tone early with a hard foul on UAE's starting guard Mundakar, injuring him within a few minutes of the 1st quarter. Employing a full court press and pushing the ball, the Pilipinas team raced to a 67 to 29 lead by the end of the 2nd quarter. Karl Suobiron had 6 blocks, Josefino Taghoy pulling down 17 rebounds and Frank Inserto in his first game for the Pilipinas team wowed the crowd with his thudering dunks and drives to the hoop scoring 16 points with 6 steals highlighted how serious the Pilipinas U21 defense was.

“Nothing personal against the UAE team. I felt my boys were just too timid during the first game against India (well they weren't pushovers also) and wanted them to show what they can really do so I let them loose. Hopefully this kind of intensity will carry forward to their next torunament game against South Korea which will be on New Years Eve.”

Christmas Eve Special

A Special Christmas Eve U21 Scrimmage match between 17th ranked Philippines and 20th ranked Peru was attended by a 15,000 strong rabid Cebuano crowd coming to cheer the Pilipinas team on to victory. News of the severe injury to U21 bigman Karl Suobiron didn't dampened the mood as U21 Pilipans bigmen Rubi, Melendrez, Madrigal and Taghoy pounded the inside dominating the paint with a combined 77 points enroute to an easy 117 to 76 emphathic win against the Peru U21 squad. The Pilipinas team outrebounded the Peru team 64 to 30 and had more assists 28 to 17. Mitchell Generoso had a magnificent game playing backup small forward pulling down 9 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists wowing the crowd with his spectacular passes.

But Lolo Smithz wasn't in a smling mood as he was worried about the upcoming games especially with the injury of Karl Suobiron. "The loss of Karl will be felt severely in the coming dates as he was one of our best bigmen. I hope he will recover fast from his injury so that we can have a chance to win in the 2nd round of the tourney. Hopefully his replacement which we will be calling up in the nest couple of days can pick up the slack until he returns. Lets all hope and pray we still can win the Asian Championships this season despite this setback."

3-0 Start

Too much holiday partying by the players was evident as people who bet big on Pilipinas U21 having a large point differential was disappointed as they only won by 30 with the final score of 95 to 65 against the Hanguk U21 team. Pilipinas U21 squad outrebounded Hanguk U21 66 to 37 and had more assists 25 to 9. They also held the opponent to a 26 of 89 shooting (29 percent). Point guard Eulegio Contrivida proved he deserves to be the starting pg of the U21 squad with his steady play and playmaking dishing out 6 assists and pulling down 5 rebounds with a 6-8 shooting night ending with 12 points. Starting SF Dispo was again at the forefront in scoring with 16 markers.

"Our players had too many drinking sessions during the holidays. Out of shape and lack of sleep." lamented Lolo Smithz, the U21 Pilipinas Manager. " I will forgive them but after the holidays no excuses anymore as our next opponent is the Iran U21 team who is at 2-1. This will be our first real test against a very good team. How well we play and how much we can beat them will probably determine how strong our team will be against the even stronger teams like China, Taiwan, Australia and Hong Kong."

Last edited by Lolo Smithz at 1/7/2013 8:29:29 AM

Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong

A dejected Pilipinas U21 team could be seen as they exited the arena after a stunning and shocking 91 to 102 loss to the Iran U21 squad. Pilipinas squad who were expecting an easy win was shell shocked as Iran gave their best with their starting PG Mani Ferdosi ran circles around the Pilipinas points guards in the 4th quarter. Ferdosi amazed the crowds with his pinpoint passing enabling the Iran squad to pull away in the middle of the 4th quarter. The crowd were treated to a showdown between starting SF's Johnas Dispo of the Pilipinas squad who scored 22 points, 3 steals and 5 rebounds against Farbod Khosravani of the Iran squad who scored 21 points, 11 rebounds 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

"We lost fair and square. The Iran team played with more effort and their players had better game shape than ours. And they passed the ball superbly." Lolo Smithz said apologetically. "Never underestimate your opponent as in basketball they say the ball is round and anything can happen."

"Again my sincere apologies to all the Pilpinas fans for this very disappointing loss. I hope to do better in the succeeding games to achieve our goal of winning the Asian Championships this season."