STREET SPORTS: The Return of the Slashers

May 30, 2025

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, we had the MBA (Metropolitan Basketball Association). The local team of Bacolod was called the Negros Slashers. The team was well-loved by Negrenses and drew sold out crowds at the USLS Coliseum every game. They reached 4 MBA Finals and won the 2002 MBA championship.

Fast forward to the present in 2025, the Slashers have reincarnated, this time known as the Bacolod Tubo Slashers in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League). No home games yet as games are primarily played in Luzon due to the expensive cost of travelling around the country. They were just formed in March and primarily composed of NOPSSCEA and local barangay league stars like Aldave Canoy, Mike Doubouzet, Jaycee Adjel, Janjan Pastias among others. Coached by Negrense and ex-PBA player Pao Javelona, the team is off to a slow start with a 2-8 win-loss record, as they are mostly rookies and the only veterans are big men Chester Saldua and Ira Batiller. But they have shown great fighting spirit in their games. Coach Javelona has used an exciting smallball run and gun style with a premium on a fastbreaking game to offset their lack of size. With their style they have troubled top teams like the defending champion Pampanga Giant Lanterns and current 2nd placer San Juan Knights, lasing only in the last few minutes due to lack of experience and a lack of veteran presence, which resulted in committing a lot of turnovers in crunch time. They also have to improve their free throw shooting, since they are sent to the foul line a lot. But overall Negrenses do have a lot to look forward to with this team, and possibly home games in the near future.

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The Philippines and tennis don’t exactly go hand in hand. Especially in women’s tennis where we never had anyone in history ranked among the world’s Top 100 players. That changed this year in March 2025 when unknown 19-year old Filipina tennis player Alexandra Eala, who was ranked 140, created a splash during the WTA 1000 Miami Open hardcourt tennis tournament, stunning the tennis world by beating 3 Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko, Madison keys, and Iga Swiatek in succession. Eala became the first Filipina ever to beat a Grand Slam champion and also the first to beat a top 5 player. In fact, Eala defeated 2 World Top 5 players since Swiatek and Keys were ranked No. 2 and No. 5 when they lost their matches to the Filipina. What was even more impressive was that Eala won in straight sets when she beat these top players. As a result, her ranking shot up to No. 70, making her the first Filipina to be ranked in the Top 100 and an automatic qualification to big tennis Grand Slam tournaments. The hype and endorsements came after that dream tournament. She was featured in almost every social media account and newspaper front page in the Philippines. Filipinos started watching and even playing tennis. The WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) even ran several advertisements involving her. Despite not being able to duplicate that success during her following tournaments, which were all on clay, she became the first Filipina to qualify for a main draw of a grand slam, the 2025 French Open. Step by step to success, as she had said during one of her video advertisements, she could become our first ever world tennis champion.

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We are almost through with the NBA season and the Oklahoma City Thunder have advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time after 13 years with a 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The team with the best record during the regular season at 68-14, they dominated the Timberwolves most of the series with their youth, athleticism, and running game. NBA MVP Shal Gilgeous-Alexander, also known as SGA, was unstoppable with his drives to the hoop and midrange jumpers. He also got to the free throw line a lot, even being labelled as a free throw merchant for his uncanny ability to draw fouls even with little contact. Ably backed by shooter Jalen Williams, big men Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, and defensive specialist Lu Dort, the Thunder’s youth doesn’t seem to be having a problem with pressure as what usually happens to most young teams during the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers are battling in a surprise Eastern Finals showdown nobody had predicted. The Knicks beat the defending champion Boston Celtics 4-2 after coming back from 20 points down in both Game 1 and 2 to win both games while the Pacers beat the No. 1 in the East Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the best record most of the regular season, 4-1, dominating most of the series with 3 point shooting from Tyrese Haliburton and big man Miles Turner. Currently the Pacers lead the Knicks 3-1 in the Eastern conference finals and it will be interesting to watch who will advance to the NBA Finals in this unpredictable season.*

Pio Alessandro S. Ozoa is a graduate of BS Computer Science at USLS and a big fan of sports, especially basketball. A late bloomer when it comes to playing the game, he watches sports on livestream and TV often as a deviation from the stress of everyday life.