'Dynasty' in works as Jinkee, Pacman brother throw hat in political ring By the staff

Aside from Manny Pacquiao who is seeking a second time as Sarangani representative, his wife Jinkee and youngest brother Rogelio are also seeking elective posts in next year's polls. Jerome Ascano

MANNY Pacquiao looks set to widen his political clout down South as his wife Jinkee, youngest brother Rogelio, and key allies joined him in filing candidacies for next year's local elections.
Pacquiao, bidding for a second term as representative of Sarangani, filed his certificate of candidacy on Tuesday where he was joined by Jinkee who after months of speculation finally threw her hat into the political ring by running for the position of vice governor of Sarangani.
Aside from the power couple, Manny’s youngest brother Rogelio, currently chairman of Barangay Apopong in General Santos City, has now set his sights on the congressional seat of the first district of South Cotabato against representative and former mayor Pedro B. Acharon, Jr.
Another brother Bobby, the former WBO Asia Pacific lightweight titlist, is not joining the fighting Pacquiaos in the political arena but his wife could become part of a budding dynasty after being elected barangay chairman of Labangal two years ago.
Jinkee's foray into politics is expected to seal the Pacquiaos' alliance with the influential Chiongbian family. She is expected to be the running mate of current vice governor Steve Chiongbian-Solon. Sarangani Governor Miguel Dominguez is serving out his last term. 
After his People's Champ Movement had linked forces with United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay, the world-renowned boxer has moved to consolidate his political forces in his area by fielding other candidates for elective posts.
Among them are Councilor Ronnel Rivera, son of fishing magnate Rodrigo Rivera Sr., who is vying in the General Santos city mayoral race against incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio, the same woman who defeated Pacquiao in his first foray into politics in the 2007 congressional race in South Cotabato.
Aside from his political plans, eight-division champion Pacquiao is also preparing for his fourth fight against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez on December 10 in Las Vegas.

source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/boxing/news/dynasty-in-works-jinkee-pacman-brother-throw-hat-into-political-ring

All eyes on celebrated rookies as Petron, Rain or Shine square off By Richard Dy

All eyes will be on top rookie pick June Mar Fajardo, left, and longtime amateur star Chris Tiu in Wednesday's PBA game between Petron Blaze and Rain or Shine. Jerome Ascano

TWO of the personalities that made the biggest news in the offseason – rookies June Mar Fajardo and Chris Tiu - make their much-awaited PBA debut on Wednesday night when Petron Blaze and Rain or Shine clash in the Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 6-10 Fajardo, the top pick overall in the rookie draft who attracted a lot of attention in the offseason because of his immense potential, and longtime amateur star Tiu are expected to play major roles in the 7:30 p.m. main game of the season's first double-header.
Fajardo is expected to start at center for the Boosters but will have his work cut out for him against Beau Belga and JR Quinahan, Rain or Shine's centers who have the wide frames to body up on Fajardo inside as well as the outside touch to challenge the rookie's dexterity on defense.
“Their (Elasto Painters) big men shoot from the outside, so for us, it will be a challenge," said Petron rookie coach Olsen Racela. "June Mar will have to come out to defend the perimeter. But this will be a good game and good test for us on how we have improved.”
On the other hand, Tiu, taken in the first round by Rain or Shine, is set to alternate with pal TY Tang in handling the playmaking duties for the Elasto Painters while reigning Rookie of the Year Paul Lee recuperates from shoulder surgery.
Fajardo has showed the public a glimpse of what he can do during the team’s preseason games. He has a decent shooting touch from 12 to 15 feet, a good post move and knows how to use his size inside.
The former University of Cebu star also knows what his role in the team would be.
“Kailangan ko pa mag-improve sa depensa ko. Since di naman ako kailangang umiskor gaano dahil marami namang scorers sa team,” Fajardo said, pointing to Arwind Santos, Fil-Am Chris Lutz, Joseph Yeo and Jay Washington as the team’s top gunners.
Lutz and Dorian Pena are set to play for the Boosters against the Elasto Painters after recovering from injuries. The 6-3 Lutz was sidelined during the past Petron practice games to let his hip flexors/adductors strain heal while Pena has fully recovered from his hamstring injury.
However, the Boosters are still expected to be without guard Marcio Lassiter, who is nursing an MCL injury and may need to sit out the team's first three games.
Racela should also be attracting his share of the attention as he coaches his first game since replacing Ato Agustin, who has assumed the new role of assistant team manager. The longtime San Miguel star will have former national coach Rajko Toroman by his side as consultant.
“I’m learning from coach Rajko. And that’s really part of the adjustment I need to make as the coach. Of course, Rajko will play a major role for us in our campaign this season,” Racela told Spin.ph.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said being the smallest team in the league, he expects his players to gang-rebound throughout this season and run at every opportunity.
“Rebound is effort, we need to cultivate that constantly,” said Guiao as he challenged undersized frontliners Larry Rodriguez, Jervie Cruz and Ronnie Matias to rise to the occasion.
“We’re going to be a running team. That’s the only way to keep pace with bigger teams. We don’t want to play half-court game. We want to play the up-tempo game,” he added.
Retooled ball clubs Air21 and Barako Bull kick off their campaigns in the 5:15 p.m. curtain-raiser.

source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/all-eyes-on-celebrated-freshmen-as-petron-rain-or-shine-square-off

Untested Rockets turn to Lin for leadership Associated Press

Jeremy Lin answers questions from the media before joining the Houston Rockets in training camp. AP

HOUSTON (AP) — Jeremy Lin became a Broadway sensation, a coveted free agent and a merchandising magnet in Asia, all in less than a year.
In Houston, Lin will return to a role he used to enjoy at Harvard — team leader.
The rebuilt Houston Rockets met with the media on Monday (Tuesday, Manila time) before heading south to begin training camp, and they'll turn to their charismatic new point guard for leadership and direction.
The 24-year-old Lin is hardly a seasoned player with only 25 starts in the NBA. It just seems that way after Lin soared to international stardom during a remarkable run with the New York Knicks last February. A restricted free agent, Lin signed an offer sheet with Houston, but Knicks coach Mike Woodson said New York planned to re-sign him.
The Rockets amended the offer to three years and about US$25 million, with about US$15 million backloaded to the final year. The Knicks backed off, and Lin returned to the team that cut him last December.
"It kind of reminds me of college," said Lin, who started 87 games in the Ivy League. "Just coming in, trying to lead, trying to work hard, trying to build a culture of playing a blue-collar brand of basketball."
Coach Kevin McHale concedes the Rockets will have to rely on scrappiness and guile to stay afloat this season, with most of the nucleus of last year's team — Kyle Lowry, Courtney Lee, Goran Dragic and Luis Scola — gone to other teams.
"We have a lot of young guys. We have to find a rotation, we've got a lot of stuff to do," McHale said. "Our goal is to try to win as many games as it takes to put ourselves in a position to get into the playoffs. That's going to be a hell of a challenge, but that's what I told our guys. We've got to find a way to get it done."
McHale also is eager to learn the capabilities of each player, most of them virtually untested at the NBA level. Donatas Motiejunas, a 7-foot forward from Lithuania, averaged 16 points and 6.6 rebounds in Europe last year, and first-round picks Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White begin their first training camps after playing for Houston's summer-league team.
"We just have so many unknowns, so many guys who haven't played with each other yet," McHale said. "It's hard to project what they're going to do. But I would be shocked if we don't play really hard and get after it."

source: http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/untested-rockets-turn-to-lin-for-leadership

UFC 152: Jones recovers from shaky start to dominate Belfort

Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Monday, September 24, 2012 · 12:22 am

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones bucked some early adversity, getting caught in a deep armbar in the first round, before dominating challenger Vitor Belfort and finishing the fight with an americana lock in the fourth round of their main event fight of UFC 152 at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
It was Jones’ fourth successful title defense – all against former champions – as the prodigious fighter took an eighth straight victory and moved up to 11-1 in his UFC career. He finished seven of his last eight wins by either TKO or submission.
The 25-year-old Jones faced what may have been the biggest scare of his title run, though, after taking Belfort, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, down early in the fight and finding himself in an armbar that looked to have fully hyperextended his right arm. But Jones pulled out of it and eventually dominated the rest of the round, landing punishing elbows from on top and busting Belfort open before the bell, forcing the fight doctor to have to check out the cut between rounds.
Belfort was deemed okay to continue, but took a lot of damage from Jones’ kicks in the second while having trouble catching the champion. Belfort pulled guard near the end of the round and tried for a triangle attempt but still got the worse of the exchange on the ground.
Jones landed a couple more kicks in the third, including a big kick to the ribs that dropped Belfort to the mat. The champion followed him to the ground and controlled the round with some ground and pound, including more of his dangerous elbows, as he cruised to another round.
In the fourth, Belfort went down early and Jones capitalized, working his way into a mounted crucifix and locking an americana and got the submission win.
Jones admitted after the fight that Belfort had the armbar locked in very deep in the first round and that he felt his arm pop.
But that didn’t matter too much as the champion expectedly cruised to another one-sided defense.

source: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/ufc-152-jones-recovers-from-shaky-start-to-dominate-belfort

Marquez already hard at work in training; Pacquiao to report second week of October

Lee Jimenez, InterAKTV · Tuesday, October 2, 2012 · 9:58 pm

Reuters

While Manny Pacquiao is neck-deep in his political career, Juan Manuel Marquez is in the thick of training in the mountains of Toluca, Mexico, as the Mexican counter-puncher revs up for his December 8 faceoff with the Filipino icon in Las Vegas.
InterAKTV was told by Mexican sources yesterday that Marquez logged 13 kilometers of roadwork in the Nevado de Toluca mountains under the watchful eyes of his long-time training assistant Raul de Anda.
Marquez complained of body pain after the first two weeks of training but the 39-year-old insists he will get used to it in due time as he expressed his excitement to bang bodies with Pacquiao at the MGM Grand.
Last week, Marquez also visited the same rugged terrain and chopped wood and hit the tire with a sledgehammer ala Rocky Balboa.
A 3-1 underdog, Marquez is confident there will be no need to stage a fifth fight because he will score a convincing stoppage victory.
Marquez said training for this fight will be focused on how to stop Pacquiao so he can prevent the judges from tinkering with the score sheets.
Pacquiao countered that he will do the same thing to prove that his two wins over Marquez were genuine.
But Pacquiao won’t be reporting for training at the Wild Card until the second week of October and yesterday, he actually filed his candidacy for congressman of Sarangani.

source: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/marquez-already-hard-at-work-in-training-pacquiao-to-report-second-week-of-october

Coach E Basketball 3rd quarter classes begin October 13

InterAKTV · Tuesday, October 2, 2012 · 10:35 pm

With more than 200 students benefiting from Coach E Basketball’s program the past two quarters, the academy will open its third quarter classes beginning October 13 in four different venues and October 18 at the Xavier School in San Juan.
Coach E Basketball is committed for continuous excellence in teaching the youth and the academy which boasts of a low teacher-student ratio has included varsity-type training modules in celebration of its eighth year.
On October 13, the third quarter classes will start at Clubsixfifty in Libis, Quezon City, The Zone in Makati and San Beda College-Alabang from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and Ateneo in Loyola Heights, Quezon City from 2 to 4 p.m. Classes will end on December 9.
On October 18, Xavier School will start its Thursday classes from 4 to 6 p.m.
Students will be divided according to their skill level – Li’l Ones, Rookies and All-Stars.
Parents can call Coach-E Basketball School at tel. nos. 684347 and 6311195 or mobile no. 09088846947 or e-mail at info@coach-e.com. To know more about Coach-E Basketball School, visit their website at www.coach-e.com or follow on Facebook (www.facebook.com/coachebasketballschool) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/coachebball).

source: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/coach-e-basketball-3rd-quarter-classes-begin-october-13

Howard, Nash join Kobe, Gasol as Lakers open training camp

source: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/howard-nash-join-kobe-gasol-as-lakers-open-training-camp

Agence France-Presse · Tuesday, October 2, 2012 · 4:00 pm

Reuters

LOS ANGELES – Newcomers Dwight Howard and Steve Nash joined the Los Angeles Lakers for Monday’s first day of training camp as Kobe Bryant looks for a sixth career NBA title and Pau Gasol bids for his third.
The Lakers signed Canadian Nash, a veteran point guard still seeking his first NBA crown, in the off-season and added center Howard from Orlando in a four-team deal last August to become a favorite in the NBA championship quest.
“All the pieces fit,” Bryant said. “We all do different things. We all fit together naturally. We just have to keep doing the things we have been doing our entire careers.”
Howard is one of the top defensive stars in the NBA, his shot-blocking skills and ability to shut down opposing big men matched by his domination as a rebounder and top inside playmaker.
“Dwight’s defensive presence is probably the greatest I’ve seen in the history of the sport,” Bryant said.
Howard replaces Andrew Bynum, who was traded to Philadelphia in the four-team swap, and will allow Spain’s Gasol to focus on power forward duties on the Laker front-line, opening more chances for him to make shots.
Howard said on Monday that he expects to be recovered from a back injury that kept him out of the Olympics in time to play for the Lakers when they open the season on October 30 at home against Dallas.
“Hopefully he will be ready to go and come back and that injury will stay away,” Bryant said.
Nash will take over the Lakers’ point guard duties, directing the offense and setting up shots for Bryant, Gasol and Howard as well as making his own opportunities if teams are too respectful of his passing skills.
“Steve’s a great playmaker,” Bryant said. “He has had the ball in his hands too much. In our offense he has more mobility. He can do a myriad of things. We all can. that’s going to keep defenses on their toes.”
“Steve’s IQ and ability to quarterback, it’s not something I can naturally do,” Bryant said. “I’m more of a scorer. I have to move off the ball and he can do what he does and I can do what I do.”
Bryant, 34, said he expects at most to play another three NBA seasons. That would see him say goodbye at age 37 after 19 seasons.
“The closer it gets to the end to more rejuvenated I feel and the more motivated I feel to closing it out the right way,” Bryant said.
To most observers, that means by matching or surpassing the six NBA crowns won by Michael Jordan in his career. The Lakers won the most recent of their 16 NBA titles in 2009 and 2010 with Bryant also taking titles from 2000-2002.
“Let’s start with winning the first game,” Bryant said.