Manila Invitational
I was going through the channels and I ended up watching the basketball game of TEAM PILIPINAS vs SYRIA. The current national team, nicknamed "Team Pilipinas" (Team Philippines), is sponsored by the San Miguel Corporation, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, the Philippine Basketball Association, and the Philippine Basketball League. The coach of the team is Vincent "Chot" Reyes.
Latest standings as of today :
1. LEBANON- 2-1
2. CHINA 2-1
3. PHILIPPINES 1-1
4. SYRIA 0-2
Manila Invitational
| July 15 5:00 PM | Playoffs | Philippines  | – | To be determined | Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City | ABC |
| July 14 7:30 PM | Prelims | Philippines | – |  Syria | The Arena in San Juan, San Juan City | ABC |
| July 13 4:00 PM | Prelims | Philippines | – |  China | Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City | ABC |
| July 12 6:30 PM | Prelims | Philippines | 88–83 |  Lebanon | The Arena in San Juan, San Juan City | ABC |
| Scoring by quarter: 23-14, 32-26, 10-20, 23-23 | ||||||
The players for MANILA INVITATIONAL are:
Asi Taulava of Talk 'N Text; Mick Penissi of Red Bull Barako; Kerby Raymundo of Purefoods TJ Giants; Ranidel De Ocampo of Air21 Express, Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucoa Realtors; Gabe Norwood- George Mason Patriots; Jay-Jay Helterbrand of Barangay Ginebra Kings; Dondon Hontiveros of San Miguel Beermen; Renren Ritualo of Talk 'N Text Phone Pals; Erik Menk of Barangay Ginebra Kings; Jimmy Alapag of Talk 'N Text; Tony Dela Cruz of Alaska Aces; Mark Caguioa of Barangay Ginebra Kings; James Yap of Purefoods TJ Giants; and Danny Seigle of San Miguel Beermen.
GOOD LUCK TEAM PILIPINAS. If we win against SYRIA, TEAM PILIPINAS will play against LEBANON for the championship. Hope we win! You can watch the games on ABC Channel 5-.
Here's a bit of basketball history for all the sports buff:
Johnny Abarrientos - Philippine basketball's and Asia's best point guard of the 1990s. Abarrientos played for the Philippines in the 1991 Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games. He was later selected to play for the Philippine Centennial Team to represent the country in the 1998 Asian Games and the 21st William Jones Cup. Abarrientos was named Most Valuable Player in an exhibition game against the FIBA Asia All-Star team led by compatriot Romel Adducul.
Allan Caidic - Asia's most feared three-point shooter and arguably one of the greatest players ever to play for the Philippines internationally. He is a four-time veteran of the Asian Games (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) and a two-time William Jones Cup champion (1985, 1998). Early in his career, Caidic played a major role for the Philippines in capturing the 1985 Southeast Asian Games and the 1985-1986 FIBA Asia Championship. In 1994, he was the Asian Games basketball tournament's leading scorer and was named to the all-tournament Mythical Five selection. In 1998, he represented the country for the final time with the celebrated Philippine Centennial Team.
Robert Jaworski - The world's oldest professional basketball player and arguably the Philippines's most popular basketball player of all time. He represented the country in numerous international tournaments and is one of the last surviving Filipino basketball players to play in the FIBA World Championship and the Summer Olympics.
Samboy Lim - One of the best players ever to play for the Philippine national team. A prolific scorer, he represented the Philippines in the 1982 Asian Youth Championship and in the 1985-1986 FIBA Asia Championship. He was later named into the 1990 Asian Games Mythical Five selection.
Carlos Loyzaga - Probably the greatest Filipino international basketball player of all time. He led the Philippines to four consecutive Asian Games gold medals and three Asian championship titles. His biggest achievement was leading the country to a third place finish and the bronze medal in the 1954 FIBA World Championship, the best finish by an Asian country in the history of the quadrennial tournament. He was later named into the all-tournament Mythical Five selection after finishing third leading scorer of that year's tournament.
Ambrosio Padilla - One of the greatest Filipino basketball players of the pre-World War II era. He played for the Philippines in the Far Eastern Games before leading the country to a fifth place finish in the 1936 Olympic Games, the best finish by an Asian country in the history of the Summer Olympics men's basketball tournament.
Luis "Lou" Salvador - One of the most prolific offensive players in Philippine basketball history. Salvador played for the Philippines in several Far Eastern Games tournaments where, in 1923, he set an all-time record for the most points scored by a Filipino in a single international game with 116 points against China to lead the Philippines to the gold medal. That record remains unbroken to this day.
