Pinoys delighted with NBA pre-season action

MANILA - The Houston Rockets slammed the Indiana Pacers 116-96 in the first NBA pre-season game, which was held in Manila on Thursday, drawing thousands of Filipino fans.

It was the first NBA pre-season match to be held in the Philippines.

Afterwards, Pacers fan Danny Carmelina said he had his wish granted when he heard the news of their arrival a few months back.

"Since childhood, my wish was to see them 'live' and when that opportunity came to the Philippines, I really saved up to watch them," he said.

High school student Laika Samson was still in awe when she saw the NBA teams along with her family.

"It's really surreal to be watching them here,," she said.

Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines, with many Filipinos playing the game on makeshift courts.

Rockets coach Kevin McHale told a post-match news conference he was pleased with the trip.

"It was a nice trip to Manila and now we're off to Taiwan. I thought it was a fun game, I thought it was a good atmosphere. The nice thing about coming to different places is that the fans are really excited and it had, had a nice vibe and had a nice amount of energy in the arena," said McHale.

The teams will next play in Taiwan on October 13.

The match in the Philippines was part of the NBA's Global Games program, which features eight pre-season games in eight cities across six countries this October.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Houston wins 1st NBA pre-season game in PH

For the first time, Filipino fans were given a taste of NBA action as they saw the Houston Rockets rout the Indiana Pacers, 116-96, in the first preseason game to be held in the Philippines at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday.

A crowd of nearly 13,000 fans started oohing and aahing as the Rockets and the Pacers threw down several dunks before the game, but reserved the cheers - and some jeers - for the biggest stars of the team.

Jeremy Lin, the Taiwanese-American sensation who launched "Linsanity" with the New York Knicks in February 2012, drew the loudest cheers as he scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. James Harden led all scorers with 21 points, and showcased his ability to draw fouls as he shot seven of 10 from the line for the game.

The Rockets raced off to a 12-0 start and led by as much as 15 points, 23-8, in the opening period, with Indiana unable to get their big men -- Roy Hibbert and David West -- established early.

"We wanted to get off to a good start defensively," said Rockets coach Kevin McHale after the game. "We had some defensive goals, and I thought the first unit did a good job of establishing us defensively. It really started on defense."

"Our defense was phenomenal in the first quarter," added Harden, who scored 10 points in the opening period. "Dwight (Howard) helped us out in contesting shots. We got stops, created turnovers, got easy points. It was a variety of things."

Houston built a 31-24 lead after the first quarter, but the Pacers got back in the game in the second, with Luis Scola providing a spark. His lay-up at the 7:46 mark of the period brought Indiana to within two points, 37-39.

It was the closest they would get, however, as Aaron Brooks converted a three-point play, and Donatas Motiejunas scored back-to-back baskets to put Houston in control again.

Houston led 61-55 at the half after shooting 58.3% from the field. Indiana, meanwhile, struggled with 12 turnovers, something that plagued them even in the previous season.

In the third period, Indiana established West in the block against Terrence Jones, and the All-Star responded as he scored eight points in the period. But his baskets were quickly answered by the Rockets, especially Harden and Chandler Parsons, as they dissected the Indiana defense en route to shots at the rim.

"I just wanted to get good shots on the offensive end," Harden said. "Find Dwight if he's open, feed him the ball in the post, make easy passes. Chandler, Patrick (Beverley) and even Terrence made some passes to create opportunities for us."

Buckets from Orland Johnson early in the fourth quarter allowed the Pacers to claw their way back in the game, but Omri Casspi found his stroke from beyond the arc and Motiejunas provided inside points as the Rockets went on to lead by as much as 25 in the final frame.

"Tough loss. It's early in the preseason, and our guys struggled a little bit with our transition defense," said Indiana head coach Frank Vogel after the game.

"We did some good things offensively, moved the ball pretty well, but it just wasn't enough," he added.

The Filipino crowd, who had given both NBA teams a warm welcome this week, cheered loudly for Harden, Lin and Parsons, who has been linked to Kapamilya star KC Concepcion. They also cheered for Indiana's Paul George, an All-Star who made a name for himself during the Pacers' exciting seven-game series against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

But they had mixed reactions to Howard, cheering when he was called for offensive fouls and booing him when he shot free throws.

The Filipino fans were at their loudest during breaks in the action, when the Indiana Pacemates danced and the teams' mascots, Boomer of Indiana and Clutch of Houston, threw t-shirts to the crowd.

"We are delighted to be here," NBA Commissioner David Stern told the crowd before the game. "We thank you for your hospitality, and we look forward to coming back."

The scores:

HOUSTON 116 - Harden 21, Casspi 17, Motiejunas 16, Parsons 15, Lin 14, Beverley 12, Howard 9, Jones 5, Brooks 5, Brewer 2, Canaan 0, Covington 0.

INDIANA 96 - George 17, West 14, Johnson 11, Hill 10, Scola 10, Granger 9, Watson 9,  Hibbert 6, Stephenson 4, Armstrong 4, Copeland 2, Mahinmi 0, Sloan 0, Butler 0.

Quarter-scores: 31-24, 61-55, 79-67, 116-96

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Underrated' Parsons lets Howard, Harden take spotlight

MANILA, Philippines – His opponents recognize him as one of the most underrated stars in the NBA, but Houston forward Chandler Parsons is content to let the more celebrated Rockets player take the spotlight.

Parsons, entering his third year in the league, is expected to play a major role for a Houston team that has NBA championship aspirations after adding All-Star center Dwight Howard in the summer.

Prior to their NBA preseason game in Manila, Indiana forwards Paul George and Danny Granger both recognized the role that Parsons has taken with the Rockets.

“Chandler Parsons might be one of the most underrated players in this league,” said George, an All-Star selection last year and the Most Improved Player.

“If you compliment (Howard) with James Harden and Jeremy Lin, and even the young kid Chandler Parsons, they have a good young core and they’ll be a good team,” added Granger.

Parsons was also recognized by NBA legend Robert Horry as the “glue guy” of the Rockets earlier this week. The forward out of Florida repaid all the recognition by scoring 15 points in Houston’s 116-96 victory over Indiana Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“(Being underrated) has been my path my whole career,” Parsons told reporters earlier in the week. “I’ve been flying under the radar, and I never really got all the accolades growing up. I was drafted in the second round.”

“But I use that as motivation going forward throughout my career,” he added.

Moreover, Parsons does not really need to take a starring role for Houston considering that they have Howard and All-Star guard James Harden in their line-up, along with Jeremy Lin, who spawned the “Linsanity” phenomenon when he was playing for the New York Knicks in February 2012.

“We have superstars,” said Parsons. “We got Dwight, we got James, we got all these high-caliber players. So I don’t need all the attention. I’m just gonna come here every single game and do whatever it takes for my team to win.”

After their preseason victory, Parsons said he took Horry’s words as a compliment.

“I just try to do whatever I can every single night to put our team in the best position to win,” he said. “Play defense, rebound. My game is very versatile and I can do a lot of different things to win.”

In his second season in the league, Parsons had per game averages of 15.5 points to go along with 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists. In the playoffs, he increased his averages to 18.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists in six games.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Rockets, Pacers vow to put on a show in historic NBA preseason game

MANILA -- After months of anticipation, basketball-crazy Filipinos will finally get to see their hoops idols in person as the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers face off in the first ever NBA preseason game to be held in the Philippines Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Pacers and the Rockets have been in town since Monday, and have taken part in various NBA Cares events. They also went shopping at the Mall of Asia and Greenhills.

But it is tomorrow's preseason game that has been the talk of the town for months. The hype for the Pacers-Rockets showdown only intensified after Indiana made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in the previous season, and Houston added superstar center Dwight Howard in free agency.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Pacers guard/forward Paul George vowed to put on a show in front of the Filipino fans, who have given both teams a remarkably warm welcome ever since they arrived.

"We're gonna come out and play this game like it's an actual game," said George, last season's Most Improved Player. "We're not gonna come out and play lackadaisical. We want to give the fans a real show and hopefully gain some fan base."

Pacers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters earlier that tomorrow's game will be a good chance for them to test themselves against a strong team like the Rockets.

"The Rockets are a championship contender," said Vogel. "Obviously, they had a great season last year, and in the last 12 months they've added two of the best players in the NBA in Dwight Howard and James Harden. It should be an interesting game here."

And Vogel, knowing the passion that Filipinos have for the game of basketball, is expecting an "electric" atmosphere even though it is still just a preseason game that is ultimately meaningless.

"The fanfare here is very exciting. To get to see these two exciting teams come in here, and it's the second preseason game - a lot of times, that's not the most intense type of game," he said. "But I think, with this situation, and with both of these teams with title hopes, and playing in a crowd like we're gonna have here, I think it's gonna be exciting."

Vogel was echoed by Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, who is also expecting a great reception from what should be a sellout crowd at the MOA Arena tomorrow.

"I think what will be fun (for the team) is the exhibition game tomorrow. It will be electric, and there will be a lot of people here," said McHale. "It will be different from a normal exhibition game because the people here will be really into it, so it will be fun."

For the Rockets, it is also a chance to see how their team chemistry has improved, especially with the addition of Howard this season. Tomorrow's game will also allow them to match themselves against one of the top teams in the NBA, considering that the Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and pushed the Miami Heat to the brink.

"Definitely, they're a great team," said Houston guard James Harden. "This last couple of years, they've stamped themselves on this league especially in the Eastern Conference. They have a great coaching staff, great players over there, so it's gonna be a great challenge for us in trying to measure where we are and where we need to be."

While it is far too early in the season to call tomorrow's match-up a potential Finals preview, both teams are clearly seeing the game as a chance to measure how far they have come and how far they still have to go in terms of preparing for the grind of the upcoming season.

Knowing that they will be the first ever NBA teams to play a preseason game in basketball-mad Philippines is also making tomorrow's showdown more special for the players.

"It's great that the NBA has brought basketball to this country," said George. "For us to be the first ones to be here to play, it's special."

"It's a huge honor to even play here in the Philippines," said Chandler Parsons, one of the most promising players of the Houston Rockets. "They are so passionate about basketball here, it's awesome to come in take in this culture and put on a show for the fans."

"To be able to play a team like the Pacers, they're one of the best in the East. So I think it will be a good test to see where we stand against one of the best teams in the NBA, and what better place to play in than in the Philippines," Parsons added.

Indiana won both of their games last season, winning 105-95 in their January 18 game, and then sweeping their season series with a 100-91 victory in March 27.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com