Annual classic to feature series pitting National Team vs. North, South All-Stars this time

The North and South All-Star teams will provide the RP men’s basketball squad of coach Yeng Guiao the tune up games it badly needed in a three game series that will highlight the 2009 staging of the league’s annual classic.

This year’s All-Star spectacle scheduled on April 22, 23 and 26 will be kind of special with stops in Victorias City, Negros Occidental, Panabo in Davao City before culminating with a big showdown at the Big Dome in the heart of Quezon City. Starters comprising the North and South All-Stars will be selected through fan balloting, while the seven reserves are to be picked by the coaches of the league’s 10 teams.
On the strength of their teams Finals appearance in the last KFC Philippine Cup Finals – eventually won by the Talk ‘N Text in seven grueling games – TNT’s Chot Reyes and Alaska’s Tim Cone earned the honor to coach the North and South All-Star teams.

Formal voting for the North and South All-Star starters begins on Wednesday (March 4) until the end of the month and will be held in the playing venues at the Araneta Coliseum, Ynares Center and the Cuneta Astrodome.

Fans can also vote at the PBA website, www.pba.ph

Fans in Victorias and Panabo will also have the chance to select their list of starters for the North and South teams when the PBA-Phoenix Fuel On Tour hit their respective provinces on March 21 and 28, respectively.

Both All-Star teams will be each reinforced by three imports currently playing in the Motolite Fiesta Conference. The Commissioner’s Office headed by commissioner Sonny Barrios will assign the imports that will see action for the North and South teams.

Reyes, who coached the RP Team that finished ninth in the 2007 FIBA Olympic qualifier in Tokushima Japan, will be calling the shots for the North squad that will test the mettle of Asi Taulava and company in Negros Occidental on April 22. Cone, who mentored the RP squad that wound up third in 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, and his South team get their shot against the Nationals on April 24 in Panabo.

The All-Star team set to play on April 26 at the Araneta Coliseum will be comprised by the starters of both North and South and is going to be reinforced by the four remaining imports left out by the Commissioners Office. Handling the team is Reyes.

The three All-Star games will serve as a tune-up for Guiao and the rest of the Nationals as they train and gear up for the coming FIBA-Asian men’s basketball championship in China that serves as the qualifying meet for the 2010 World Basketball Championships.

Aside from Taulava, also in the RP team roster are Kerby Raymundo, James Yap, Willie Miller, Sonny Thoss, Mick Pennisi, Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams, JayJay Helterbrand, Arwind Santos, Ranidel De Ocampo, Jared Dillinger, Gabe Norwood and Cyrus Baguio. (DBC)


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