http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...1sep21,0,5494956.column?coll=sfla-sports-heat Former Florida International standout Raja Bell continues to work out in Miami, uncertain whether the Mavericks will invite him back. The free-agent defensive-minded forward is caught in a numbers game in Dallas, which already has 14 players under guaranteed contract. A key could be Dallas' ability to unload the contract of unwanted forward Chris Mills. ... From the how-far-have-they-fallen department, the Manila Times is reporting Isaiah Rider is considering a stint in the Philippine Basketball Association. The pay for the troubled former NBA guard would be a robust $14,000 a month. ... Adam Keefe, out of the league for two seasons, and Tracy Murray, out of sight at the end of the Lakers' bench last season, will attempt comebacks at the Trail Blazers' camp. Also to audition with Portland is Livan Pyfrom, a 7-foot center from the Bahamas.
I swear as soon as I read the topic subject, and before reading the thread, I said "I bet he's in that Filipino league all those players go to before disappearing forever". I think Derrick Chievous went there never to be heard from again, too.
Hahaha, Quezon City born here, REPRESENT!!! I am not surprise. Quite a few NBA stars went to play in the Philippines and even former rockets Elie, Eldridge Recasner, and a few others. I remember I went to the Philippines in '95 during the Rockets champioship run, they mentioned it in the paper, and next to it, they showed that one of the PBA teams signed Sam Mack and was described as "NBA talent who last played for the San Antonio Spurs".
QUEZON CITY BORN TOO AND LAS PIÑAS CITY WHERE I GREW UP! yup! that's troo! even former rockets player rhoderick rhodes played in the Philippines. the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association), and our current defense guy, Juaquin Hawkins ( he played for the team, San Miguel Beermen). even Ansu Sesay (he played for the team, Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs) of the Sonics played there.
Damn, thats right, their team names are a bunch of products. My uncle over there is like a VP of marketing for Nestle, so I got hookups to a few games I watched back in '93, even meet one of the players, but cant remember his name. I was born in Quezon City but moved to Houston when I was 6 months, so I can safely say that Houston is my hometown.
born in Manila... raised in Makati... I LOVE the SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN... it's all about SAMBOY LIM!!!!!
i knew a guy from high school named mark pasquel that was invited to play in the philipino league. he was good, but not THAT good. is the league there any good (comparitively to the rest around the world)?
Its been awhile since I last seen it, but I dont think its too bad. Compared to other countries, I cant really tell cause the only other footage i have seen outside of the Philippines and the NBA are the Boki and Yao footage on this site, so I cant really judge. I would comapare it to maybe a CBA/NBDL league.
well, the philippine team doesnt compete in the olympics due to "economic" purposes and that the officials of the league are so corrupt that there's no money left for the philippine team to join the olympics coz all of the money goes to their pockets! but, in competetion, the philippines are next to china in basketball supremacy in asia. i dont know about the whole world. but, yes, philippines basketball is really good! if im correct, the philippines also whooped the national team which includes peja stojakovich and vlade divac.
If Uzbekistan can finance an Olympic team, then anyone can. Aside from lack of funds, qualifying for the Olympics is the bigger problem. The Philippines team has not been able to place in the top 3 in Asian Basketball Championships in a long time. They just lost to Japan and Qatar. Japan maybe, but Qatar??? That's horrible.
i remember michael young (former couger) from the phi slamma jamma days played there in '86, and did really well, manila beer I think the team was. kevin gamble who played in boston played there briefly. as for the level of play, it's hard to say really because filipinos are fairly small. the slot players are 6'5" to 6'7", so it's very hard to compete internationally. the asian basketball championship takes second place to the asian games, and the philippines ranks around 4th in the region (china, japan, korea) but plays well enough to contend except against china because of the height difference. $14000 a month isn't bad considering they also get commercial endorsements, first class accomodations. but they only play three months at a time. samboy lim and allan caidic with san miguel beer, seems like yesterday...
Well, all those former NBA players can't actually play for the Phillipines in the Olympics, so that's probably why their national team sucks...
