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PBA legends show their brand of basketball
France beats Lithuania to win 1st basketball title
Tony Parker finally has an international title to go with his three NBA rings — although it was his France teammates who stole the spotlight in the European championship final. With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. “It’s been an unbelievable journey chasing this title,” Parker said. “I would change nothing.” The San Antonio Spurs guard led France to the under-18 world championship title in 2000, and said he made a promise back then that he would give the senior team its first international success as well. Thirteen years later, it’s mission accomplished. “I went to everyone’s room last night in the hotel and I told them that there
was no way we were going to lose this game,” Parker said. France broke open a close game by finishing the third quarter with a 14-0 run that kept Lithuania scoreless for four minutes. The French lead grew to 22 points with three minutes remaining in the third and Lithuania never came close to a comeback. Batum had 17 points and Diaw added 15, while Linas Kleiza led Lithuania with 20. Parker finished with 12 points, after scoring just four through the first three quarters. But his scoring and leadership during the run to the final — including 32 points against defending champion Spain in the semifinals — earned him the tournament MVP award. “We had a perfect plan, the coach said they would double-team me and that I had to trust my teammates and not to worry if I don’t score much,” Parker said. After finally capturing that elusive gold — in F r a n c e’s r e c o r d 3 6 t h appearance in the tournament — Parker led the French team into the
stands to celebrate with their fans after the final buzzer. Spain beat Croatia 92-66 earlier Sunday to earn the bronze medal. Guard Antoine Diot all but secured France’s victory with a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the third quarter, after a Lithuania
Ray Parks was cleared of a major injur y yesterday as the National University star tries to lead the Bulldogs in their second and final attempt to clinch a championship berth in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament this week. Parks came out of the dugout with a heavily bandaged hand after the game last Sunday due to an injury he sustained in the Bulldogs’ 71-62 loss to t he underdog Un i v e r s i t y o f S a n t o Tomas Growling Tigers that pushed their semifinal series into a do-or-die game.
Team officials said Parks had no fracture whatsoever but sustained a sprain on his left wrist and pinky finger. “His X-ray is clear,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano. Parks landed on his wrist after a baseline drive at the 3:22 mark as the Bulldogs rallied and trimmed the Tigers’ 18-point lead to a single digit. The two-time MVP got back in the game, but described as “too low” a move by UST forward Kevin Ferrer to grab his injured hand. “I guess t he y were
thirsty for the win,” said Parks, the son of the late s e ven-t ime PBA B est Import Bobby Parks. “But we have to come out and play with no intention to hurt somebody.” The No. 1 Bulldogs aim to advance to the Finals for the first time in 43 years against the Tigers in their winnertake-all on Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena. L a S a l l e , t h e N o. 2 seed also holding a twice-to-b e at edge, will shoot for the first title berth against Far Eastern University at 4 p.m. tomorrow also at MOA Arena.
Just a minor injury for Ray Parks of NU Bulldogs
turnover gave France the possession with 0.9 seconds left. Diaw threw the ball to Diot, who nailed a 3 that was upheld after the referees viewed the video to make sure he had beaten the clock. Batum finished the first half with 17 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the
The PBA Legends arrived in Iligan last September 21 direct from Manila to see action in the hard court with the Iligan All Stars selection. A mall tour was held that day together with a motorcade around the central part of the city to parade the basketball stars for the benefit of their basketball fans. Arriving from Manila to show their brand of b asketb a l l were B onel Balingit (Mt. Balingit), Noli Locsin (The Tank), Marlou Aquino (The Skyscraper), Johnny Abarrientos (The Flying A ) , A l v i n Pat r i m on i o (The Captain), Jerr y
Cordinera (The Defense Minister), Bal David ( T h e F l a s h ) , Ke n n e t h Duremdes (The Captain Marbel), Nelson Asaytono (The Bull) and Rodney Santos (The Slasher). The games started off with FCBL Selection versus Team Cagayan de Oro. The PBA Legends a g ai ns t t h e I l i g an A l l Stars Selection was held at the MSU-IIT gym at 6:00 p.m. The PBA Legends versus the Iligan All Star Selection basketball game was supported by t h e l o c a l g ov e r n m e nt through Mayor Celso G. Regencia. (With reports from Ree J. Altres/CIO)
field and making three of four 3-pointers. Diaw took over in the third, scoring 11 points on drives to the basket and outside shots. “We didn’t do a bad job defending Parker, but we forgot about the others,” Lithuania coach Jonas Kazlauskas said.
France coach Vincent Collet said his team had learned from the times it came up short in the past. “It wasn’t the easiest way, but we improved starting with the quarterfinals. It’s the 36th Euro for France and the first title, you can imagine how we feel,” Collet said.
Mayweather-Alvarez fight richest in history LOS ANGELES - Floyd Mayweather’s win over Mexico’s Saul Alvarez has been confirmed as the richest fight in boxing history with nearly $150 million in pay-per-view revenues, US cable network Showtime said Thursday (Friday, PHL time). The revenues for Saturday’s (Sunday, PHL time) unified super welterweight championship in Las Veges surpassed the $136 million that was generated by Mayweather’s 2007 showdown with Oscar de la Hoya. Showtime said that the fight attracted some 2.2 million pay-per-view buys which is second all-time to the 2.48 million buys for the Mayweather/de la Hoya fight. Showtime said the numbers on the pay-per-view are still being added up but it has already beaten out the third
most popular fight in history (1.97 million) between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson in 1997. The fight, which had an average ticket price of over $1,200, also set a boxing record for gate revenues at more than $20 million. It established boxing television records in Mexico where Alvarez, whose nickname is “Canelo”, is one of that nation’s most popular stars. The fight was watched by 22.1 million people and in 5.9 million households, making it the highest-rated boxing program ever in Mexico. Mayweather and Alvarez went the 12-round distance with the American taking the decision to improve his record to 45-0. Alvarez suffered just the first loss of his career, falling to 42-1-1. - AFP