Photo Courtesy: DraftExpress.com

I admit that I didn’t care much about how Jeremy Lin has been buzzing the United States college hoops. It was not until I went through the forums and I found out that this young fellow of Taiwanese descent deserves all the accolades he enjoys. This kid can play real basketball.

Surfing through ESPN’s website for college basketball, I’m really impressed to find out Jeremy’s impact on his team Harvard Crimson. In fact, he leads the team in scoring this season with 17.3 per game. What makes him extra special is the fact that he has descent numbers in almost all categories. Last season, he was cited by basketball purists for being the only player in the NCAA Division I to rank Top Ten in his conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage. Whew! That’s more than just amazing considering he is only 6-foot-3. Words from scouts all over North America come out that Lin is a ‘shoo-in’ for the NBA. If that makes sense, he follows the footsteps taken by Ed Smith in 1953. Smith was the last NBA player to come out from Harvard. Besides, Lin will join elite Chinese players who have played in the NBA like Wang Zhizhi, Mengke Bater, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and the first one to come from the province of Taiwan.

Born on August 23, 1988 to Taiwanese immigrants in California, Jeremy has been the pillar of Harvard University basketball squad.

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Forwards JC Intal of Ginebra Gin Kings and Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty are both voted as week’s best in the ongoing KFC-PBA Philippine Cup. Intal, the 6-foot-4 standout from Ateneo de Manila averaged 17.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2 assists leading his team to a couple of victories over Alaska Aces and Talk N’ Text Phonepals. Williams, on the other hand, averaged 20 points, 18 rebounds and 2.5 assists helping the Realtors secure an outright quarterfinals seat.

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South Korea’s Shin Yong-rok has reportedly signed with the Siberian club FC Tom Tomsk in the Russian Premiere League. He last played for Bursapor in the Turkcell Super Lig and declared himself free agent in October after the Turksih club failed to honor its commitment. The 22-year old native of Seoul joins fellow South Korean Kim Nam-il in the team.

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Ji Hoon Kim of South Korea is scheduled to face Tyrone Harris of the United States on February 12 in California, US. The 5-foot-9 native of Goyang City is arguably the best in his division in Korea. He will fight in the US soil for the third time in his career. He hopes to continue his streak of KOs dating back to December 2006. Kim’s record currently stands at 19-5-0 with 16 KOs.

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Takashi Miura will face fellow Japanese Seiichi Okada on Febraury 6 in Tokyo. The scheduled bout is for the Japanese Super Feather weight title. Miura hopes to improve his current record of 17-1-2 with 14 KOs as he lands among the top ten in his division in boxrec.com rankings.

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Portuguese Christiano Ronaldo will miss the World Cup play-off matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina on November 14 and 18. Ronaldo will be out for at least two weeks as he is still recovering from his ankle injury.

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German goalkeeper Robert Enke was confirmed to have committed suicide. Enke threw himself under a train at a level crossing. He used be the German national football team goalkeeper before he withdrew last September ahead of the World Cup qualifying match against Azerbaijan.

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Kelly Pavlik will defend his middleweight title in his hometown in Youngstown, Ohio on December 19. He will be facing Miguel Angel Espino of California.  Pavlik was originally scheduled to face Paul Williams but infection in his left hand prevented the bout to happen.  Williams instead was booked to face another fighter.

Photo Courtesy: Blogs.theage.com.au

Australia’s Cadel Evans expects a showdown with American Lance Armstrong after the former announced his comeback on Thursday, November 5 to the Tour Down Under slated early next year in Australia.

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British David Haye will challenge the 7- footer Nikolai Valuev of Russia for the WBA World Heavyweight title on Saturday, November 7 in Bayern, Germany.

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Sergio Martinez will replace Kelly Pavlik in a bout against Paul Williams on December 5. Pavlik withdrew from the bout earlier due to infection in his hand.

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Spanish Forward Pao Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers is set to resume practicing with the team.  Gasol has not yet played a single game for the Lakers this season due to strained right hamstring injury.

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Argentine Andres Nocioni of the Sacramento Kings was arrested last Thursday, November 5 on suspicion  of drunk driving in Sacramento, California.  Nocioni was released later in the day and issued public apology.

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Unconfirmed reports circulating stated that Pido Jarencio and Manny Dandan coaching stints with their respective teams in the Universities Athletic Association of the Phillippines (UAAP) came to an end.  Both UST Growling Tigers and NU Bulldogs reportedly did not renew their respective contracts.