Games today:
(University of St. La Salle gym)
3 p.m. — Skills Competition
6:15 p.m. — Stalwarts vs. Greats
All eyes will be on Magnolia guard Paul Lee as he tries to defend his three-point shootout crown against a formidable field that includes hometown bet James Yap but the outside sniping showdown between big men is sure to draw interest in the Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Skills Events on Saturday in Bacolod.
With the league deferring the slam-dunk contest, the three-point shootout serves as the highlight of the skills challenge event starting at 3 p.m. at the University of St. La Salle.
The obstacle challenge side event is also set while the Stalwarts vs Greats match erupts at 6:15 p.m.
However, the skills events are sure to give fans different fun and excitement a day before the main feature of the PBA All-Stars festivities — the All-Stars Game between Team Japet and Team Mark — in the City of Smiles.
“This Saturday’s event is going to be an exciting one. We have the obstacle course, the three-point shootout of bigs and our guards. So it’s going to be a different staging of our side events,” PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said.
He was particularly stoked about the first-ever long distance shootout for centers.
San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo, Raymond Almazan of Meralco, Phoenix’s Jason Perkins, Christian David of Blackwater, Keith Zaldivar of Converge, JM Calma of NorthPort, Magnolia’s James Laput, Leonard Santillan of Rain or Shine, Isaac Go of Terrafirma, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser of TNT and late replacements Ralph Cu of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Dave Marcelo of NLEX.
Cu will take the place of Christian Standhardinger who called in sick prior to the PBA All-Stars delegation’s trip while Marcelo replaced injured Sean Anthony.
“You’ll see the likes of June Mar, Almazan and our centers shooting threes,” Marcial said.
“Then of course there’s the regular three-point shooting. We’ll also stage an obstacle course featuring our bigs,” he added.
Lee, on the other hand, would have to contend with the likes of Blackwater’s two-time three-point shooting champion Yap, who hails from Escalante City just north of the Negros Occidental capital.
Also looking to dethrone the Hotshots shooter, who won the title last year in Passi, Iloilo, are Ginebra’s Maverick Ahanmisi, Converge’s Alec Stockton, Chris Newsome of Meralco, Rob Herndon of NLEX, Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort, Phoenix’s Ken Tuffin, Andrei Caracut ofRain or Shine, San Miguel’s Marcio Lassiter, Terrafirma’s Javi Gomez de Liano and Calvin Oftana of TNT.
Statistics-wise per regular shooting percentage, Lassiter has been on target with 82 percent shooting while Lee is at 50 percent. Herndon, Stockton and De Liano are at 55, 50 and 38 percent, respectively.
The rest are shooting below 30 percent.
Meanwhile, Marcelo will also try to make it two in a row on the Obstacle Course.
Looking to steal his throne are Cu, Laput, Almazan, Calma, Perkins, Santillan, Ganuelas-Rosser, Tautuaa, Go, Clifford Jopia of Blackwater and Justin Arana of Converge.
The PBA on Friday also held a basketball and referee clinic at Barangay Villamonte spearheaded by All-Star Game teams. The league also visited Negros Occidental High School where it handed out a donation of P500,000.
