Mets keep playoff hopes alive

After trailing by three runs in the seventh, New York fought back in the rain to move within one game of NL East-leading Philadelphia with three to play. The Mets also stayed tied atop the wild-card race with Milwaukee, which beat Pittsburgh 5-1 in 10 innings.

Rich Harden pitched six solid innings in his final playoff tuneup for the NL Central champions and lightly used rookie Micah Hoffpauir went 5-for-5 with five RBIs and his first two major league homers — including a tiebreaking shot in the seventh off Ricardo Rincon that gave Chicago a 6-3 lead.

But the Cubs, resting most of their stars, couldn't hold on.

Pitching what could be his final game for the Mets, Pedro Martinez left to a warm ovation with the score tied 3-all in the seventh. He pointed to the crowd and raised his first in the air.

Former NBA referee Donaghy

The 41-year-old American spent 13 seasons officiating in the NBA before being nabbed in an organized crime probe into the fixing of games he was working.

Donaghy, who pled guilty to felony gambling charges last August, reported to a minimum-security federal prison in Florida on Tuesday.

Donaghy was sentenced two months ago. Two of his co-conspirators, James Battista and Thomas Martino, also pled guilty in the case, with Battista getting sentenced to 15 months and Martino to one year.

Goran Dragic is going to the NBA

When Goran Dragic was growing up in former Yugoslavia, he was hoping to become a member of his national team and a professional basketball player. But he was dreaming of playing in the NBA. He used to wake up at 3 a.m. just so he could watch whatever NBA games were being broadcast on TV.

So in June, when despite being a member of the Slovenian National Team and one of the best club teams in Europe, Tau Ceramica, he dropped everything to climb aboard the next flight to Phoenix and work out for the Suns. Although he slept very little and was on the court just a few hours after arriving in town, Dragic left no doubts to on-lookers during the secret workout that he was ready for the primetime.

In fact, it did not take Dragic long to move up the ladder as one of Europe’s best prospects. After being recognized as the All-Slovenian Newcomer of the Year in 2005 and making the Slovenian All-Star Game in 2006, Dragic was asked to become a member of the its national team. Then, after performing well in the 2007 European Championships against the likes of players like France’s Tony Parker, Dragic became a focus of the Suns’ scouting department.
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Rodney Stuckey

Rodney Stuckey averaged 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the regular season and raised his scoring and assist averages in the playoffs to 8.2 points and 3.4 assists per game.

Stuckey is among the top young players in the league and is expected to see a major spike in his minutes this season. He also was just the third rookie in Pistons history to start a playoff game, joining Joe Dumars and Tayshaun Prince.

Stuckey was in Flint Sept. 18 as part of the Pistons Tip-Off Tour. I think I interrupted his attempt to get a game of pool going with Arron Afflalo, but he was still kind enough to answer a few questions.

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The Boston Celtics

The team will attend a ceremony Friday afternoon with the President George W. Bush. The Celtics plan to give him a personalized jersey and an autographed basketball.

Boston beat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in June to win its first championship in 22 years.

On Thursday, fans lined up at the Connecticut state Capitol to see the championship trophy and former UConn star Ray Allen.
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LeBron to remain with the Cavs?

Talk about LeBron's potential departure increased when he took a shorter-than-expected contract extension and added an opt-out clause that would allow him to leave Cleveland in 2010. The speculation had started almost as soon as James was drafted in 2003 and was fed by unconfirmed reports that some companies -- including Nike, perhaps -- would pay him more to play in a bigger market.

Ballerblogger explained one of the incentives for James to stay in Cleveland: "If LeBron James goes to N.Y. and wins a title -- he will be worshipped, King James, to be sure. ... If LeBron wins a title in Cleveland -- he will be worshipped as a god.

Cleveland is the most championship-starved, tortured sports city in America, and with its continued economic problems, sports is about the only thing Clevelanders can get excited about. Even if it was just one -- nothing would ever be the same for Cleveland, or for LeBron."
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Solar Sports invested no less than P20 million for new equipment

“It’s our very first telecast of a PBA game and we only want the best for the PBA televiewers,” said Jude Turcuato, the Solar Sports vice president for sales and marketing.

“We’re familiarizing our men with our new equipment. They’d been trained in the US and they’re not stopping in practice to avoid or minimize errors,” Turcuato added.

Solar Sports invested no less than P20 million for new equipment in a bold attempt to reach the standards of the NBA. A typical game will now be covered by six to seven brand new Sony D55 digital cameras and two ENG Panasonic P2s.

A Harris G-series inscriber was bought with the capability of showing seven layers of graphics on the screen like what is used in the NBA, CNN, Fox Sports and ESPN. An SNG flypack dish was also acquired to replace transmission by microwave in beaming the games from the venue to the Solar base in Antipolo using satellite technology.

The equipment will have its initial use as Solar Sports makes a mock coverage of some of the games in the PBA pre-season tourney.

“Actually, we’ve tested it and it’s really okay. But there’s still room for improvement. Ayaw namin na kakapa-kapa pa rin ang mga tao namin by the time we have our first coverage,” said Turcuato.

The anchors, analysts, courtside reporters and interviewers, meanwhile, undergo a series of orientations. Turcuato said the philosophy of “mass follows class” would be adopted in bringing the coverage to a level where market segments converge at the top.

The anchors are Mico Halili, Vitto Lazatin, Ed Picson, Paolo Trillo and Turcuato. The analysts are Norman Black, Danny Francisco, Quinito Henson, Vince Hizon and Jason Webb. The courtside reporters are Richard del Rosario, Patricia Bermudez-Hizon, Eric Reyes, Anthony Suntay and Dominic Uy. The interviewers are Peaches Aberin, Reema Chanco, Lia Cruz, Cheska Litton and Marga Vargas.
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Mu Tiezhu dies at 59

Former Chinese basketball star Mu Tiezhu died of heart attack in Beijing on Sunday noon, No. 309 PLA Hospital announced on Sunday afternoon. Mu was 59.

Mu, who stood 2.28 meters, two centimeters taller than Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, was a household name in China in the 1970s and 1980s.

The towering center joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1972 and made it to the Bayi (Chinese Army) team in 1973. Four years later, Mu was called to the national team.

PBA event in Herrin

Seventy-three bowlers hit the lanes at the Herrin Bowl on Saturday, bowling eight games in hopes of being one of the 24 bowlers left standing for Sunday's semifinals that begin at 8 a.m.

"This is a pretty tough field," Midwest Regional Manager for the PBA Rich Weber said. "We have five guys off the national tour and many more with lots of regional titles to their credit including Steve Jaros with 41 regional titles."

Bowlers from 12 different states were on hand including last year's winner and two-time PBA Midwest/Central Region Herrin Bowl champion Jeff Richgels from Madison, Wis. Richgels is looking for his 30th career regional title.

West was acquired by the Cavaliers

West, 25, was acquired by the Cavaliers on February 21 as part of a three- team, 11-player deal with the Seattle SuperSonics and Chicago Bulls that also brought Wally Szczerbiak and Ben Wallace to Cleveland. The fourth-year player averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 61 games with the Cavs and Sonics last season, including 10.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 26 games with Cleveland

"This is the first time since I was offered a scholarship at St. Joe's that I feel like I am valued as a person and a player. (Cleveland owner) Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers have shown me that they value me as a person and a player and that was the most important thing to me," said West.

The St. Joseph's product averaged 10.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals in the playoffs for the Cavs and hit the game-winning three-pointer in Cleveland's 100-97 win over the Washington Wizards in Game 4 of their first-round series. That win gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead in the series, which it won in six games.

Kobe Bryant will forgo surgery on the pinkie finger

Bryant said on kb24.com that he consulted with "numerous hand specialists" before making his decision, and opted not to endure a post-operative recovery period that would cause him to miss the start of camp on Sept. 27.

Initially, reports placed the recovery period at six weeks, but Bryant said he was told he could have been sidelined as long as three months. Bryant injured the finger in a February game and delayed getting surgery to finish the NBA season and to help the U.S. win a basketball gold medal at the Summer Games in Beijing.

Team Pilipinas

The parcel is expected to bear the name of the coach tasked to select, form and train the RP men’s basketball team for next year’s Fiba-Asia Men’s Basketball Championship.

Barrios left for the US last week to attend to some personal matters, but sources within the league said he already anointed the person to become the next high-profiled coach to handle the all-pro RP five.

The league commissioner returns to the country two weeks from now and will announce a few days his choice for the RP team mentor.

Red Bull’s Yeng Guiao has been the leading candidate for the job, although also being considered are Barangay Ginebra’s Jong Uichico, Tim Cone of Alaska and Talk `N Text’s Chot Reyes, the same coach who handled the PBA-backed national team that saw action in the FIBA-Asia Olympic qualifying tournament in Tokushima, Japan last year.

NBA TV

“Fan Night,” as the network is calling it, will let fans log on to NBA.com and vote on which of the matchups the next Tuesday night should be the featured game. Whichever one wins the popular vote will be on NBA TV.

To kick off the season and to give fans a sneak peek at fan night, NBA TV will have a sneak-preview week Oct. 28- Nov. 4. The first fan-selected game will air Nov. 4.

“We’re proud to launch the new NBA season on NBA TV and NBA.com with the introduction of Fan Night, a landmark multiplatform experience that takes fan interactivity to an unprecedented level,” said Bryan Perez, senior vice president and general manager of NBA Digital, in a statement.

UTEP basketball coach dies

Texas-El Paso spokesman Jeff Darby said the Hall of Fame coach died Sunday afternoon. He had no other details. UTEP was previously known as Texas Western.

Haskins was an old-time coach who believed in hard work and was known for his gruff demeanor. That attitude was portrayed in the 2006 movie "Glory Road," the Disney film that chronicled Haskins' improbable rise to national fame in the 1966 championship game against Kentucky. The movie, which was preceded by a book of the same title, also sparked renewed interest in Haskins' career.

During his career, Haskins turned down several more lucrative offers, including one with the now-defunct American Basketball Association, to remain at UTEP as one of the lowest paid coaches in the Western Athletic Conference.

Seven inducted into Hall of Fame

Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Pat Riley were enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night, but it was inductee Dick Vitale who, as expected, stole the show.
Others in the class, which also included Detroit Pistons and Shock owner Bill Davidson, and former Immaculata University coach Cathy Rush, gave speeches. But the ESPN commentator held court, preaching with passion for almost 30 minutes about everything from basketball to broadcasting to family.

He connected all three in a story about his dad, who pressed coats during the day and was a security guard at night.

"I've been stealing money talking about a game, getting paid," he said. "That's why it breaks my heart when I see some athletes, chips on their shoulder. Are you serious? Flying charter planes? I don't want to hear about 80 games a year. What other job do you get four months vacation. Are you serious? Making millions if you can't play."

NBA Star Adrian Dantley

It could have happened that way, according to former coach, general manager and president Frank Layden, if Adrian Dantley had not spent seven of his 15 NBA seasons in Utah.

"He played such an important role in those early years of the Jazz," Layden said. "If not for him, maybe we aren't still here, in Salt Lake City."

On Friday night, Dantley joins the greatest players, coaches and contributors in the history of the game when he is inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of a star-studded class that includes Miami Heat president Pat Riley, former New York Knicks great Patrick Ewing and ex-Houston Rockets star Hakeem Olajuwon.

Air21 to grant draft

The Express, who played in the franchise’s first finals series in the Philippine Basketball Association last month, picked Borboran sixth overall and Villanueva 13th in the PBA Draft last Sunday at the Market! Market! in Taguig.

Borboran’s entry adds further firepower to the Express, who suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 series loss to Barangay Ginebra in the recent Fiesta Conference Finals.

Borboran was a key figure in the University of the East team that swept the elimination round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines last year.

NBA's 15 Best Players

Obviously, these things are never easy, and they're far from definitive—I realized even before I was done that I had probably already made some mistakes, that there were going to be some rankings that I myself would regret, some guys would be left off that I wish I had put on...and I just accepted it. I wasn't going to torture myself.

Overall, though, I think it's a very solid list. Tomorrow (or a week from now) you (or I) may look at it and think, "This guy should be ahead of that guy," or "That guy should be ahead of this guy," or "Where is this guy?"

But I believe that I have everybody in very close proximity to where they belong; I'm not way off with any player. Anyway, enjoy. And obviously, argue amongst yourselves and talk about how stupid I am.

1. Kobe Bryant, G, Lakers, 2. LeBron James, F, Cavaliers, 3. Chris Paul, G, Hornets, 4. Tim Duncan, F/C, Spurs, 5. Kevin Garnett, F, Celtics, 6. Dwight Howard, C, Magic, 7. Dirk Nowitzki, F, Mavericks, 8. Deron Williams, G, Jazz, 9. Steve Nash, G, Suns, 10. Amare Stoudemire, F/C, Suns, 11. Dwyane Wade, G, Heat, 12. Carmelo Anthony, F, Nuggets, 13. Paul Pierce, G/F, Celtics, 14. Tracy McGrady, G/F, Rockets, 15. Chris Bosh, F/C, Raptors.