ALLAN THE MAN

The Gilas Pilipinas ,Philippine national men’s basketball team, dropped another tough contest to world-class competition, falling to African powerhouse Angola, 83-74, in a tune-up game on Thursday in San Sebastian, Spain.

Gilas Pilipinas posed a real threat to Angola, champions of seven of the last eight FIBA Africa Championships and ranked 15th in the world, trailing by as little as five points early in the fourth before falling behind near the end.

Paul Lee has clearly established himself as one of the best point guards – if not the best – in the PBA today.

That’s why Lawrence Chongson, his manager, remains in no rush to sign the maximum contract offered to him by Lee’s mother team, Rain or Shine.

“Hindi naman sa pagmamalaki, eh kasi Paul Lee siya eh,” Chongson told InterAksyon in a telephone interview.

The Philippine national youth basketball team mounted an epic fourth quarter comeback hand host Qatar a heartbreaking 81-79 defeat in the second round of the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship in Doha.

Batang Gilas came back from a whopping 15-point deficit in the final period behind booming three-pointers and some excellent play in the clutch.

Boxing superstar and aspiring PBA player Manny Pacquiao admitted that there is a possibility that he might bet picked by a team other than his KIA Motors Kamao at the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft on Sunday.

KIA will be picking 11th overall in the draft process. This means that the other teams will get the chance to secure the Filipino champ before the Kamaos take their turn.

Team USA ran away in their exhibition game against the Dominican Republic.

Team USA may be without the star power it expected to have going into the FIBA World Cup of basketball, but the team was still dominant in a 105-62 exhibition victory over the Dominican Republic. Team USA outmatched its opponent throughout the game, especially during a lopsided second half that ended with a flurry of dunks.

Gilas Pilipinas members were featured in a teaser video of the 2014 FIBA World Cup showing basketball moves of teams who qualified for the prestigious basketball tournament.

Larry Fonacier and Jimmy Alapag appear in the second installment of the "10 Seconds of Basketball" series of videos released ahead of the tournament's tipoff on August 30.

Thrice former champions and last edition’s silver medallists Korea answered six-time former champions Philippines speed with a speedier response and went a couple of steps ahead in their floor management to post an 87-69 win in a crucial Group B game at the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 Championship on Thursday.

The win leaves Korea with the advantage of carrying two wins into the Second Round Group E, where they will take on the top three teams of Group A including ten-time and reigning gold medallists China. Philippines too make it to the Second Round – as also Jordan – from the three-team Group B Prelim Round, but will only carry forward one win, against Jordan.