New rules to make PBA games more exciting

Shooters have to go out farther to make a three-point attempt and frontliners can now muscle their way inside the shaded lane more without getting automatically called for a foul.

Such scenarios will likely play out in the Philippine Basketball Association’s 35th season after the league approved new rules to make the games “more exciting."

According to PBA chairman Lito Alvarez of Burger King, the rule changes, made in consultation with some of the league’s coaches, will be implemented beginning with the PBA’s pre-season games.

“I asked the thoughts of some of our coaches like Yeng Guiao,Tim Cone and Jong Uichico regarding the possible rule changes and they gave me their suggestions," Alvarez said.

These new rules will have a combination of FIBA rules and professional rules, Alvarez explained.

“We compared some of the rules of the NBA and FIBA and we decided to adopt certain things that would make our games more interesting. We don’t want long lulls in our games," said Alvarez.

Topping these changes is the return of the three-point shot line to 22 feet from its previous distance of 20.6 feet. The reason for this, stressed Alvarez, is to develop the shooting skills of the players.

The PBA will also brace for more physical games, similar to the old “no harm, no foul" rule.

The “landing-spot" rule has also been given a better and clearer definition while the trapezoid form in the shaded lane will be brought back to the old rectangular shape.

Slam dunkers can likewise do their thing more as the league will allow them to hang on to the rim longer without getting called for a technical foul.

A ball which hits the backboard once a shot is made will still be considered a live ball from now on, unlike before when it merits an automatic violation on the part of the offensive team.

Players who use the “jab-step" before penetrating or taking a shot will be given more leeway to use this skill to defy their defenders. Purefoods stars Kerby Raymundo and James Yap and Burger King ace Gary David often makes use of the "jab-step" as part of their offensive arsenal.

“Dati ang jab-step, traveling (violation) agad," said Alvarez, noting that a “jab-step is being used for the development of skills of a certain player."

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Nevada sports body clears Pacman of steroids use

No less than the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), which is the preeminent state sports body in the US, has cleared Manny Pacquiao of steroids claims made by controversial boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather, Sr.

“All I can tell you is that Pacquiao, every time he's fought here [in Nevada, has] been tested, as well as his opponents,” said NSAC executive director Keith Kaiser.

"He passed every drug test we did to him, every steroid test we did to him,” he added to counter allegations made by Mayweather Sr. that Pacquiao was into performance enhancement drugs.

Mayweather Sr. is the father of former world champion Floyd Jr., whom Pacquiao succeeded as the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter.

According to Wikipedia, the NSAC is regarded as the preeminent state athletic commission in the US because of Nevada's role as a center for combat sports. The commission regulates all boxing matches in the state of Nevada and has the final authority on licensing matters, having the ability to approve, deny, revoke, or suspend all licenses for boxing bouts.

Kaiser stressed that the NSAC conducts stringent drug tests on boxers before allowing them to fight within the jurisdiction of Nevada.

“[On] title fights [we have] tests for steroids and drug abuse. [We look out for] marijuana, cocaine,” said Kaiser. “We collect urine [for tests] before and after the fight.”

Still at it

Mayweather Sr., meanwhile, insisted that Pacquiao used “some sort of supplements” which is why he was able to maintain his punching power despite climbing several weight divisions.

“He's never been that kind of puncher and all of a sudden he's a gigantic puncher,” said Mayweather Sr.

Pacquiao, who first became a world champion as a flyweight, climbed the welterweight division and defeated Oscar de la Hoya in eight rounds. He also stopped Ricky Hatton, a natural junior welterweight, in two rounds.

“I felt that he was on steroids or some type of supplements or some type of enhancement drugs… believe me when I tell you, he's going to get caught,” said the controversial boxing trainer.

‘Liable for slander’

Pacquiao’s coach, Freddie roach, said a slander case s already in the works against Mayweather Sr.

"I am going to talk to my lawyer, there could be a slander case here, and we will sue him,” Roach told Brad Cooney of 8CountNews and Examiner.com.

The Hall-of-Fame coach said Pacquiao agrees with him that Floyd Jr.’s father should be held liable for his comments.

“I talked to Manny, and I talked to an attorney, and we are all on board here. This is all over the place now that Manny is on steroids, it's defaming his name," said Roach.

The Filipino boxer earlier said that he has also sought legal advice on Mayweather Sr.’s comments.

“Kinonsulta ko ang abugado ko para suriin [ang sinabi ni Mayweather Sr.] at kung lumabag siya ay kelangan niyang panagutan,” he said.

Pacquiao said he never considered using steroids and has consistently passed medical test for his fights in the Philippines and abroad.

“Lahat ng laban ko, lahat ng medical ko wala namang problema, pero itong si Floyd Mayweather [Sr.] parang may diperensya doon sa mga sinasabi niya,” said the boxer.

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Pacman P1 billion richer after Cotto bout

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Manny Pacquiao could be a billion pesos richer by the time he steps out of the ring with Miguel Cotto in November.

His promoter, the legendary Bob Arum of Top Rank, said Friday morning that while Pacquiao’s guaranteed purse in the upcoming fight is $13 million, his total take, once everything comes in, could reach $20 million.

“He could get as much as $20 million for this fight,” the ageless promoter said Friday afternoon at the New York Times main office where Pacquiao had a 45-minute roundtable discussion with members of the NY Times sports staff.

The sports editor, Tom Jolly, and a couple others, including writers Greg Bishop and Naila Cuento Myers, who said her mother is a Filipina from Laguna, faced Pacquiao and they dwelled on his plans on and off the ring, including politics.

Pacquiao was asked how he got started in boxing, and the Filipino icon said he found the sport as the only way he could save his family, so poor they had nothing to share on the table, out of poverty.

“I remember that in my first fight as a professional, and I was 16 years old (a victory over Edmund Enting Ignacio on Jan. 22, 1995 in Mindoro Oriental), that I was paid a thousand pesos (roughly $20),” said Pacquiao.

Somehow, it gave the New York Times a hint of how interesting the life and story of this boxer is. And then Arum had to state that for the fight against Cotto, Pacquiao could get as much as $20 million.

Pacquiao earned close to $15 million each in his last two fights against Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton, and there’s just no other way but up for the one widely considered as the face of boxing today.

While the sports editor sat beside trainer Freddie Roach, and Pacquiao two seats away, got the ball rolling, it was Bishop (who covers the New York Jets for the mother of all newspapers) who did the jotting.

Pacquiao was asked about his political plans, and he said there’s no turning back in his second bid (after a failed attempt in 2007) for a congressional seat in his homeprovince in Saranggani, Mindanao.

“I want to help the people, the poor people who are suffering. And I’ve learned that it’s not easy (running for public office). Like in boxing, you have to prepare,” Pacquiao said in English.

“There’s some similarization (sic) in promoting a fight and running for office,” Jolly, who has 75 members of the New York Times sports section under his watch, said, “but do you plan to keep on fighting even if you win in the elections?”

“Yeah,” Pacquiao answered, and Arum cut in, saying, “That’s part of the deal.”

Pacquiao said he was gunning for a seventh world title in different weight classes, but said that’s as far as he can go. He was asked how many more fights is he looking at, and he said, “I don’t know. It’s up to him (Arum).”

Roach tried to recall how he hooked up with Pacquiao, and said it was in 2001 when he “walked into my gym looking for a trainer, and one month after we won the world title against (Lehlo) Ledwaba.”

“Guys like him come once in a lifetime. He’s the Muhammad Ali type. And I think we will never see another Manny Pacquiao at least in our lifetime,” said Roach.

Otherwise, what’s Pacquiao doing in the main office of the New York Times on a very busy day?

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Mama Mia, muy guapo esta!

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Gorgeous women swooned while the men called his name the moment Manny Pacquiao stepped out of a black Ford Excursion that took him to the elegant El San Juan Hotel and Casino close to midnight Friday.

“My God! I’m in love with him,” said a voluptuous fan after she and her friends had their pictures taken with the Filipino ring icon who took a four-hour flight to Newark, New Jersey to this city which gives you the feel of Las Vegas and Havana combined.

Pacquiao smiled and obliged as numerous fans sought photos of him. Fans started greeting him at the aiport, and as he boarded the SUV, one of three that waited for him, the first thing he told his companions was, “Sikat pala ako dito (I’m popular here).”

At the hotel, one of the trendiest here in Puerto Rico, Pacquiao created a stir once he arrived, and it took him almost 10 minutes to get to the door. Just outside the elevator, more fans, men and women, young and old, caught up with him.

“Come on, they’ll just grow in number,” said the hotel’s security officer who was to escort Pacquiao to his suite.

A male Puerto Rican fan had Pacquiao planting his signature on a pair of boxing gloves, and they’re no ordinary gloves because they have the Philippine flag on them. He said he bought it for $60 (P3,000) on e-Bay.

“I waited for this moment,” he said, holding on to the autographed pair of gloves.

Pacquiao is in town as part of his press tour for the Nov. 14 fight with Puerto Rico’s own, Miguel Cotto. The other day they were in New York, and on Sunday in San Francisco, on Monday Los Angeles and Tuesday in San Diego (Pacquiao only).

Pacquiao is supposed to fly to San Francisco (a 10-hour flight) Saturday afternoon but the reigning pound-for-pound champion had already asked his Canadian adviser, Mike Koncz, to change the flight schedule to Sunday morning.

Pacquiao said he doesn’t want to waste the opportunity to catch his fellow Filipino Rodel Mayol who will vie for the WBO lightflyweight crown against the undefeated hometown boy Ivan Calderon Saturday evening here in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

“Let’s watch him fight. Let’s give him the boost,” said Pacquiao.

For the meantime, as he checked the amenities of his spacious suite, furniture and everything all in white, Pacquiao plans to relax and take it easy.

“Nice room. But I’m tired. I need to rest. I need to run tomorrow,” he said.

Lights out in Puerto Rico. – Abac Cordero

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Pacquiao starts hectic tour

NEW YORK – Manny Pacquiao yesterday admitted that if he’d fight Miguel Cotto today he’d end up losing.

“Kung ngayon ang laban talo tayo (If the fight were to be held today I would lose),” said Pacquiao as he took the back-breaking 18-hour plane ride from Manila to Hong Kong to this city that never sleeps, a day ahead of the launch of his whirldwind press tour with the WBA welterweight champion from Puerto Rico.

However, Pacquiao said Cotto having gone four weeks ahead in training shouldn’t really matter by the time they climb the ring and throw bombs at each other on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The fight is set at 145 lb, the lowest Cotto would be in quite a while.

“Ganyan naman palagi. Nauuna mag-train ang mga kalaban natin (It’s always been like that. My opponents have gone training way ahead),” said Pacquiao who never failed to draw the attention at the airport as he towed a very lean entourage joining him in the weeklong trip.

Pacquiao said eight weeks, nothing more, nothing less, should get him in fighting form, as he hoped to draw the same result he enjoyed in his recent fights with David Diaz, Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton, who all went down crashing against the Pinoy icon.

Pacquiao arrived at the JFK Airport in New York a little past 1 p.m. and was whisked to the Loews Regency on affluent Park Avenue on board a black Navigator. Joining him in the hotel are his advisers Mike Koncz and Franklin Gacal and training assistant Roger Fernandez.

A few hours later, Cotto flew in from Puerto Rico with his conditioning coach Phil Landman, and stayed at the Le Parker Meridien. He was welcomed by Top Rank pointmen Ricardo Jimenez, Lee Samuel and Jim McConnon, and was in a jolly mood, not as tired as Pacquiao.

He had time to speak to Pinoy scribes who waited for his arrival.

Cotto, the champion at 147 lb, said he’d been training for the last four weeks, but even if he’d sparred three times, he wasn’t at the gym six or seven days a week. Jimenez said training meant some morning runs and a lot of conditioning exercises just to get Cotto in the groove.

“I’m taking some base for the hard weeks to come,” said Cotto who horsed around with Landman at the lobby as they waited for their room assignments. Cotto looked cool in his long-sleeve shirt, tight pants, Ferragamo shoes and a bulging metal watch, and carried a backpack.

Cotto said he doesn’t mind if Pacquiao hasn’t started training, because each boxer has his own style.

“He has to train by himself. I just train for my own benefit – what is best for my career. I just want the space for the hard weeks ahead. I don’t train the full week. And I just sparred like three times in those four weeks,” said the Puerto Rican, who admitted being at 159 to 161 pounds.

Notes: This whirldwind press tour is not for the weak, Top Rank publicist Ricardo Jimenez, former sports editor of La Opinion, said Wednesday. “You will see that the tour moves pretty fast — with all the jumping in and out of the plane,” he said, adding that Pacquiao would have used one of two days here before the tour which begins Thursday with an onfield (first-base) press conference at the Yankee Stadium at noon. Then by 2:30 p.m., Pacquiao and Cotto will be in a photo-shoot for the fight commercials and posters, and that would keep them until 7 p.m. On Friday, some more photo-ops and glove-signing are set in the morning, and then Pacquiao will have a round-table with the New York Times sports department before leaving for San Juan, Puerto Rico at 7 p.m. The Puerto Rico gig is set at 11 a.m. Saturday and by 4 p.m. everybody flies to Atlanta on way to San Francisco and should be there by midnight. Sunday is another presscon following the Giants-Dodgers match at the AT&T Park and by 6 p.m. Team Pacquiao leaves for Los Angeles and the Beverly Hotel where the boxers will undergo medical before holding another presscon at 4 p.m. Cotto flies back to Puerto Rico Monday evening, while Pacquiao stays on for one last gig set Tuesday at the Petco Park in San Diego where he will do the ceremonial toss for the Padres vs Cardinals at 7 p.m. By 10:55 p.m., just a couple of hours later, Pacquiao and his party board a Philippine Airlines flight to Manila.

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