A WEEKEND TO REMEMBER

I decided to stay at home most of the past weekend if not all in anticipation of a cage fiesta on the boob tube.

First on hand last Saturday morning was the NBA pre-season game featuring the 2008 NBA champs Boston Celtics going up against the New York Knicks at the TD Banknorth Garden. The game was covered live by Basketball TV (BTV). It’s nice to see Kevin Garnett back in the groove for the Beantown outfit after missing the whole of the 2009 NBA playoffs due to injury. The Celtics went on to spank the Knicks, 96-82.

At exactly 6 pm, I immediately tuned in to ESPN Asia for the inaugural game of the fledgling Asean Basketball League (ABL). It was a different kind of excitement the ABL had brought in as it became the first-ever pro regional cage loop in this side of the globe. The Philippine Patriots, with two hardworking imports in Brandon Powell and former PBA reinforcement Jason Dixon plus a slew of ex-PBA stalwarts in Rob Wainwright, Christian Coronel, Frioilan Baguion, Warren Ibanez and Mark Andaya, brought down host Satria Muda Britama of Indonesia, 76-69. It was a very physical opening game played before a jampacked Britama Stadium.

Sunday morning at 9:30 am, BTV aired live the 2009 NBA Outdoor game at the Indian Wells Tennis Center in a match-up of two exciting run-and-gun teams in the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns. The game was played before a beautiful weather unlike last year’s edition wherein both the Suns and the Denver Nuggets almost did not play the second half due to severe windy condition. The Warriors, despite internal team problems initiated by perennial bad boy Stephen Jackson, went on to subdued Steve Nash and the Suns, 104-101.

Immediately right after the Warriors-Suns tiff, I switched channels to Starsports Asia as the NBA China game between Denver Nuggets and the Indiana Pacers is set to start at 12 high noon. The Nuggets took a sweet revenge on the Pacers after losing their NBA Taiwan game last Thursday, 128-112.

After the NBA China game, I took a nap for two hours and set my alarm clock at 4 pm in time for the ABL debut of the Singapore Slingers and the Brunei Barracudas over at ESPN Asia. The Slingers fully took advantage of their homecourt as they outplayed the visiting Barracudas, 87-69. The Barracudas paraded four ex-PBA personnel in head coach Bong Ramos and local pro free agents Leo Avenido, Don Camaso and Kiko Adriano. The Slingers, led by two high-flying imports in Michael LeBlanc and Kyle Jeffers, displayed an awesome kind of game as they led the Barracudas from start to finish. It will be a humdinger of a game next Sunday as the Patriots visit the Slingers in a battle of opening day winners.

Lastly at around 6:30 in the evening, CS/9 brought in live the 35th season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) which finally kicked off with a lone game between the Purefoods Hotdogs and the Burger King Whoppers at the Araneta Coliseum. The Hotdogs, featuring a revamped line-up, crushed the Whoppers, 93-80. The game saw the debut of this year's number one draft pick over-all Japeth Aguilar in the pros as he suited up for the Whoppers. But according to latest reports, that game will be the first and last of Aguilar with Burger King as he was traded to Talk N Text right after the said ballgame. His transfer to the Manny Pangilinan-owned franchise will pave the way for his stint with the National developmental team Smart Gilas.

All in all, it was a knockout weekend not only for me but for sure, to a million more basketball junkies. And for most of us, basketball is not just a sport but a religion as well.