HERE are the top sports news from Thursday.
Sports news December 1
Leo Austria letting Gallent shine
Leo Austria broke his silence after his status has been in question since deputy Jorge Gallent took over seamlessly at San Miguel in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Amid rumors that he’s on the way out as head coach, Austria insisted he’s only letting Gallent call the shots to sustain the momentum as the Beermen are on a three-game winning streak that has hiked their record to 6-5 and secured for them the fifth seed in the first round of the playoffs.
"May momentum kami and ayokong sirain iyon," Austria told the PBA website. "So si coach Jorge muna ulit para sa game bukas, total no-bearing naman."
"Hayaan muna nating si coach Jorge ulit," he added. "Bukod nga doon sa momentum, maganda naman itinatakbo ng team kahit sa mga practices na nandoon ako and system ko pa rin naman ang ginagamit, kung ano sinasabi ko, so okay lang."
Read more about it here.
PBA scenarios
As teams still jockey for playoff seeds in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, one matchup is already certain.
Converge and San Miguel are set to face off in a best-of-three quarterfinal series regardless of the result of the Beermen’s last game in the eliminations against Meralco on Friday.
After seven straight wins, the FiberXers have lost two in a row to drop to 8-4 for the fourth seed, setting up a matchup against No. 5 San Miguel, which has won three straight games under Gallent to improve to 6-5.
Another faceoff is nearly set as well – but how long the matchup is still to be decided.
Barangay Ginebra and NorthPort are likely taking on each other – either in a best-of-three series or with the Gin Kings enjoying a twice-to-beat incentive depending on how the final day of the elimination round pans out.
Read more about it here.
Justin Brownlee juggles Ginebra, naturalization hearings
Justin Brownlee is proving he can serve two masters at once by juggling his duties for Barangay Ginebra and attending naturalization hearings at Senate and Congress.
Gin Kings coach Tim Cone beamed that the resident import has never missed practice in the middle of his naturalization proceedings in both lawmaking houses.
Cone shared that Brownlee even brought to practice his barong and slacks that he would later wear to the Senate session on Tuesday that saw the bill seeking his naturalization get approved on third and final reading.
A day later, Brownlee flirted with a triple-double of 25 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists in Ginebra’s 115-96 win over Converge.
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