Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 23 | Page 30

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY December 1 - 15, 2018
A pair of meetings Sunday eases
tension between Bulls
and HC Boylen
By EDDIE G.ALINEA
The Chicago Bulls held a pair of
meetings on Sunday following the
worst loss in franchise history a night
before, with the players, joined by the
coaches.
K.C. Johnson of The Chicago
Tribune and Darnell Mayberry of
The Athletic provided more details
on what transpired on Sunday’s
meetings, reporting that those were a
compromise of sorts.
The meetings stemmed from
new head coach Jim Boylen’s pulling
his starters early on Saturday in a
“premeditated” move, vowing to put
the team through another gruelling
practice on Sunday.
Having played back-to-back
games on Friday and Saturday, Bulls
players pushed back against the
idea of another intense practice on
Sunday, using a team-wide group text
to discuss the possibility of boycotting
that practice, or showing up at the
team facility together and then walking
out.
However, Lauri Markkanen and
Robin Lopez expressed concern about
the “unprofessionalism” of a potential
boycott, sources told Mayberry.
Veteran Bulls were also concerned
about the impact that a major act
of rebellion could have on the club’s
younger, less established players,
Mayberry added.
Ultimately, the players decided
to show up and voice their concerns
with Boylen and his staff, which led to
the compromise — the practice didn’t
happen, but the two meetings did.
Boylen’s initially-stated desire to
push the Bulls hard again on Sunday
after back-to-back games reflects
the approach he has taken since
replacing Fred Hoiberg as the team’s
head coach a week ago. As Mayberry
details, Boylen has been putting the
Bulls through long, rigorous practices
since taking over Monday last week.
Last Tuesday, for instance,
according to Mayberry, the team’s
shootaround
in
Indianapolis
exceeded 90 minutes. After the Bulls
lost to the Pacers that night, Boylen
immediately made players watch clips
of their turnovers and poor defensive
rebounding, then emerged from the
locker room to tell reporters that
his players needed to improve their
conditioning and toughness.
“We needed to get a lot of stuff off
our chest and be transparent,” Zach
LaVine said on Sunday, as reported
by Johnson. “I don’t think the players’
toughness should ever be questioned.
I think that’s on us. I think that is a
little bit of what we discussed in our
meeting.
Boylen had shown no regrets
about the tactics he has taken, and
believes they’re sending the right
message to his players.
“They’re learning how I operate,”
Boylen told Mayberry. “They’re
learning what I value. And if I think a
group out there isn’t doing what they
need to be doing as a collective unit,
I’m going to sub.
“Maybe I’ll sub three. Maybe I’ll sub
five. What they have to understand
is there are obligations and options.
And we’re cleaning up what goes on.
You’re obligated to do the things I ask
them to do. And they’re obligated to
play the right way. And when they’re
not, my job is to try to fix that,” Boylen
said.
When they announced last week
that he would replace Hoiberg, the
Bulls didn’t give Boylen the interim
tag, suggesting they expect him to
finish out the season and perhaps
even remain in the head coaching
role in 2019-20 and beyond.
Despite a rocky start, there’s no
indication the franchise won’t stick
to that plan, so it’s in the Bulls’ best
interests to make sure that the players
and their coach are on the same page.
After Sunday’s meetings, both sides
seemed a little more comfortable, at
least for now.
“Nobody is going to make more
mistakes than I do, “Johnson quoted
Boylen as saying. “I have a lot of
responsibility and make a lot of
decisions. I’m not going to get them
all right. But this is not a hobby for
me. We’re going to keep working and
grinding and communicating and
hugging and crying and laughing and
moving forward.”
Garcia, Dimakiling get back on track
INTERNATIONAL
Masters
Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Oliver
Dimakiling downed FIDE Master
Stephen Rome Pangilinan and
International Master Angelo Young,
respectively, to bounce back into
contention after two rounds of
the 7th Asian Continental Chess
Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao
Cup) at the Tiara Hotel in Makati City
on Tuesday night.
Garcia, who made his World Chess
Olympiad debut in Batumi, Georgia
a few months back, and Dimakiling
registered their first point to lead six
other Filipinos in a 23-player group
at 22nd place that included opening
day winners IM Paulo Bersamina and
Haridas Pascua.
Bersamina, 20, failed to follow
up on his shock win over third
seed Grandmaster Le Quang Liem
of Vietnam last Monday and lost
to GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov of
Uzbekistan.
Pascua, 25, scored his second
straight draw, this time against IM
Novendra Priasmoro of Indonesia,
who has a higher FIDE rating of 2483
compared to the Filipino’s 2442 in the
nine-round tournament sanctioned
by the NCFP headed by Rep. Butch
Pichay and bankrolled by Sen. Manny
Pacquiao and the Philippine Sports
Commission.
The standoff came a day after
Pascua nearly beat fourth seed
Santosh Gujrath Vidit of India before
agreeing to a draw.
Also posting their first point were
IMs Daniel Quizon, Roderick Nava
and Ricky de Guzman and untitled
Michael Concio, Jr.
In the women’s division, WFM
Shania Mae Mendoza halved the
point with WFM Aay Aisyah Anisa
of Indonesia for her second straight
draw.
So far, Mendoza was with WFM
Allaney Jia Doroy, WIM Bernadette
Galas and WIM Kylen Joy Mordido as
the best-placed locals with a point to
show.
WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, the
country’s top bet, fell to WIM P V
Nandhidhaa of India and was left with
just half a point.(Malaya)
Yulo seen as new face of PH Gymnastics
Gymnastics in the Philippines
enjoyed a fairly huge success during
the 80’s when Bea Lucero became
the darling of the sport because of her
ability and charisma.
Lucero was so popular she even
became an endorser of a powder
energy drink that showcased her
talent as a superstar gymnast which
also helped in making their sport quite
known to Filipinos.
Gymnastics eventually hibernated
when Lucero shifted to taekwondo,
until a teenage sensation, Carlos
“Caloy” Yulo emerged and won several
tough international tournaments.
This is why Gymnastics president
Cynthia
Carreon
is
radiating
confidence about Yulo becoming
the next superstar of Philippine
Gymnastics.
“He is going to be because he is
kinda cute, everybody wants to take
photos of him. You should see him
in Doha, all the Japanese girls were
taking selfies with him. A Chinese guy
went to him and gave him a shirt.
He’s very simple, humble and I told
him don’t let it get to your head,” said
Carreon.
Recently in Qatar, Yulo achieved a
historic feat when he became the first-
ever Southeast Asian male competitor
to win a medal in the 2018 World
Artistic Gymnastics Championships
na ginanap sa Doha, Qatar.
The diminutive Yulo, making his
debut in the prestigious event, scored
14.600 in his routine, good enough
to bag the bronze medal and join
gold medal winner Artur Dalaloyan of
Russia and Shirai Kenzo of Japan at
the podium.
Kenzo won a gold (team event)
and bronze (vault event) medals in
the 2016 Olympics in Brazil while
Dalalovan is a four-time European
champion.
Carreon said Yulo’s performance
has been so good that a number
of foreign coaches and well-known
gymnastics
personalities
have
approached them and offered to
help the 18-year-old gymnast’s aim
of campaigning in the 2020 Tokyo,
Olympics.
“I’ve never seen a boy who is so
focused and so passionate about the
sports. When he was competing as
a junior, you can see, he doesn’t pay
attention to the crowd,” said Carreon
“That’s what he wants to do because
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
I have gymnasts in the Philippines.
They are fantastic in Manila but when
they go up abroad, wala na, they fall
apart.”
Carreon believes Yulo ha what it
takes to take home a medal in the
upcoming 2020 Tokyo Games.
“In the Olympics, I will make sure
he will win at least silver but I want the
gold,” assured Carreon. (D. Principe,
mb.com)