PBA vs Sharks today

MANILA, Philippines - A PBA Selection team and the Shanghai Sharks will face off tonight at the close of the Philippine-China Games at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Franz Pumaren of Air21 was tasked to coach the All-Star squad of the country’s play-for-pay league and will have players like Arwind Santos, Alex Cabagnot and Marcio Lassiter of Petron Blaze and Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee spearheading the squad.

The other members of the PBA-spiced team are Rain or Shine’s Beau Belga and Chris Tiu, the newly crowned PBA All-Stars three-point king in Digos, Davao del Sur just this weekend, Air21’s Nino Canaleta and Mike Cortez, Globalport’s Willie Miller and Meralco’s JR Reyes and Cliff Hodge.

The Sharks, a team owned by nine-year NBA veteran Yao Ming, will be headed by seasoned guard Liu Wei, who played for a time for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA, 7-3 Zhang Zhaoxu and 6-10 Ji Xiang.

Yao and the Sharks are in the country for a three-day visit that included clinics at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City and a pair of exhibition games versus the Smart Gilas Pilipinas 2.0 last night at the MOA Arena and tonight’s game against the PBA selection.

Last night, the 7-6 Yao was on the sidelines and intently watched the game against the Chot Reyes-mentored Gilas side.