Remembering Ricardo "Ric-Ric" Marata: One of the underrated player of the 90s
One of the best defenders and easily among the nicest person you can meet.
My fondest memory is when he step up in Overtime of the 1995 all-filipino game 7.
He dominated Johnny Abbarientos in OT after Boybits Victoria fouled out. His heroics led Sunkist to win their only all-filipino championship.
He would truly be missed!
My fondest memory is when he step up in Overtime of the 1995 all-filipino game 7.
He dominated Johnny Abbarientos in OT after Boybits Victoria fouled out. His heroics led Sunkist to win their only all-filipino championship.
He would truly be missed!
Comments
RIP Ric Ric Marata
his buddy, Boy Cabahug, naglaban sila sa three-point shootout in a friendly rivalry kahit karibal mga teams nila, Swift and Purefoods.
nakabalik siya sa Sunkist in 1995, perhaps because of his loyalty to RFM Corporation, naalala ko nga Game 7 of the All Filipino Finals, he did made a crucial error sa closing seconds ng regulation, naagaw ata ni Abarrientos during Sunkist inbound, Alaska on top by one, muntikan na matalo Sunkist, pero meron play sa 4th quarter momentum nasa Alaska when Marata threw a triple that bounce high up but went in, paubos na shot clock.
I don't know how Marata became related to Cyrus Baguio although from what I know, Cyrus has an uncle named Max Baguio - the former guard of the Royal Tru Orangemen back in the 70's.
pagkatapos pa magbasketball, he would stay in the court with us kahet late time na and tell us stories about his life and experiences during his stint in the pba and other leagues. sobrang kalog at walang ere kaya ang sarap maging kalaro sa court and coach.
i was also a witness to how he trained and molded Alot(Cyrus Baguio) into a great player, i can remember literally every afternoon sila nagtratrain sa court sa village kahet ang taas nung araw. Si Joseph(sam marata) din siya nagtrain pero masmatagal nya talagang naalagaan si Cyrus, lahat nung tryouts nung college kasama siya and magkwekwento yan samen sa court pagkauwe. Kaya nga nung naging successful si Cyrus sa PBA, we were happy also like Tito Ric.
Wherever you are Tito Ric, thank you and we'll miss you
yup you're right. bago sila pumunta ng states, he was coach to our village's teams in the summer league in all the divisions in Pasig (mosquito upto juniors division) and sa seniors naglalaro siya and he still had the deadly shooting he was known for.
Yup cityland your rival team...hehehe! 2006 was his last year of playing and coaching for us dahel pumunta na silang states kaya buti napanalo lahat ng divisions bago sila umales... kakagulat lang talaga kase dumalaw ng pinas yan si tito ric last year, parang maskondisyon pa compared to how he was before he went to the states at nagkwekwento pa yan na mga egoy na kalaro nya dun.hehehe
RIP
may nakaalala pa pala noon, Ricric was supposed to be our first export quality, a filipino being offered to play in such leagues in the US, di ko rin maalala kung WBL or a canadian league, but Marata was fooled upon by an american named Gerry Webber (dont know if he was the same Webber na nag coach sa Nicolas Stoodley) into failed promises, did he really play out there sa trip niya abroad.
i first saw ric ric marata in the 1984 season of the pabl playing for mama's love coached by jun noel
starting five were pg ric ric marata, sg jojo lastimosa, sf norberto manalili, pf larry villanil and c rizaldy realubit
off the bench were pg jerry aratan, sg bpy cabahug, sf danny lastimosa etc
when they enter the rizal memorial coliseum, the predominantly visayan crowd would cheer boisterously as they give away mama's love products like lotion, cologne, powder etc
then they start warming off by showing off their dunking abilities much to the delight of the fans.
pabl season then started in 1984 and ended in 1985 as esq marketing coached by jun lipa upset the ncc team b known as lagerlite. mama's love if i am correct finished 3rd...
in the 1986 season, marcoses fled the country and so does danding cojuangco. san miguel took a leave of absence from the pba and the ncc team got disbanded. the players were farmed out. calma played for esq, dignadice to dlsu, samboy lim and al solis to lhuillier where they were joined by jolas, peter aguilar, jay ramirez, peter jao. the others like ric ric, manalili, cabahug, realubit stayed with mama's love. lhuillier beat esq in the finals and by pba 3rd conference, the ncc team went to the pba and became san miguel again...
RIP Ric-Ric Marata