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CHICAGO - Win or lose, tired and weary, coach Tim Cone usually speaks to a reporter’s microphone He does so not for the attention. He knows it’s part of his job. But in the wake of Gilas Pilipinas’ loss to Australia on Monday night, Cone politely begged off. “I’m not ready to answer tough questions at the moment. Need some distance to assess what happened,” he told me via text message. Understandable. So, let me do some assessing instead. BEATDOWN.

THERE was a time when the country seemed to stop breathing whenever the eight-time world division champion Manny Pacquiao stepped into the ring. Television sets spilled onto sidewalks. Streets emptied. Watch parties became a Filipino ritual, turning every punch into a shared heartbeat. On Monday night, inside the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, that familiar feeling quietly returned - this time, not inside a boxing ring, but on the grass courts of Wimbledon.

FOR the first time in eight years, the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) will increase its fees for the handicapping system, not for bloated income, but to basically make every golfer in the country a stakeholder, with the funds collected to help finance the national team and a host of world-class events, among others. Members of the NGAP board of trustees passed this measure in a resolution recently, with the new rate, P100 a month, to be collected starting this month.

THE Macau Giant Pandas have signed Kobey Lam for the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup in a bid to be more competitive in its second conference in the league. The 26-year-old Lam, a Chinese-Canadian born in Toronto, is a familiar name in the PBA, having played for the league's two previous guest teams, the Bay Area Dragons and Hong Kong Eastern. Lam, who also has Laotian descent, played college for University of Denver and University of Charleston, both NCAA Division 1 schools.

IT’S not only Justin Brownlee who Barangay Ginebra will be missing in the early part of the PBA Governors’ Cup. Count in recent Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP Scottie Thompson, too. Like the 38-year-old Brownlee, Thompson was hampered with a hamstring injury during the course of the best-of-seven finals between the Kings and TNT Tropang 5G that he’s been ordered to take a rest in order to full heal from the injury.

PERTH, Western Australia — On a chilly Monday night at RAC Arena, the scoreboard told one story — a ruthless 92–49 dismantling by a far superior Australian Boomers squad of a visiting Gilas Pilipinas side. But the noise inside the venue told another. Australia had the homecourt. The Philippines held the beat. Around 3,000 Filipinos poured into the arena, turning sections of the stands into pockets of Manila: flags waving, voices chanting in unison.

CHAMPIONS leave Wimbledon with silverware. For now, Alex Eala leaves with a silver lining. With a run to the fourth round of arguably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the planet, the deepest a Filipino player has ever gone in a Grand Slam, Eala earned more than just a place in the record books. It also gave the 21-year-old clarity about the parts of her game that already ranks among the world's best - and the areas that still need refining.

RAIN or Shine closed its pre-conference tuneup with a 139-98 win over shorthanded guest team Macau Giant Pandas on Tuesday at the Acropolis Gym in Quezon City. The Elasto Painters went 1-1 win-loss in the run-up to the PBA 50th Season Governors’ Cup, bouncing back from their defeat to Converge last week. Caelan Tiongson buried a couple of outside shots to help the Elasto Painters pull away against the Giant Pandas.

EVERY page Alex Eala turned at Wimbledon was a first. The final one came in defeat, but it did nothing to diminish a chapter that became the greatest Grand Slam campaign in Philippine tennis history. The 21-year-old Filipina saw her dream run end in the Round of 16 of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, falling to Italian Jasmine Paolini, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, on Centre Court at the All England Club on Monday night (Manila time).

MIKE Philips did live up to his moniker in Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup qualifiers showdown with Australia. Needing the energy and hustle to perk up a Philippine team playing minus its best player and fresh from a heartbreaking overtime loss, Philips answered the call in the 92-49 Gilas loss to the No. 6 ranked team in the world. ‘Motor Mike’ emerged as the best rebounder for the night with 14 boards while doing his own share on the offensive end with six points.