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Philippines U21 misses bus to the World Cup, demolished by Poland U21, 81-106 (74979)

Beijing, China -- Philippines U21 ends their season on a miserable note as Poland U21 crushes the Philippine team's dream of making the World Cup for the third consecutive time. It was a crushing defeat, 81-106, which sends Philippines U21 to the consolation tournament next season.

Clodualdo Salinel was the only one who showed up for the Filipinos as he scored 31 points on 13 of 29 shooting, but he also had to endure foul trouble in the second half.

Leonilo Gomez started the game but was injured at the beginning of the second quarter. He only managed to score 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. He was replaced by the newcomer, Burt Marc Soldevilla, who scored 8 points. Dino Isaiah Libutaque and Juvenal Delvir also scored 8 points each.

Poland U21 were hitting most their shots, which led to them having 6 double-digit scorers, led by Zbigniew Klincewicz with 17 points, and Karol Poczatek with 14 points. The Polish side also outrebounded and out-assisted the Philippine team.

"It wasn't the ending we wanted, so with that, I deeply apologize to the Filipino community who supported the team all the way", coach Leo mentioned in the interview. "As the cliche goes, we'll bounce back!"

Points Leaders:
Clodualdo Salinel - 31 points
Burt Marc Soldevilla - 8 points
Dino Isaiah Libutaque - 8 points
Juvenal Delvir - 8 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Axel Marquese - 8 rebounds
Allan Camilo Onganon - 6 rebounds
Burt Marc Soldevilla - 5 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Clodualdo Salinel - 5 assists
David Castaños - 4 assists
Axel Marquese - 3 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

- Leo

Hence the end of Season 64. Again, it wasn't the ending that we wanted, so apologies again to everyone. On to Season 65, in the consolation tournament. Not much to say about it, but because of the new rules regarding Home Court Advantages (HCA), the consolation games will mostly be a game for pride and honor, nothing more. We can't get HCA via this tournament because according to the Game Manual, "A NT&U21 team who won a trophy(1-4 places) in the past 6 seasons will not enjoy another HCA, even if they won the consolation tournament." So, we'll take this opportunity to polish Pinoy manager skills in training, and as well as my coaching skills.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank the managers of the players included in the team. Thank you for taking care of the player's training and game shape. It was a pleasure talking with y'all.

I'm now wiping the roster clean and scout the incoming rookies starting tomorrow. Hope we can secure a lot of decent prospects in this draft.

And also, in case you missed it, I posted an "Almost Comprehensive" training guide in Taglish. I'll also be including another one in 100% English, probably after an hour or two.

Good luck in your drafts and enjoy the rest of the week!

- Leo

Pilipinas U21 off to a rough start, routed by Slovakia U21, 89-104 (75380)

Bratislava, Slovakia -- Pilipinas U21 starts off the consolation tournament journey with a loss against a strong Slovakia U21 team, 89-104. It was close in the first half, but a huge 3rd quarter run spelled the difference for the Slovaks, and the Pinoys never recovered. With this loss, Pinoys will start with a 0-1 win-loss card and will look to barge into win column next week against Pakistan U21, who earlier won via default against Belarus U21.

Jozef Bršel led the way for Slovakia U21 as he scored 25 points on 8-16 shooting clip and dished out 5 assists. Vincent Matiaš and Erik Hatrák contributed 13 points each.

For the Philippines, June Elle paced the team with 29 points on 12 of 27 field goal shooting, while the veteran Allan Camilo Onganon chipped in 18 points and hauled 9 rebounds. Lucio Chiu had a decent double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

As briefly mentioned above, Pilipinas U21's next game in the Consolation Tournament will be against Pakistan U21, July 1, 5:30pm, held in Manila, Philippines. See you there and support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
June Elle - 29 points
Allan Camilo Onganon - 18 points
Lucio Chiu - 12 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Lucio Chiu - 11 rebounds
Allan Camilo Onganon - 9 rebounds
Manny Emil Ricamona - 4 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Manny Emil Ricamona - 8 assists
Froilan Villablanca - 8 assists
Lucio Chiu - 5 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

- Leo

Last edited by Leo (Pilipinas U21) at 7/29/2024 8:24:32 AM

Pilipinas U21 gets first win, annihilates Pakistan U21, 122-65 (75420)

Manila, Philippines -- Pilipinas U21 showed brilliance and dominance on both ends of the floor, as they took down the hapless Pakistan U21 team, 122-65. This is Pilipinas U21's first win in 2 outings, and will now sport a 1-1 win-loss record.

The Philippine-based team ended the game with 6 double-digit scorers, led by Froilan Villablanca with 22 points, on 50% (9 of 18) field goal shooting. Tian Yankun, Wang Tiankai and Shannon Olvera contributed 19, 18 and 16 points, respectively. Allan Camilo Onganon proved to be a defensive force as he swatted 5 shots and hauled 17 rebounds (3 offensive).

Aziz Younis was the lone bright spot for the Pakistanis. The 20-year-old stalwart scored 25 points with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. The other double-digit scorer on their team was Siavash Heshmati, who managed to chip in 11 points and 6 rebounds, but had trouble with the Philippine defense as he turned the ball over 5 times.

Pilipinas U21's next game in the Consolation Tournament will be against Bahamas U21, July 9, 7:00am (Manila time). It will be held in the beautiful seaside capital city of Nassau. See you there and continue to support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
Froilan Villablanca - 22 points
Tian Yankun - 19 points
Wang Tiankai - 18 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Allan Camilo Onganon - 17 rebounds
Lucio Chiu - 10 rebounds
Eric García - 7 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Manny Emil Ricamona - 6 assists
Tian Yankun - 4 assists
Shannon Olvera - 4 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Last edited by Leo (Pilipinas U21) at 7/29/2024 8:24:11 AM

Pilipinas U21 rides the Wave to Victory, surges past Bahamas U21, 93-78 (75463)

Nassau, Bahamas -- It was an opportunity for Pilipinas U21 players and coaching staff to loosen up a bit with a short vacation on the beautiful coastlines of Nassau. It was indeed a much-needed rest as the Philippine-based team looked refreshed and focused. They won handily over Bahamas U21, 93-78, and now both teams hold a 2-1 win-loss record.

In the post-game interview, Coach Leo commended the efforts of his team, especially Manny Emil Ricamona for his defense on Bahamas U21 star, Richard Thomas. In his previous 2 games, Thomas scored 23 points on each of them, with decent FG%. But in this game, he was just limited to only 17 points, on 7 of 27 shooting clip, 3 of 15 from beyond the arc.

Wang Tiankai led Pilipinas U21 in scoring with 26 points on 12 of 23 field goal shooting. He was aggressive from the get-go, scoring the first 7 points for the Filipinos, but his foul woes kept him from being aggressive in the majority of the game. June Elle contributed 25 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Allan Camilo Onganon was doing his best Dennis Rodman impersonation with 0 points and 19 rebounds.

For the Bahamas U21 team, Richard Thomas was their leading scorer with 17 points, and followed by Scott Tran with a 15 points, 16 rebounds double-double, but was saddled with 5 fouls in the 2nd half.

Pilipinas U21's next game in the Consolation Tournament will be against Macedonia U21, July 15, 5:30pm (Manila time) and will be held in Manila, Philippines. See you there and continue to support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
Wang Tiankai - 26 points
June Elle - 25 points
Froilan Villablanca - 14 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Allan Camilo Onganon - 19 rebounds
Lucio Chiu - 10 rebounds
Niel Tajo - 7 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Manny Emil Ricamona - 5 assists
June Elle - 4 assists
Allan Camilo Onganon - 3 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Last edited by Leo (Pilipinas U21) at 7/29/2024 8:23:53 AM

Froilan Villablanca scores 26 points as Philippines U21 takes down Macedonia U21, 92-66 (75536)

Manila, Philippines -- Macedonia U21 kept the game close at the first half, only trailing by 4 points, 40-44. But, second half was a different story. Philippines U21 outscored the Macedonians in the 2nd half, 48-26 to secure a big win at home, 92-66. As it stands, Philippines U21 will now sport a 3-1 record, while Macedonia U21 drops to 2-2.

Froilan Villablanca powers the Philippine-side with a game-high 26 points. He was 11 of 19 from the floor and made 4 of 8 from beyond the arc. He also dished out 3 assists. Manny Emil Ricamona dished out game-high 11 assists and also scored 16 points, on 6 of 11 field goal shooting. Wang Tiankai provided spark off the bench with 15 points. Allan Camilo Onganon had 12 rebounds but had 5 fouls early in the 1st half.

Vangel Videski, who led the Macedonians in scoring with 17 points, gave Onganon a difficult time as he outmuscled him in several occassions, leading to the latter getting into early foul trouble. Sande Chilimanov and Bogatin Mihajlovski scored 16 and 10 points, respectively.

Pilipinas U21's next game in the Consolation Tournament will be against Ghana U21, July 23, 3:00am (Manila time) and will be held in the historic capital city of Ghana, Accra. See you there and continue to support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
Froilan Villablanca - 26 points
Manny Emil Ricamona - 16 points
Wang Tiankai - 15 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Allan Camilo Onganon - 12 rebounds
Lucio Chiu - 11 rebounds
Armando Barberán - 11 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Manny Emil Ricamona - 11 assists
June Elle - 5 assists
Froilan Villablanca - 3 assists
Rennor Baya - 3 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Last edited by Leo (Pilipinas U21) at 7/29/2024 8:23:31 AM

Congrats Coach what a Huge Win ;) 3 game winstreak is on :D

Great win Coach Leo!

Salamat mga boss! Good contributions from Baya and Chiu ;)

Philippines U21 gets 4th straight win, drubs Ghana U21, 121-57 (75579)

Accra, Ghana -- Pilipinas U21 left Ghana U21 in the dust, and never looked back, as they secured a wire-to-wire win over the Ghana-based team, 121-57.

Wang Tiankai stays red hot as he leads the Pinoys in scoring with 21 points on 10 of 13 shooting clip. Niel Tajo, amassed a game-high 23 rebounds with 19 points, and that's coming off the bench. Newcomer Eli Anthony, or as Coach Leo calls him, "Carm-Eli Anthony" scored 16 points, all in the 2nd half. Froilan Villablanca didn't score that much, but was content sharing the rock with 10 assists, 7 in the 1st quarter alone. Pilipinas U21's win-loss record now stands at 4-1, which gives them a better chance of entering the Knockout rounds with a decent seed.

Bouba Diagne led Ghana U21 in scoring with 14 points, followed by Amadou Diallo with 13 points and Soulemagne Konaté with 12 points. Ghana U21 drops down to 2-3 in the standings.

Coach Leo, when asked about the new additions on the team, said he wanted to give them some playing time because they've been training hard the past few weeks. Regarding guard Ricaredo Esguera, who didn't play in this game, Coach Leo mentioned he'll get minutes in the next few games. He also mentioned that he will stick with this 15-man roster for a long while, probably until before the knockout rounds.

For next week, we are back in our home turf vs India U21, July 29, 5:30 PM (Manila time). See you there and continue to support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
Wang Tiankai - 21 points
Niel Tajo - 19 points
Eli Anthony - 16 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Niel Tajo - 23 rebounds
Lucio Chiu - 15 rebounds
Allan Camilo Onganon - 12 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Froilan Villablanca - 10 assists
Rennor Baya - 4 assists
Eric García - 4 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

- Leo

Last edited by Leo (Pilipinas U21) at 7/29/2024 8:23:09 AM

Philippines U21 cruised past hapless India U21, 125-34 (75614)

Manila, Philippines -- The small Indian community in Manila eagerly awaited the arrival of India U21 basketball team in front of the arena, but to their dismay, only 3 players showed up for the game. As expected, their gallant stand wasn't enough as they got trampled by a complete Philippines U21 team, 125-34.

For the Philippines U21, June Elle scored 26 points on 66.7% field goal shooting, and also added 7 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Lucio Chiu registered his 4th double-double in the tournament with 19 points and 16 rebounds. Eric García and Wang Tiankai scored 12 points each, while Ricaredo Esguera, the newcomer, and Froilan Villablanca chipped in 11 points each. This is also Philippines U21's 5th straight victory as they position themselves for a higher seeding in the knockout stages of the tournament, which will start on August 19.

The trio of Vihaan Muthusamy, Debiprasad Asha and Duluvaishvanara Kapoor played their hearts out for the Indian fans who decided to close their shops earlier than usual just to watch their future basketball superstars. India U21 coach declined to do any post-game interviews regarding the status of their team.

For next week, Philippines U21 will take on Luxembourg U21, August 6, 1:30 AM (Manila time). The game will be held in Luxembourg City. See you there and continue to support our National Teams!

Points Leaders:
June Elle - 26 points
Lucio Chiu - 19 points
Eric García - 12 points
Wang Tiankai - 12 points

Rebounds Leaders:
Lucio Chiu - 16 rebounds
Armando Barberán - 15 rebounds
Allan Camilo Onganon - 11 rebounds

Assists Leaders:
Manny Emil Ricamona - 9 assists
Tian Yankun - 9 assists
Ricaredo Esguera - 7 assists
Froilan Villablanca - 7 assists

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

- Leo