why was johnny abarrientos not able to play in the nba?

[pulangpula]

IMO, if he really had a legit chance, a workout invite should have at least took place, but there was none.

there was an invite, ang problema eh conflict with the pba 3rd conference semis. at ang balita pa ay maraming nakisawsaw sa meeting with mr. bettancourt back then including mr. anton montinola of feu, so malamang nainis iyung scout kaya hayun they traded for bj armstrong na lang.

[^^Ajaj^^]

there was an invite, ang problema eh conflict with the pba 3rd conference semis. at ang balita pa ay maraming nakisawsaw sa meeting with mr. bettancourt back then including mr. anton montinola of feu, so malamang nainis iyung scout kaya hayun they traded for bj armstrong na lang.

exactly tanda ko may ganyan eh marami nakielam... they want daw the RP team ek ek to hav invitations din as a whole...taas ng pangarap hehehe montinola talaga... newei and biggest reason this didnt took effect kasi nauso ang FILSHAM invasion dba nga sila parker, alvarado etc... ayun nadagdag pa mga international coaches sa PBA na scams din daw(?!) ah basta marami nangyari na nde nagustuhan ng kano kaya they disregarded the tought na kumuha sa asia as a whole... right? eh now lets just wish jason castro the best and as well as japeth aguilar kasi nasa 1st step na sila sana magtuloy kahit nbdl man lang dba

[rtbasketball]

i remember those days. media hype lang naman yun when that Hornet's scout (joe bettancourt) happened to watch Alaska games.

if you look at Asian PG's at that time, Korea's Kang Dong Hee was simply the better shooter, play-maker, and defender. Abbarientos was just a better scorer on isolation plays. not much of an NBA asset for a 5'7 PG.

as for Yuta Tabuse, i don't think 4 games off the bench during garbage time is enough to generate an NBA marketing strategy for Asia... but give the guy credit for sticking it out with ABA, NBDL, and NBA Summer League teams. naka-chamba lang siya with the Suns pero at least NBA pa rin kahit alam naman nating papanisin lang siya ng mga PG natin dito.

ang problema kasi nating mga Pinoy, we believe everything that Quinito Henson says. realistically speaking, if we want our players to play in the NBA... a player should leave whatever wealth he has in the PBA and let him work his way up starting at those other American leagues and hope he gets noticed there. the trend with these Fil-Ams like Alapag is that the PBA is their fall-back if they know they won't have a chance of cracking an NBA lineup. it's not every year we send a Philippine team to play exhibitions in the US... and it's not like there would be NBA scouts watching them.

*edit*
please don't bring up Japeth Aguilar/Gian Chiu going to the NBA.

I want to say that in this day and age, from experience and knowledge of the NBA, there are scouts looking all over the world for players who can play. If you have the talent to impact a team at whatever position, THEY WILL FIND YOU! There are many "good" players throughout the world but the "great" ones end up playing in the best league in the world, The National Basketball Association.

Sincerely,

Raymond Townsend
Former Golden State Warrior
and only "Pinoy" to play in NBA.

[gamekopba]

alam ko grandslam kasi ang alaska. ayaw nila bitawan si jhonny a.

kung nakapasok si jhonny a sa NBA. siya ang first asian player na nakalaro sa nba. hindi si whang zhi zhi.

[marlon22701]

I want to say that in this day and age, from experience and knowledge of the NBA, there are scouts looking all over the world for players who can play. If you have the talent to impact a team at whatever position, THEY WILL FIND YOU! There are many "good" players throughout the world but the "great" ones end up playing in the best league in the world, The National Basketball Association.

Sincerely,

Raymond Townsend
Former Golden State Warrior
and only "Pinoy" to play in NBA.

OT

Mr. Townsend,

After i googled your name i was really surprised with what i have seen...

It is unfortunate that you didn't get the recognition that you deserve even in the Philippines being the only "Pinoy" to play in the NBA, but now with this revelation it makes me even more proud being a Pinoy! And it also gives me more hope that one day "another" Pinoy baller will make it to the NBA again.

Kudos!

[gonefishing]

he was not an NBA material, Alaska fans lang naman ang nagpipilit na kaya niya maglaro sa NBA eh...

[Ghost Rider]

^I beg to disagree, as a Ginebra fan, I hated johnny A so much, hahaha, tinik siya sa lalamunan ng Ginebra (and all the other teams). Nung prime niya, he's really one heck of a player, walang makasabay sa kanya. His ability as a playmaker is the best during that time.

[westbound17]

Phillppines was unknown then.

[yumemi]

Alaska offered johnny A more than what he will get in the NBA.

[the_BuGs]

^ tsismis at media overhyped!

naalala ko pa nuon... sabi sa tabloid.. si karl malone may balak kunin na PG from Phil.. johnny abba lang daw ang alam nyang name


IMO.... 2 PBA players lang ang pwedeng mag qualify sa PBA... johnny A. and samboy lim...... kahit nuong 80's may tsismis na kukunin ni pat riley si Samboy Lim... dahil bumilib sya kay samboy lim nuon (jones cup ata nun) yung nanonood daw sya kalaban ng RP ang Jordan.. nuong nag take off si Samboy.. yung dalawang jordanian nakababa na si Samboy nasa ere pa ren kay na lay up.. bumilib daw si Pat Riley sa kanya nuong napanood then inimbitahan daw mag tryout sa Lakers pero nagkonsulta si Sambo Kay Jawo sabi ni Jawo mas sisikat sya sa Pinas kaysa sa NBA kaya huwag na nyang ituloy......kaya ayun.. ano na nangyari kay samboy hahahha.... pero shempre plain tsismis lang to... narinig ko lang to sa mga miron nuon

[gonefishing]

^I beg to disagree, as a Ginebra fan, I hated johnny A so much, hahaha, tinik siya sa lalamunan ng Ginebra (and all the other teams). Nung prime niya, he's really one heck of a player, walang makasabay sa kanya. His ability as a playmaker is the best during that time.

I agree with you, there is no doubt that Johnny A. was heck of a player during his time. but I'm talking about his "chances" of playing in the NBA.

ang sa akin lang kung pwede talaga sa NBA, naglaro na siya doon, but obviously hinde man lang na invite then it means he was not good enough to be playing in the NBA.

[gonefishing]

Alaska offered johnny A more than what he will get in the NBA.

sariling theory mo nanaman ito eh...

ask any PBA players who would not want to play in the NBA kahit mababa ang sweldo...

[gonefishing]

I want to say that in this day and age, from experience and knowledge of the NBA, there are scouts looking all over the world for players who can play. If you have the talent to impact a team at whatever position, THEY WILL FIND YOU! There are many "good" players throughout the world but the "great" ones end up playing in the best league in the world, The National Basketball Association.

Sincerely,

Raymond Townsend
Former Golden State Warrior
and only "Pinoy" to play in NBA.

AMEN!!!

I think this sums it all up...

aside from over hyping ni Quinito Henson...

he is good but not great..

[rr69]

Si johnny ba e alive pa

[tito423]

^ tsismis at media overhyped!

naalala ko pa nuon... sabi sa tabloid.. si karl malone may balak kunin na PG from Phil.. johnny abba lang daw ang alam nyang name


IMO.... 2 PBA players lang ang pwedeng mag qualify sa PBA... johnny A. and samboy lim...... kahit nuong 80's may tsismis na kukunin ni pat riley si Samboy Lim... dahil bumilib sya kay samboy lim nuon (jones cup ata nun) yung nanonood daw sya kalaban ng RP ang Jordan.. nuong nag take off si Samboy.. yung dalawang jordanian nakababa na si Samboy nasa ere pa ren kay na lay up.. bumilib daw si Pat Riley sa kanya nuong napanood then inimbitahan daw mag tryout sa Lakers pero nagkonsulta si Sambo Kay Jawo sabi ni Jawo mas sisikat sya sa Pinas kaysa sa NBA kaya huwag na nyang ituloy......kaya ayun.. ano na nangyari kay samboy hahahha.... pero shempre plain tsismis lang to... narinig ko lang to sa mga miron nuon

I've read something like that, former Alaska import Marques Bragg has been convincing Johnny A to try his luck sa NBA, may connection ata siya kay Karl Malone, according to Bragg, the mailman was quote as saying to his buddy, John Stockton "someone from the Philippines is ready to take you out, sineryoso ni stockton ang joke and said "we'll if he can, I'd like to see him come over here and play."

during the 80s maliban kay Samboy, other players who interest foreign scouts are Hector Calma and Danny Florencio.

[alaskachampions]

I think during the time that the NBA scout is here in Manila he didn't played well. Miski ako naiinis ako that time na kung kailan siya dapat magpa-impress tiyaka naging pangit yung mga nilaro niya.

Johnny A during his prime is a NBA material, he's making a lot of noise in the int'l tournament and in the PBA but then when the scouting time comes he foiled under pressure.

OffT:
IMO, if only Danny Seigle isn't injury prone he could have been a multiple-MVP and might been scouted by the NBA. Parang di yata talaga para sa Pinoy ang NBA. tsktsktsk.

[sbc_chief]

i think i read an article somewhere that then coach for hornets dave cowens didn't like the idea of bringing in another mugsy bogues in his lineup. a good player but with a lot of deficiencies, especially during defensive match ups.

the scout used to work in the pba before turning into a full time scout for the hornets.

well, let's just say mahirap talaga. politics play a big role for a player to really be considered in the nba. that's why some of the best european players are not in the nba for various reasons.

[SLM_311]

Kung yung ibang import nga na nagaverage ng 30-40ppg. dito sa pilipinas di umabot sa nba pinoy pa kaya Para sakin yung mga nagsasabi na kaya ng current and former pba players mag nba bihira maglaro ng basketball or di pa naexperience magdefend ng bigger, better, faster and stronger players

[JudyVans]

Kung hindi ako nagkakamali. Hiningi kasi ni Tim Cone si Alonzo Mourning saka 1st rounder para kay Johnny A.

[rocqG]

may kaibigan ako na dating team mate ni Johnny sa PBL(Crispa) ang kwento nya is, as early pa nung nasa FEU si Johnny ay may pumunta na ditong scout para ma-interview at mabigyan ng invitation para mag-try out sya sa US pero hindi sinabing galing sa NBA ang invitation.
ang problema, twice nag-punta dito yung scout pero hindi nya inabot si Johnny dahil nasa abroad na sya playing for the RP team. bumalik nalang daw yung scout dito nung nabalitaan nasa PBA na si Johnny at naging napaka-successful nya sa pro... mid 90's na yun kaya alanganin na rin talaga makuha si Johnny, nababakasakali nalang makuha kahit yung 10day contract pero kung 5-6 younger daw si Johnny siguradong makukuha na sya. kaya malaki daw ang regret nung scout kasi hindi daw nagpursue yung management group nila para makuha si Johnny nung bata pa.
nung napabisyo si Johnny, lagi daw nya kinukwento yung frustration nya about this topic. "kung meron na raw youtube at internet noon malamang naka-abot sya ng NBA" or nakita at nasubaybayan nung mga scout yung career nya