PATRIOTS SNAP THREE-GAME LOSING SKID DEFENDING champion Philippine Patriots snapped a


three-game losing streak with a 73-71 come-from- behind win over the Kuala Lumpur Dragons Thursday in the second Asean Basketball League at the Yñares Sports Arena in Pasig City.


FRANK CALAPRE


A 8


BY JOSEF T. RAMOS CORRESPONDENT


sports The Manila Times SATURDAY D ecember 11, 2010


MIR KHAN, the current World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion said he


would not fight Manny Pacquiao.


“I wouldn’t want to fight Manny because I think it puts me in a bad position, as I train with Freddie Roach and I don’t want to put him in that position of having to pick between us,” Khan, a former Olym- pic silver medalist, told sports netwok espn.com Friday.


“I would never fight Manny be- cause it would cause too many com- plications. On top of that, Manny and I are good friends. We eat at the same restaurants, we travel in the same car, we run and train together every day, we’ve built that bond up,” Khan said. Although he claimed the sparring


New York, New York I


T seems that the basketball gods are finally smiling on the New York Knicks. Af- ter spending a better part of a decade as the laughing stock of the league, the surging Knicks are becoming relevant once again. They currently have a 14-9 record and own a six-game winning streak in- cluding winning their last 11 of 12. It must be noted that the Knicks’ last winning season was back in 2001 when they finished 48-34. The last time the franchise reached the playoffs was back in 2004 when it lost in the first round to the New Jersey Nets. It has been a very steep decline since then. And once they hired the dysfunctional and delusional Isiah Thomas to take charge of the front office, the Knicks went into free fall. Thomas acquired (and overpaid)


several ineffective players, losing draft picks in the process. In the 2005-2006 season, the Knicks had the highest payroll in the league at $130 million but placed last in the NBA. He also pinned the franchise’s hopes on the equally delusional Stephon Marbury. The organization sank to a new low when a former Knicks executive ac- cused Thomas and owner James Dolan of sexual harassment during the 2007 offseason. The team was forced to shell out $12 million in punitive damages. Thomas was finally fired in 2008.


The team spent the past couple of seasons in mediocrity as they contin- ued to undo the damage that Thomas wrought. They unloaded several bad contracts to make space for the free agent class of 2010 that included LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Unfor- tunately, the team was unable to lure these players but got All-Star power-


CROSSOVER


forward Amar’e Stou- demire instead. Even with Stoudemire on board, pundits thought that the Knicks would continue to languish at the bottom since there was no one of note to support the forward.


Finally playing out of Steve Nash’s


shadow and embracing his new role as the leader of this young team, Stoudemire has been a monster play- ing in one of his best seasons yet. He is averaging almost 26 points (cur- rently third in the league) and over 9 rebounds giving him two Player of the Week awards for his stellar play. Another surprise is point guard


Raymond Felton who has signifi- cantly upped his scoring and assists numbers including a career best 2 steals per game. He has seamlessly jelled with Amar’e and the two are playing great basketball together. Rookie guard Landry Fields has also been a revelation leading all guards in the NBA in rebounds. Obviously, the Knicks are still a little “thin” lacking a quality back- up point guard and big man. Observers say that the Knicks have had a relatively easy schedule play- ing several early games versus subpar teams. In the next few weeks, they will face teams such as Miami, Bos- ton, Orlando and Chicago—the top tier in the East. If the Knicks can manage to get some wins against these contenders, they should get the confidence needed to move forward.


SIDELINES. The New York Knick- erbockers name is derived from the original Dutch settlers in what was to be the city of New York.


raffyrledesma@yahoo.com


CYCLIST MONGAHIS TOPS RACE


NELSON MONGAHIS clocked 57 minutes and 8.86 seconds to conquer the 40-kilometer men’s individual time trials race in the 2010 National Open Cycling Championships Friday in Jalajala, Rizal. JOSEF T. RAMOS


Amir Khan says he will not fight Pacquiao A


sessions he had with Pacquiao are “pretty even,” Khan remains firm that a bout against Pacquiao (52-3- 2 win-loss-draw with 38 knockouts) would not happen. “We’re good friends and I think


it would be tough to fight him,” said Khan, who helped and sparred with


DEFENDING champion Johnny Arcilla and Filipino-German Marc Sieber arranged a championship showdown after toppling their re- spective semifinal foes in the 29th Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open at the PCA claycourts in Paco, Manila.


Arcilla, who is eyeing his sixth


crown, cruised into the finals with a hard-earned 7-5, 6-4 victory over third pick and former Davis Cup vet-


eran Elbert Anasta in the tournament presented by Cebuana Lhuillier. “He’s [Anasta] really good. I had a lot of errors again but luckily I was able to adjust quickly,” said Arcilla, who is fresh from a stint in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Filipino-German Sieber did not


have an easy time either, as he had to dispose of veteran Southeast Asian Games standout Patrick John Tierro 6-2, 6-3 in the second semi-


final match.


“I’ll try to minimize my errors in the finals because Sieber is also do- ing well. There’s no room to relax,” added Arcilla.


Semifinal action in the ladies’ sin- gles fires up today with No. 1 Anna Clarice and No. 2 Anna Christine Patrimonio leading the pack. Anna Clarice is in for a big fight as she tries to oust Filipino-Ameri- can Desirae Krawczyk in contention


KEVIN GARNETT scored with 1.4 seconds left to lift Boston to a 102- 101 win over Philadelphia Thursday (Friday in Manila), giving the Celtics their ninth-consecutive National Basketball Association victory. Garnett took a long alley-oop pass from teammate Rajon Rondo and banked in a shot from in close for his 14th point of the game. Rondo finished with 19 points and 14 assists as the Celtics snapped


the 76ers’ five-game home win- ning streak. Garnett’s heroics came immedi- ately after Andre Iguodala scored to give Philadelphia a 101-100 lead with just six seconds left.


Garnett then iced the win by stealing a long inbounds pass to end the game. Ray Allen led Boston with 23 points and Glen Davis added 16 points. Jodie Meeks led Philadelphia with


19 points, and Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young had 16 points each. Elton Brand finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds for the 76ers. Trailing 80-72 with 2:39 left in the third quarter, Boston stormed back with a 9-0 run to take a 81-80 lead on Rondo’s three-pointer with 0.9 seconds left in the period. Boston, who were missing Shaquille O’Neal with a sore right calf, never led by more than eight points.


Pacquiao in Baguio City during his preparation against Antonio Marga- rito. Pacquiao annihilated Marga- rito in 12 rounds.


Khan is set to defend his WBA


light welterweight title against chal- lenger Marcos Maidana Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.


ARCILLA BRACES FOR SIEBER IN PCA OPEN FINALS


for the crown. There is certainly no love lost between Anna Clarice and Krawczyk as the latter beat the coun- try’s top seed in Phinma Interna- tional Juniors in the second round. Anna Christine will face veteran campaigner Marinel Rudas in the event which offers a whopping P500,000 cash prize with the men’s champion getting P100,000 and the women’s winner taking P50,000. EMIL C. NOGUERA


Boston Celtics edge Philadelphia 76ers Asiad silver medalist vies in


PHL Open AFP Jakarta likely host of Suzuki Cup semifinals


THE prospect of hosting one of the two home-and-away semifinals game of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup between the Phil- ippine national team and Indonesia on December 19 is very slim, accord- ing to Jose Mari Martinez, president of the International Football Federa- tion (FIFA)-recognized Philippine Football Federation (PFF). Martinez said that it is next to impossible to hold the game either in Manila or Bacolod City because of the absence of suitable venue that


fits standard of the AFF, the organ- izer of the event.


After reaching the semifinals for the first time, the Philippines is set to play against the Indonesian team at the 88,000-seater Gelora Bung Kamo Stadium on December 16. Supposedly, the Philippines could bid to host the second game on De- cember 19. The other semifinals match would pit Malaysia against Vietnam on December 26 and 29. Besides the absence of an interna- tional-standard football venue, Martinez also cited time constraint in setting up private sponsors to cover the expected ex- penses of hosting that would amount to more than $100,000. “We have tried every- thing that we can do. We have tried to look into the state of the Rizal Memorial Complex; we have tried to look into the Philsports in Pasig and the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City. But none of these passed the criteria of the AFF,” said Martinez, during a press conference Friday also attended by Philippine Sports Commission Chair- man Richie Garcia. He said that he will


be leaving for Jakarta, Indonesia on the 13th of the month to try to negotiate for the sec- ond game of the semi- finals, which he said


will be held instead in Jakarta and not in Vietnam as offered. “It’s final that we may hold the sec- ond game in Jakarta instead in Ma- nila or Bacolod, but for sure it’s not going to be in Vietnam even as they offered to be the neutral host simply because Jakarta can generate 40,000 to 80,000 crowd,” added Martinez. Martinez admitted that they were not prepared for the situation be- cause they were not expecting the Filipino footballers to reach the semifinals. The Philippine team sur- prised Vietnam, 2-0, and pulled off a draw against Singapore (0-0) and Myanmar (0-0) to reach the semifi- nals in the prestigious event dubbed as the World Cup of Southeast Asia. The PFF czar, who was ousted by at least 26 of 33 provincial football clubs, in a surprise election, said that the supposed home game by the Fili- pinos could earn at least $200,000 in Jakarta from which all the proceeds will go to the players of the team. For his part, Garcia said that a lot of politicians and businessmen are asking why the home game cannot be held in Manila or Bacolod, which hosted the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.


“The Rizal Memorial Sports Com- plex can be ready by next year. If it will be six to seven months from now, I’m sure, we can host it al- ready,” said Garcia.


Martinez explained that the re- quirements in the AFF is a lot stricter than that of the Southeast Asian Games because of the involvement of corporate sponsors investing mil- lions of US dollars.


FRANK CALAPRE


Barako Bull upsets B-Meg Derby Ace, 85-83


DENNIS DAA completed a pair of charity in the last 0.4 seconds as Barako Bull pulled off a slim 85-83 win over highly favored B-Meg Derby Ace Friday in the 36th Philippine Basketball Asso- ciation (PBA) All-Filipino Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. After Sunday Salvacion tied the score at 83-83, the 6’5” for-


ward Daa got a foul from Rico Mauierhofer in a rebound scuf- fle and sank the pair of free throws that ended the campaign of the Energy Boosters with a 3-11 slate. Not even the thought of being booted-out early for the fifth- straight time could spoil the determination of the Energy Boosters who dealt the Llamados their seventh setback against seven losses. With the setback, the Llamados are facing a difficult situ- ation of possibly ending the elimination round in a tie with Meralco (6-7), Alaska (6-7), Air 21 (6-7) and Rain or Shine (5-7). In such scenario, the tie would be resolved through a quotient system. Salvacion topscored for the Energy Boosters with 15 points, while Mark Isip settled with 13 and 11 from the 6’5” forward Daa. James Yap led the Llamados with 22 points, Jerwin Gaco and Jonas Villanueva added 12 points each. Meanwhile, Peter Jun Simon was meted a fine of P20,000 and a one-game suspension after being thrown-out of the court during their game against Rain or Shine on Wednesday. Besides the 30-year-old Simon, a 43rd overall pick by Sta.


Lucia Realty in 2001, also given penalty but without suspen- sion were Rommeo Adducul (P5,000) and for Wesley Gonzales (P20,000 )for hitting Jeff Chan in the Rain or Shine-Air 21 game. FRANK CALAPRE


ASIAN Games silver medalist Miguel Tabuena will lead a crack squad of junior players slugging it out with the country’s leading shotmakers in the Philippine Open, which unfolds December 15 at the Valley Golf Club in Antipolo. The event will be Tabuena’s first since winning the individual silver medal in the Asiad last month with the 16-year-old shotmaker hoping to flaunt the form he showed in Guangzhou against a field teeming with talent. Tabuena, who lead in the first two


days in China but faltered in the third round before hanging tough in the final day to keep the silver, will be joined in the hunt for top honors in the P2-million event by fellow jungolfers Andres Saldana, Miggy Yee, Jobim Carlos, AR Ramos, Jahns Keanu, Gio Gandionco and Clyde Mondilla, the reigning na- tional champion. Tabuena and company are actually training under the ICTSI-Cangolf pro- gram headed by Tommy Manotoc, also the head of National Golfers As- sociation of the Philippines’s youth and developmental pool.


But the jungolfers will be up


a formidable roster of players, headed by Frankie Miñoza and five of the Top 10 players in this year’s ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit rankings, headed by Marvin Dumandan, Artemio Murakami, Benjie Magada, Ferdie Aunzo and Cassius Casas.


»NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS AND STANDINGS


Indianapolis 30 Tennessee 28 STANDINGS


AMERICAN CONFERENCE WLT PCT PF PA


AFC East Division New England 10 2 0 .833 379 269 NY Jets Miami


9 3 0 .750 267 232 6 6 0 .500 215 238


Buffalo 2 10 0 .167 243 333 AFC North Division Pittsburgh 9 3 0 .750 267 185 Baltimore 8 4 0 .667 260 201 Cleveland 5 7 0 .417 229 239 Cincinnati 2 10 0 .167 255 322 AFC South Division Jacksonville 7 5 0 .583 240 294 Indianapolis 7 6 0 .538 312 280 Houston 5 7 0 .417 288 321 Tennessee 5 8 0 .385 291 265 AFC West Division Kansas City 8 4 0 .667 295 237 San Diego 6 6 0 .500 323 253 Oakland 6 6 0 .500 283 269 Denver


3 9 0 .250 256 333


NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE WLT PCT PF PA


NFC East Division Philadelphia 8 4 0 .667 344 281 NY Giants 8 4 0 .667 308 247 Washington 5 7 0 .417 222 293 Dallas


4 8 0 .333 294 336


NFC North Division Chicago 9 3 0 .750 246 192 Green Bay 8 4 0 .667 303 182 Minnesota 5 7 0 .417 227 253 Detroit


2 10 0 .167 278 306


NFC South Division Atlanta 10 2 0 .833 304 233 New Orleans 9 3 0 .750 299 227 Tampa Bay 7 5 0 .583 243 251 Carolina 1 11 0 .083 154 307 NFC West Division St. Louis 6 6 0 .500 232 237 Seattle


6 6 0 .500 240 289


San Francisco 4 8 0 .333 203 259 Arizona


3 9 0 .250 200 338 AFP


RAFFY


LEDESMA


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