New Cable Channel Showing Classic PBA games

[James Ty III]

Jay, why are the 2003 games being shown all over again? Can't you air newer games like TNT's 2003 AFC finals win over Coke? And Alaska's Invitational championship win over Coke that same year?

What about some games of Ma Jian who played for China in that same Invitationals?

[sneakerboi]

Anyone here knows if Samboy Lim did ever don a Magnolia (Cheese, Ice Cream) jersey in his rookie year? TIA

[Jay P. Mercado]

Yes he did...Avelino "Sambooy" Lim played as a rookie for Magnolia Ice Cream in the 3rd Conference of the 1986 season...

[sneakerboi]

^how about in the 1987 season sir?

[Jay P. Mercado]

Yes he did...although he was more often injured at that time. But he did get his share of playing time from Norman Black when he was capable of playing...

[James Ty III]

Samboy saw a lot more action in the 1987 PBA Reinforced Conference where San Miguel emerged as champ, reinforced by Bobby Parks.

[Jay P. Mercado]

Catch the Great Taste-IBA All Stars game from 1987 at Pinoy Extreme....it's now showing.

Great Taste had a very deep local lineup featuring Allan Caidic, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Arnie Tuadles, Joy Carpio, and reinforced by imports Dwight Moody and Dexter Shouse...

On the other hand, check out future PBA imports Sugar Ray Hall and Sean Chambers suiting up for the IBA All Stars. The year after, Hall suited up for Purefoods while Chambers donned the Alaska Milkmen colors.

[KevinDurant]

I watched the SLR vs. 7Up game yesterday. SLR in its maiden conference had a stellar lineup..Limpot, Meneses, Esplana, Hawkins, Realubit (THAT IS after dealing Caidic to SMB) all on the same team. Just wondering what it could have been for this franchise had they retained that core...

[Jay P. Mercado]

They probably would have done well but then, we have to understand that this was practically the same roster that Presto had when it placed rock bottom in the 1992 season under Messrs. Jimmy Mariano and later, Tommy Manotoc.

Presto was probably the most talented team on paper from 1984 to 1992. Fans may disagree, claiming it would be San Miguel or Purefoods that should lay claim to this title but in terms of veteran savvy, experience and multi-talented players, the Gokongwei franchise had them all. In 1992, they had Meneses, Esplana, Caidic, Hawkins, Realubit, King, Tuadles, Israel, Jao, Dela Cruz, among others. That's a 10-deep lineup but yielded terrible results in the 1992 season, thereby partly triggering the sale of the franchise to the Exequiel Robles company.

Of course, Sta. Lucia would probably have done well to tinker with this veteran-laden lineup first and see how it'll go. I assume Nat Canson knew what he was doing though when he decided to put rookie Jun Limpot as the fulcrum of the team's plays while shipping Caidic to San Miguel Beer. Canson also had a different idea in mind on how to run the team when he decided to break the Presto nucleus. He sent Meneses and Realubit to Swift for Andy De Guzman, Jack Tanuan and Ric Ric Marata. Later on, he acquired Bong Alvarez from Alaska for Bong Hawkins in one of the most career-changing swaps in PBA history. Hawkins went on to become a key player for the grandslamming Aces of the 1996 season while Alvarez struggled to find relevance after his Alaska stint - moving from one team to another while trying to look for a home where he'll be comfortable with. He moved to Shell, San Miguel, Ginebra, among many other teams that he played for in his career.

Similarly, Canson preferred to get "role players" to back up his star rookie Limpot. Canson recruited the likes of Max Delantes, Melchor Teves and Boyet Fernandez from the draft while settling for free agents Rudy Enterina, Peter Aguilar, Ricky Cui and Egay Macaraya. Suddenly, the star-laden rookie franchise became a mesh of veterans, discards and rookies with top pick Limpot leading the charge.

[Gunnar]

Catch the Great Taste-IBA All Stars game from 1987 at Pinoy Extreme....it's now showing.

Great Taste had a very deep local lineup featuring Allan Caidic, Atoy Co, Philip Cezar, Arnie Tuadles, Joy Carpio, and reinforced by imports Dwight Moody and Dexter Shouse...

On the other hand, check out future PBA imports Sugar Ray Hall and Sean Chambers suiting up for the IBA All Stars. The year after, Hall suited up for Purefoods while Chambers donned the Alaska Milkmen colors.

Hi jay,

I just observed that the IBA All Stars seem to have a small line up. No big men for their power forwards and no seven footers for their centers. Was there a requirement in this invitational?

I never thought Shouse played for Great Taste. I thought he only played for Shell and Purefoods.

[Jay P. Mercado]

Gunnar,

Yes, the PBA-IBA World Challenge Cup held in between the 2nd and 3rd Conferences of the 1987 season, was actually a tournament for "small" players. The IBA team didn't have a player no taller than 6'4, which was the regulated height established by the IBA. Hence, we were able to see Sean Chambers and Larry Middleton dominate inside and Dwight Moody holding his own.

As for Dexter Shouse, since this was not officially a PBA tournament, he was never given the credit to have first played for Great Taste. The story was Shouse was contracted to play for Shell in the 1987 Third Conference, the Reinforced. He came early to acclimatize, and since Shell was not part of the IBA tournament because of their cellar-dwelling finishes in the Open and AFC, they were already preparing for the Reinforced. Great Taste didn't have an import for the Reinforced back then - Dwight Moody was their original pick for the Reinforced but he didn't get to play after the IBA series. Shouse was allowed to play for GTC on a on loan basis. Shouse then played for Shell, and after leading the team in the eliminations, suddenly left without any reason. Dwight Anderson, Shell's first import in the 1985 maiden season, returned to replace Shouse. The PBA then allowed Shouse to return to play for Purefoods in the 1989 Reinforced but the same story occured - he left Purefoods in their sudden-death game against Anejo Rum 65 for the second Finals seat. Apparently, Shouse was offered a 10-day working contract to suit up for the Philadelphia 76ers and rushed back home for such. Anejo, led by import Carlos Briggs, nipped a hard-fighting local Purefoods crew, to earn a Finals slot to face SMB, led by Ennis Whatley. Shouse was subsequently banned from playing in the PBA.

[James Ty III]

They probably would have done well but then, we have to understand that this was practically the same roster that Presto had when it placed rock bottom in the 1992 season under Messrs. Jimmy Mariano and later, Tommy Manotoc.

Presto was probably the most talented team on paper from 1984 to 1992. Fans may disagree, claiming it would be San Miguel or Purefoods that should lay claim to this title but in terms of veteran savvy, experience and multi-talented players, the Gokongwei franchise had them all. In 1992, they had Meneses, Esplana, Caidic, Hawkins, Realubit, King, Tuadles, Israel, Jao, Dela Cruz, among others. That's a 10-deep lineup but yielded terrible results in the 1992 season, thereby partly triggering the sale of the franchise to the Exequiel Robles company.

Of course, Sta. Lucia would probably have done well to tinker with this veteran-laden lineup first and see how it'll go. I assume Nat Canson knew what he was doing though when he decided to put rookie Jun Limpot as the fulcrum of the team's plays while shipping Caidic to San Miguel Beer. Canson also had a different idea in mind on how to run the team when he decided to break the Presto nucleus. He sent Meneses and Realubit to Swift for Andy De Guzman, Jack Tanuan and Ric Ric Marata. Later on, he acquired Bong Alvarez from Alaska for Bong Hawkins in one of the most career-changing swaps in PBA history. Hawkins went on to become a key player for the grandslamming Aces of the 1996 season while Alvarez struggled to find relevance after his Alaska stint - moving from one team to another while trying to look for a home where he'll be comfortable with. He moved to Shell, San Miguel, Ginebra, among many other teams that he played for in his career.

Similarly, Canson preferred to get "role players" to back up his star rookie Limpot. Canson recruited the likes of Max Delantes, Melchor Teves and Boyet Fernandez from the draft while settling for free agents Rudy Enterina, Peter Aguilar, Ricky Cui and Egay Macaraya. Suddenly, the star-laden rookie franchise became a mesh of veterans, discards and rookies with top pick Limpot leading the charge.

Boyet Fernandez later learned how to be a coach during his Sta. Lucia stint. Remember, he has already won the last 3 PBA D League championships for NLEX, aside from a title he won with SLR in 2008.

[James Ty III]

Gunnar,

Yes, the PBA-IBA World Challenge Cup held in between the 2nd and 3rd Conferences of the 1987 season, was actually a tournament for "small" players. The IBA team didn't have a player no taller than 6'4, which was the regulated height established by the IBA. Hence, we were able to see Sean Chambers and Larry Middleton dominate inside and Dwight Moody holding his own.

As for Dexter Shouse, since this was not officially a PBA tournament, he was never given the credit to have first played for Great Taste. The story was Shouse was contracted to play for Shell in the 1987 Third Conference, the Reinforced. He came early to acclimatize, and since Shell was not part of the IBA tournament because of their cellar-dwelling finishes in the Open and AFC, they were already preparing for the Reinforced. Great Taste didn't have an import for the Reinforced back then - Dwight Moody was their original pick for the Reinforced but he didn't get to play after the IBA series. Shouse was allowed to play for GTC on a on loan basis. Shouse then played for Shell, and after leading the team in the eliminations, suddenly left without any reason. Dwight Anderson, Shell's first import in the 1985 maiden season, returned to replace Shouse. The PBA then allowed Shouse to return to play for Purefoods in the 1989 Reinforced but the same story occured - he left Purefoods in their sudden-death game against Anejo Rum 65 for the second Finals seat. Apparently, Shouse was offered a 10-day working contract to suit up for the Philadelphia 76ers and rushed back home for such. Anejo, led by import Carlos Briggs, nipped a hard-fighting local Purefoods crew, to earn a Finals slot to face SMB, led by Ennis Whatley. Shouse was subsequently banned from playing in the PBA.

The IBA and PBA had another Challenge Cup in 1988 with Alaska and Anejo meeting in the finals. The Rhum Masters won, 128-126, on a last-second lay-up by Romy Mamaril off an assist by Joey Loyzaga -- similar to what they did in Anejo's win over SMB in a playoff game for the last finals seat in the AFC.

After Anejo's win, the IBA-PBA tournament was never held again.

[brief]

the bruise brothers, relosa and villamin, at pinoy xtreme tonight!

[Gunnar]

Saw the game last night between Coney Island and Sta. Lucia. I think that was the debut of Chot Reyes. I was looking at the line up of Sta. Lucia, I never thought Ricky Cui played for that franchise. Was he traded from San Miguel? Also, how come Apet Jao just suddenly disappeared?

[James Ty III]

According to an article in Maxim magazine in 2006, Apet Jao migrated to Guam where he now works as an employee for a hardware store there.

[Jay P. Mercado]

I'm not sure of this but I think Cui was an unsigned free agent in the 1992 season and was picked up by the Sta. Lucia Realtors when they were looking for players to fill their final roster. Or maybe Cui was part of the trade that sent Allan Caidic from SLR to SMB. I couldn't recall exactly but yes, contrary to what I previously wrote in another thread, Ricky Cui, the 2nd overall pick of the 1986 Draft, became a regular part of the Realtors' rotation in the 1993 season.

[Gunnar]

According to an article in Maxim magazine in 2006, Apet Jao migrated to Guam where he now works as an employee for a hardware store there.

Why din he just disappeared? Was he not re-signed? I think he did not even played in the MBA.

[James Ty III]

Jao was not re-signed by SLR. He left for Guam after his PBA stint ended in 1992.

[Jay P. Mercado]

Catch the exploits of David Thirdkill of Tanduay and Michael Young of Great Taste Coffee in an Open Conference battle between these two titans in the 1987 season.

Watch the combo of Ricky Brown and Allan Caidic playing together for the Coffeemakers in what may be one of the best assembled teams of all time. Aside from Young, Brown and Caidic, other players include Philip Cezar, Arnie Tuadles, Atoy Co, Bernie Fabiosa, Abe King, Joy Carpio, among others....