LAST SEASON WITH THE CSCST BUILDERS

IN 1989 I AM going to complete my varsitarial residence of five years, the maximum allowed by the Cebu Amateur Athletics Association (CAAA)¹, in my school, the Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST)². 1989 will be my last year in competitive collegiate basketball and I intend make a graceful exit. In the four years that I played with my school I have gifted it with a win except in the 1982 season when I was yet a rookie.

On this occasion, ten collegiate teams of Cebu participated, namely: the University of Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, the University of Cebu (UC) Marines³, the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildcats, the University of Southern Philippines (USP) Panthers, the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, the Cebu Technical School (CTS) Scanners, newcomer Cebu Doctor's University (CDU) White Stallions, newcomer Salazar Institute of Technology (SIT) Skyblazers⁴ and the CSCST Builders.

Two groups of five teams each were created and CSCST were grouped alongside UV, USJ-R, CTS and SIT in a single round robin format. The top two teams in our group and the top two teams in the other group would then play with each other in a semifinal round and the next top two would then play in the championship finals while the rest play for third place. Such was the innovation in the playing schedules in the CAAA at that time brought on by the addition of two new teams. All the matches are played in the USC Gym located at the corner of Junquera and Sanciangko Street, right in the heart of Cebu City.

In my final year, the CSCST Builders have a respectable lineup. Old reliables Dodong Abarintos (6'1”) and power forward Expedito Bejoc (5'11”) are back and so with guard Rey Cenit (5'7”) who played hero in CSCST's squeaker over the USP Panthers in 1986. New guys like ex-SWU⁵ Cobra Joshua Villanueva (6'2”), ex-UV Baby Lancer Hector Baclohan (5'9”) and one lucky find from San Francisco, Camotes – Felix Rocacurva (5'10”) - added depth, speed and firepower as members of the Builders starting five. Point guard Rayno Cabahug (5'7”), sweet-shooting Denten Densing (5'10”), center Roy Tabanao (6'0”) and off-guard Oswald Bajo (5'9”) complement this team very well as back-ups.

I found myself relegated as second center but I welcomed it nonetheless as I could not keep up anymore with the very fast pace that this new team had been training and I just reinvent myself by concentrating more on defense to give muscle inside the paint for the Builders. I am a natural scorer but there are now more good shooters in the present lineup than was before and I have to compensate myself to plugging the holes instead where we are most wanting. I took this task very easily and I became the team's enforcer. A thorn in the paint against offensive plays of opposing teams.

Officially, on record, we were coached by faculty member Edgardo Mondero. Mr. Mondero got this appointment from the CSCST Board of Directors even when he has no experience in coaching a basketball team save, perhaps, in an intramural tournament in 1985 where I was made his proxy. As he had done before, he appointed another proxy in the person of his best student – Rey delos Reyes – who is, himself, an avid follower of basketball. In due time, de los Reyes and the team developed a harmonious chemistry that almost propelled the CSCST Builders to the next round.

Our first schedule were with the USJ-R Jaguars. They have with them sweet playmaker Champion Cañoneo and other notable collegiate standouts whose names escaped my memory. This Jaguars team is considered by many as a serious title contender. They immediately locked away our ball handlers and the outlet passes in the first half without let-up and we were all spent and tired trying to wriggle away from their tenacious defense and their lead sprinted away in the first half at USJ-R – 69, CSCST - 31. In the second half we were able to answer their baskets with baskets of our own until buzzer time: USJ-R – 135, CSCST - 99.

Our second game match is against the CTS Scanners (0-1). The Scanners are very well-coached by Roldan Montalban and this is a farm team from which the UC Marines pluck their players from. Both have the same system of training and scrimmages and both are sister schools. Once again, I faced this team with one or two old faces from our previous wars. I kept my slate clean against them with the help of Abarintos, Villanueva and Bacalla who did the real damage by scoring at will against their defense: CSCST – 91, CTS - 85. After this match, we were able to move in the win column at third place behind USJ-R (2-0) and UV (1-0) at 1-1.

The SIT Skyblazers (0-2) are our third opponent. This is a new team. What they lacked in height they made up with their fast tempo. Three of the famed Sanchez basketball-playing brothers of Mambaling are with this team but we were superior in play executions and scored at will underneath and we kept the lead until halftime arrived: CSCST – 38, SIT – 33. In the second half the Skyblazers started to harass our ball handlers with double-teaming while keeping at bay other guys who will unload the pressure. They rough handled my teammates and they ate away our lead until they held on to the driver's seat for the first time: SIT – 51, CSCST – 50 and the crowd roared in approval and this is not good. We sued for time out.

In the third quarter, I set up hard picks to ease the pressure on my cutting teammates and we were able to destroy their momentum by answering their baskets evenly with ours until they lost steam in the 10-minute mark and gradually we were able to pile up point after point until we were ahead by a mile at the end of the game: CSCST – 88, SIT -68. The boys were all buoyed up and looked forward to our next and last match against the UV Green Lancers who touted a 2-0 mark behind USJ-R's 3-0 with our own 2-1 record. Suddenly, we will have a mathematical chance of crossing over to the next level if we beat the Lancers granting that the Lancers beat the Jaguars and translates to a 3-way tie. Just an IF.

The UV Green Lancers, for a long time, have been the darling of the crowds whenever they play, be it as underdogs or as a vastly superior team. It doesn't matter to the Cebuanos and they are very proud of the Lancers for it represents the whole of Cebu. They are, so to speak, Cebu's Pride. We will be facing them with the crowds against us, as have been in the past, throwing jeers and taunts at our hapless and disoriented players. I prepared to psyche myself up not to play with the crowd's hexing as I entered the wooden tiles of this covered basketball court where many legends were born.

These present Lancers team have been living under the shadows of their more illustrious upperclassmen as practice dummies and they have played together for sometime. This is now their time that they are a force to reckon with. Except for top gun Celerino Cabanca, who is a former CSCST Baby Builder, most of the Lancers team are from the Baby Lancers and from their senior training team like Superales, Chua, Romanos, Cadungog, etc. Ceiling-wise, they were not that superior but they have great stamina and they were a fast-breaking team. They are now looking for their third win at our expense before meeting up with the Jaguars on their next match.

True to form, they impose their will on us with transition plays after every miscue from us. They were playing us man-to-man and after we sued for time they were already leading by a wide margin: UV – 28, CSCST – 13. We tried to adjust our offensive variations and countered some fastbreaks but they were too cohesive to dominate and we gave away the first half to them: UV – 64, CSCST – 38. All the while when we were playing them, the crowds, as always, hurled their not-very-nice expletives against us. That's the privilege of being a Lancer.

In the middle of the second half, I imposed my authority in the paint by stopping cutters, blocking shots and intercepting lob passes from upstairs and it changed the nature of the game. The Lancers were now disoriented as their well-rehearsed plays were not successful anymore and, this time, we were making shots from all around the perimeter and from transitions. By now, wonder of wonders, the crowds were with us and they would hurl insults at every mistake the Lancers have committed and that spurred us to play very well until the Lancers sued for time with the score at UV - 83, CSCST – 68.

The complexion of the game changed but we were able to slice some of their margin by eight in the middle of the fourth quarter: UV – 108, CSCST – 100. At the last five minutes we lost steam and surrendered the game and all our hopes to the Lancers: UV – 120, CSCST – 108. As the game ended, the crowd gave us a standing ovation and it gave us something to be proud of. We lost the game, yes, but it was not in vain. We held our heads high and we snared the respect of our opponents and the crowd. Despite that, we tote a 2-2 win-loss record as if it were a trophy. This is this lineup's (and mine too) last game and we leave it as our legacy.

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1Now known as the Cebu Scholastic Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI).

2Now known as the Cebu Technological University (CTU).

3Now known as the UC Aguilas.

4Now known as the Salazar College of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT).

5Southwestern University or SWU is not a member of the CAAA then. It has been disbanded in 1989 and almost all of its players are playing with the CDU White Stallions while others tried out with other teams.

PLAYING WITH THE CSCST BUILDERS

IT HAS BEEN THIRTY-five years since I played my first basketball game. It was just a pick-up game of three a side. A one goal affair. Then and there, I sprained my middle finger. I was a fourth grader. Nine years later, I played my first collegiate varsity game.

I suited up for the “new” Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST) Builders in 1983 in the now-defunct Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA)¹. Previously, this team was known as the Cebu School of Arts and Trades (CSAT) Builders and it languished always at the cellar. A favorite whipping boy!

The CAAA basketball league consisted of Cebu's cream of colleges and universities like the University of Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, the Cebu Central College (CCC) Executives², the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildcats, the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, the University of Southern Philippines (USP) Black Panthers and the Cebu Technical School (CTS) Scanners.

In that year, the Green Lancers were the powerhouse. Their lineup then could beat any collegiate team in the country. They have with them burly centers Anthony Mendoza and Christopher Amomonpon; guards Alfonso Solis, Boy Cabahug and former USC Warriors ace Jerry Aratan; forwards Godo Gonzaga, Stevenson Dajalos and Andrew Najarro. Their third five could beat our team handily even with eyes closed.

The Executives came next with names like Edmund Navales, George Bonsubre, Boyet Cortes and their peppery two-some of Lito Amaya and Opel Abellana. The Jaguars parade high-flying Jojo Lastimosa, Dondon Ampalayo and Zaldy Realubit. The Black Panthers have man-mountain Sinforoso Tamayo and guard Eddie Fuentes.

The Scanners hoped on sweet-shooting Ruel Gomez to tow their team. The Wildcats were a veteran and resilient lot and the Warriors were well-coached. Some of these names, eventually, would proudly play for the national team and in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) – Asia's first play-for-pay league.

Against those, only point guard Benjie Alcantara, old carry-over Rey Paclipan and me carry the cudgels for the Builders. The rest of the team were raw recruits coming from the intramural league. I am a natural swing man. I can play in the 2-3-4-5 positions and, since our team is short on ceiling, I was assigned the job of starting center. An undersized center. A ceremonial jump ball guy.

I could carry the ball on the floor well with either hand uncanny for guys my size and pop up respectable left-handed jumpers from all angles. Reverse lay-ups and twist-ball shots from underneath are part of my forte but I'm murderous during transition offense. I wore a number 5 in my jersey in honor of my idol – Ernesto Estrada – a former Green Lancer and a high-scoring pro who played with Royal Tru-Orange³ and the Toyota Tamaraws in the PBA.

My first game with the Builders was against the imposing CCC Executives on July 17, 1983 in front of a sparse crowd at the USC Gym in Sanciangko and Junquera streets. They scored the first six shots before we hit ours. At the five-minute mark, coach Jake Rojas of the Executives sued for time-out. When we came back we faced a different kind of team. They were all over the court double-teaming, triple-teaming, pressing and harassing us. It was difficult to maneuver around with all these yellow-shirted guys coming at you. It was an open full-court press!

Our coach, Manuel Cuenca, kept shuffling his players as fast as he could type letters in a typewriter to keep up with the pace that the Executives imposed upon us. They were better conditioned physically than us. A rest was a very welcome opportunity. The score: CCC – 28, CSCST – 7. Re-invigorated by the quick respite, my thoughts were now clear and I now have an idea how to break free from their stifling defense.

Once you dribble the ball they are on you quick and, before you know it, they have the ball with them and they score. Now, you catch the ball and make a quick pass to an open man and they changed directions quickly. It won't tire you out that way just making quick passes before they press on you but it would tire them out changing directions all the time. Soon enough, I was making long jumpers. The score: CCC -31, CSCST – 16. Coach Rojas sued for another time-out.

They changed to a half-court press and concentrated their focus on Benjie and me. I ran around trying to find picks to lose my shadow but they blocked every avenue I took. I couldn't take jumpers! Tired, I decided to stay at the baselines. Suddenly, I could pluck offensive rebounds from the vacuum they created up front and score from there with unorthodox twist shots and, by that time, CCC were already ahead by a mile when the halftime buzzer sounded: 60-31.

There's nothing we could do against a physically-superior team but play our best and keep the margin as close as possible. In the second half, the amount of pressure that the Executives imposed on us were now beginning to thaw. All the time, the Executives dominated the transition offense in the first half with none coming from us. This time, we ran some fastbreaks and scored. I scored twice in this stretch happy to break loose and found my rhythm.

In the end, the margin was too much to overcome and our opponents were too skillful and too deep for us and we have to bow to them: CCC – 118, CSCST - 74. Yes, a 44-point margin. That is a lot. But we scored more in the second half than we scored in the first half and they scored less than what they scored in that same stretch. It could have been less, or more, if the three-point shot have been adopted by the league.

In my next game, we were up against the UV Green Lancers. We faced a team whose line-up is the envy of commercial and professional teams. Their players have already created a name for themselves nationwide. It was on August 21, 1983 – yes, the day Ninoy Aquino was shot – that I got to rub elbows and knees with them. We all got intimidated against them and the large crowd and it took the spirit out of us.

We could not do anything right against their defense. I scrounged for shots and I missed a lot even from close range. I piled most of my points on free throws. Our defense melted like wax and they ran both ends of the court scoring and denying us any opportunities even at the final stage. We lost by a gargantuan margin: UV – 150, CSCST – 62.

After that embarrassing loss, Benjie and I blamed my teammates for not giving out their all-out effort and played onto the crowds' taunting and hexing. That might have challenged them to gift our coach and our school with a win in our third outing against the CTS Scanners on August 28, 1983: CSCST – 86, CTS – 84. In that game, I traded blows with Ruel Gomez and we both were ejected and my teammates rallied to deliver that win.

I was served a one-game suspension in our next outing against the USJ-R Jaguars where we lost by another big margin. Against the USC Warriors we were soundly beaten by an 18-point margin and against the USP Panthers, we lost by fifteen. In that game, I tried my first trademarked pirouette shot in the middle against a taller Simpoy Tamayo and scored, silencing the crowd. The same shot I perfected later to offset my disadvantage in size in the paint.

In our final game against the CIT Wildcats on October 2, 1983 we were facing a veteran team composed of strong bangers Boboy Hernan and Lito Espinosa. Their defense was tight and their long years playing together gave them a comfortable margin at the half: CIT – 68, CSCST – 42. In the second half, things began to change a little in our favor. My teammates began to play good defense and we were able to answer their fastbreaks with our own transition plays netting the final score: CIT – 110, CSCST – 101.

In that 1983 CAAA Season we finally brought a win as against six losses and we did not linger at the cellar this time. That infamy belonged to another team. The UV Green Lancers won the CAAA championship in that year against the CCC Executives. Enecio Completo coached the Green Lancers and waved his magic again by winning the National School Basketball Championships in Iriga City, Camarines Sur against a team from Metro Manila on February 1984.

In the next six years I helped the CSCST Builders in snaring a win, sometimes two, in the tough CAAA league, thus, giving a little morale and sense of pride to our school. Mario Chuntic coached the team in 1984 and 1986. Cuenca again in 1987 and 1988 and Rey de los Reyes in 1989. CSCST did not participate in 1985. In 1986 and 1987 I took a long leave.

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1Now known as the Cebu Scholastic Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI).

2Now known as the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters. It used to be called also as the CCC Marines, then later as the UC Aguilas.

3Now known as the San Miguel Beermen.

BASKETBALL CRAZY!

EVER SINCE James Naismith invented basketball in 1899, this sport has taken great leaps and bounds and has been popular ever since, in almost all countries and in all continents (except Antarctica). The sport has made tremendous growth and development (and popularity) since the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States whereby the game's standard has been raised to a higher and a much competitive level by such immortal greats as Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and His Airness - Michael Jordan.

Basketball is basically a big man's game and is well suited to Europeans, Americans and some peoples of South America, Africa and Asia where height and heft is an advantage. This game was brought by American colonists in the early 1900s here in the Philippines and it quickly gained acceptance by the islanders due to its simplicity and accessibility with regards to equipment and playing field as compared to another American invention and import - baseball.

The Philippines, despite a population having only an average height of only five feet and three inches (5'3") earnestly played basketball with such passion, ardor, skill and heart that it became champions many times in basketball in the Far East Games of the 1920s up to the advent of World War II, beating taller and bigger teams like China and Japan.

The "islanders", as they were called, placed seventh in basketball in the 1928 London Olympic Games (its highest finish since) and, at one time, 12th in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. In the World Basketball Championships, the forerunner of the FIBA Cup, Filipinos have been running roughshod over bigger and taller teams by placing third in 1954 and fourth in 1956.

Here in Asia, we were masters of the game in the Asian Games from 1950 up to 1961 and in 1969. The last international title we held where we sent native-born cagers was the 1975 Asian Basketball Championships, from whence the core of that squad became the pioneers of the second basketball professional league in the world - the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

The Filipinos would talk about basketball in much the same length and breadth the Italians and Brazilians would talk about football or England about cricket. It is the staple of all topics whether you are in Malacañang, in the schools, in the slums, in high-end villages, even in combat zones.

Every generation, every child aspires to play basketball just like their idol and it is a common sight that you would see pick-up games or grassroot leagues played in makeshift basketball courts right on the streets, on dirt and grassy fields, on mountainsides and on anything that is almost flat and has space.

I belong to that generation wherein basketball is played in makeshift courts, and playing in a covered court or gymnasium is considered a luxury. I was fourteen when I started playing basketball. We were so damn good then in dribbling the ball in pot-holed and gravelly fields that when we played in cemented courts its as if our feet have wings. Much more so in a wooden parquet-tiled court.

At 14 and at 5'4'' I was tall enough to play point guard and developed the skill to dribble efficiently in both hands. I also developed a good shooting touch from all angles and, being a left-hander, opponents find it difficult to defend against me whether I'm shooting a jumper or scoring on a lay-up.

But by 17, I grew to 6'1'' so fast that I find it hard to execute my moves as a point guard. The added weight stretched and slowed me so much and that I was not accustomed to play in a higher horizontal level leaving me gasping and disoriented due to the rapid change of my growth hormone. Although I shot and made long jumpers, I was forced to play an unfamiliar position of center, my teammates contending that there wouldn't be anyone to snare the rebound if I miss those long jumpers. And they were right.

In the early 1980s, PRT gyms are quite exclusive and expensive and it would have helped me in developing my stamina and my strength, but, I opted to change gears: I played and practiced soccer instead, for a year, wherein it helped me gain my speed, my agility and the total control of the game once more.

In 1982, I tried out (and got accepted to play) with the University of Southern Philippines (USP) Panthers but went to play instead with the Cebu State College of Science & Technology (CSCST) Builders after my school records in another university got snagged. I hogged the bench that year where we were winless, but in my second year as a Builder, I averaged 7.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in the Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) where we notched a win at the expense of the Cebu Technical School (CTS) Scanners. In that year I could never forget the 60-152 lashing our team got from powerhouse University of the Visayas (UV) Lancers, who eventually won the CAAA, the Zonal Championships and the National Students' Basketball Championships.

For the next two years we logged two wins against CTS and a win against USP. We also became champions in basketball competitions of the Association of Vocational Institutions of the Philippines (AVIP) in Region 7 twice and, in 1986, CSCST represented Region 7 during the State Colleges Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) held in Tacloban City, wherein we placed third behind Region 3 and the National Capital Region. During my last year, we snatched two wins: against Salazar Institute of Technology (SIT) Skyblazers by a wide margin and, again, CTS.

By the time my eldest son was born in 1989, I hung up my sneakers from competitive playing. Sometimes, I got invited to play in basketball tournaments by some teams, but the zest for the game was now missing and I have to oblige their invitation by showing up in some games and practices (and the free uniforms!). I thanked God for protecting me from injuries that many have incurred and incapacitated their playing careers and I took care not to experience those injuries now late in my age. What skills I have learned and studied I will pass on to my sons, Gringo and Cherokee.

Definitely, there are no more basketball games for me, but there is the TV where I tune in to and watch with millions of other Filipinos of the country's greatest of all pastime - BASKETBALL!

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