Lacuna second to fall in Rio; places 46th in 400m freestyle

MANILA, Philippines – Jessie Lacuna is the second Filipino athlete to fall in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after finishing 6th in heat 2 and 46th overall in the 400m freestyle competition, Sunday morning.

Lacuna, one of the 50 swimmers to dispute the eight slots for the next phase, clocked 4:01:70, the second worst in heat 2. His finished 46th overall.

The 23-year-old swimmer from Ateneo de Manila University raced in a heat of seven swimmers.

His personal best in the 400m freestyle  is 3:59.75.

Venezuelan Cristian Quintero registered the quickest time in the same heat, but he wound up finishing 33rd in the final ranking.

American Dwyer Conor logged the best time of 3:43.42.

Lacuna, who currently holds the record 2015 SEA Games record of 2:00.9 in the 200m butterfly, is the second casualty the Philippine contingent suffered in the Games.

The Bulacan native also competed in the 2012 Olympics in London, where he ranked 36th in heat 2. He was the youngest athlete in that year's Philippine contingent.

Earlier, Ian Lariba bowed out of contention in the hands of naturalized Congo paddler and frequent training mate, Han Xing in the women's table tennis singles.

The Philippine crew is now down to 11 athletes.

Charly Suarez is next to see action. He will take on Great Britain's Joe Cordina in the men's lightweight boxing which begins Sunday, 5 a.m.

source: philstar.com

Kobe Bryant sees Olympic gold a ‘beautiful’ ending to his career

Kobe Bryant says he’s not pushing to play on the US Olympic team in Rio, but the retiring Los Angeles Lakers guard said Monday it would make a “beautiful” ending to his 20-year career.

The 37-year-old American guard, a five-time NBA champion and gold medal winner at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, announced last month this would be his final NBA campaign after a historic career.

After battling nagging injuries for years, Bryant is fit but the Lakers are in a rebuilding mode and at 4-23 have the second-worst record in the NBA.

Missing the playoffs could leave Bryant rested and in form to become the first man in Olympic history to win three basketball gold medals, should he earn a spot on the two-time defending champion American squad.

“It’s not something I’m absolutely pressing for but being part of the Olympic experience is a beautiful thing,” Bryant said.

“It would be a beautiful thing to finish my career playing internationally. But that being said we will see how it goes.”

LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Deron Williams would also have the chance for an unprecedented men’s Olympic hat-trick at Rio, but for Bryant it would be a golden farewell.

“I try to look at my legacy as much as how do I impact the future, not where do I rank among the best players all time,” Bryant said when asked where he fell among NBA icons.

“It’s a moot point and for me it’s pretty much of a shallow argument. It’s how do I impact the generation of players coming in by what I have done. I think it has impacted the generation coming in a big way and they will pass that along to the next generation to come.”

Bryant, a 17-time NBA All-Star, was speaking ahead of his record-setting 16th career appearance in a Christmas NBA matchup, his Lakers hosting the rival Los Angeles Clippers on December 25. He is the all-time leader in scoring for games on the holiday.

Bryant has been nagged by injuries in recent seasons and is struggling with a sore right shoulder. He is averaging 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game this season for the Lakers, with career averages of 25.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals a game.

“I would have loved to have played overseas but it’s not going to happen. Body won’t let me,” Bryant admitted.

“My body has been through a lot. And it’s very easy to forget I haven’t played because of it. My timing is off, my rhythm is off. It was about me continuing my training and believing my timing will come back and that’s what happened.”

Bryant said he expects the megastar trend of the NBA to continue in the wake of Michael Jordan, LeBron James and himself, saying, “I think there’s going to be a player in the next 10 years that’s going to rise above it all.”

Rising Aussie star

As bad as this season is going, the Lakers could be in position for the top pick in next year’s NBA Draft, and that could be Australian forward Ben Simmons, who is averaging 18.7 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists a game this season as a freshman at Louisiana State University.

“He’s a tremendous player. He has got a lot of potential,” Bryant said of Simmons.

But Bryant warned that the Lakers carry a history of success that must be respected by those who would join them.

“It’s not about handing over the keys,” Bryant said. “For the players that are here, winning championships is the only goal. That’s the attitude.”

Bryant, who spent some of his youth in Italy, said he plans to be a global ambassador for the sport, naming Singapore and Africa as two of his planned destinations.

“I definitely plan on helping the game spread and helping kids all around the world understand all that surrounds the game and its potential,” Bryant said. “I look forward to visiting places like Africa and teaching the game.”

FIFA bans an ‘important first step’
He also called the eight-year bans issued Monday to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini an “important first step” in cleaning up global football.

The American spent several years as a youth in Italy playing football and supporting AC Milan. He follows the sport and was clear in his condemnation of Blatter and Platini, barred for abusing their positions over a suspect $2 million (1.8 million euro) payment.

“It’s always a touchy thing. You are dealing with a big business,” Bryant said.

“I think this is an important first step to cleaning up the sport.

“With life being as brutal as it is, we come to sport as an escape. When something like this happens, it damages the emotional Shangri-La you get from sport.”

Bryant had confidence that those making efforts to revamp FIFA in the wake of the corruption will succeed.

“I’m sure they are on top of it and I’m sure they will get the sport back where we all want it to be,” Bryant said.

source: interaksyon.com

China returns to FIBA Asia throne at Gilas' expense

MANILA, Philippines -- Too big.  Too strong.  Too many dubious calls and non-calls.

China's version of Redeem Team imposed their superior height as they bullied Gilas Pilipinas, 78-67, and ran away with the 2015 FIBA Asia Men's Championship gold and the outright spot for Asia in the Rio Olympics next year.

China returned to the throne after being unceremoniously ousted from the medal round in the 2013 edition in Manila hotly contested by Iran and Gilas, the two teams they beat this year on their way to the gold.

It was practically over right before it even started.

The hosts tried get into the head of Gilas Pilipinas players delaying their bus and disrupting their warmup but all of that only fueled the Filipinos as they went off to a hot 5-0 start.

A Gabe Norwood three-pointer at the six-minute mark gave Gilas its last five-point lead, 15-10, as the Chinese settled down and answered back with a 12-0 run to grab the upper hand, 22-15.

Gilas played catch-up the rest of the way and only came close to eight points. A dubious non-call on Norwood broke Gilas' mini-rally turning the ball over and stopping their momentum.

Gilas tried to wage a whale of a fight despite the spotty officiating and a hostile crowd that was caught on TV throwing bottles towards the Gilas' bench at the height of the second half battle.

Norwood was seen poked in the eye right in front of the referee causing him to fall down and lost the ball to the sidelines but did not get the call.  China got the possession and it signaled the start of Gilas' downfall.

China took advantage of Andray Blatche's third foul a few plays after as they opened up a 16-point advantage, 60-44, on Li Gen's back-to-back triples.

Gilas, however, made a living at the stripes to climb back and cut the deficit into just 10 heading into the payoff period.

But a 5-0 start by China kept Gilas at bay as the host team maintained double digit the rest of the way.

It didn't help that Gilas did not shoot well.

Gilas struggled to find their rhythm connecting only 6-of-24 from the three-point zone and just 35.4 percent overall from the field.

China, on the other hand, hit nine triples and shot slightly better overall at 37.5 percent. They also went 21-of-33 at the line compared to Gilas' 15-of-26.

Blatche was the only Gilas player finishing in double figures with 17 as Castro was limited to eight as he was bothered by foul trouble and the length of their Chinese counterparts.

As consolation, Castro was named as the Best Point Guard in Asia anew, his second straight award.

Yi finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds on his way to being named the tournament MVP while Guo Ailun hit 19 markers to pace China in the gold medal game.

Gilas finished as bridesmaids for the second time in a row and will join dethroned champion Iran and Japan along with some of the world powers in basketball in the Olympic qualifiers next year.

source: philstar.com