Legendary

A legendary game in a legendary stadium. As a basketball fan — whatever age, class or gender — what more can you ask for?

When I was younger, it was always fun to think how our local PBA players would stack up against NBA stars. But back then, to come up with an answer on whether Ronnie Magsanoc could stay toe-to-toe with Tim Hardaway or if Benjie Paras could defend a center like Vlade Divac or if Allan Caidic was a better shooter than Robert Horry, all you could do was play it out in your head. It’s only at the legendary Araneta Coliseum in the year 2009 that we really got a chance to watch the argument get settled right before our eyes.

 Last Friday, Sept. 11, four NBA legends with a legendary NBA figure as coach squared off with a mix of PBA legends and All-Stars. Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins, Robert Horry, Vlade Divac, Tim Hardaway and their coach, 19-time All-Star and NBA all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, played an exhibition game with our very own PBA Legends Alvin Patrinmonio, Allan Caidic, Ronnie Magsanoc, Kenneth Duremdes and Benjie Paras, along with PBA All-Stars like Asi Taulava and Willie Miller as part of the NBA Asia Challenge 2009.

The NBA Asia Challenge 2009 also featured the show-stealing New Jersey Nets Dunkin’ Divas and Silver Fox the mascot, who delighted the crowd with their sizzling dance moves as well as their acrobatic slams and jams during timeouts and intermissions. All these performances from players and cheerdancers alike contributed to a heck of an entertaining night.

 In what has to be a defining moment in Philippine basketball history, the NBA Legends, together with players from the NBDL, and the local superstars delighted the fans with a run-and-gun type game with a great number of highlight reel material. Some of the most memorable moments of the game included “The Triggerman” Allan Caidic nailing five three-point shots in the first half to keep the score close and Alvin Patrimonio showing off his basketball IQ with a beautiful drive-and-dish to Dondon Hontiveros, where The Captain drove to basket on a fastbreak and faked out an NBA D-Leaguer with a layup that he turned into a wrap-around pass.

Other memorable moments of the night involved Dominique Wilkins, now 50 years old, still dunking with the best of them; Willie Miller catching fire late in the game, surprising the NBAers with his sweet shooting and fearlessness in attacking the rim; and several big jams by the young gunners of the NBA D-League. In the end, our PBA team just could not keep up with the bigger, faster and more athletic cagers from across the world, losing 109-86 despite a brilliant throwback performance by the PBA Legends.

Despite the loss, just seeing our guys on the court with international legends exchanging baskets, running the floor together and putting on a show for the capacity crowd at Araneta, one couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. For a moment in the first half, after Caidic kept knocking down treys to keep the game close, I swear there was a hint of disbelief in the eyes of the NBA Legends. You could plainly see that Dominique Wilkins was serious. He began to drive to the rim with a purpose. For a moment in that game, American nerves got shaken just a little bit. For the entirety of that game, Filipino pride was running strong.

Our boys put on one hell of a show. The trend in meaningless exhibition games is that the players don’t try. They don’t care about winning. They’re just out there to have fun. Though that may still hold true for the most part, in stages of this particular exhibition game, there was something being put on the line. Like Joseph Yeo, all 5’11” of him, driving hard to the rim, twisting his body in his patented “The Ninja” way and colliding with 6’5” to 6’6” behemoths and getting his shot blocked. Then going right at them again a few possessions later. Like Wynne Arboleda, easily one of the shortest guys on the court,  fighting for a loose ball with 7’1” center Vlade Divac in the first quarter, with very little at stake yet.

Certainly, for us Filipinos, this wasn’t intended to be a display of world-beating talent on our part. I don’t think anybody expected us to win that game. It was, however, a display of passion and of will and of desire. Our players exhibited that love of the game that runs so deep into our society, that we proudly call ourselves a Basketball Country.   

What more can you ask for? You definitely can’t ask for more heart.

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For questions, comments, or corrections, please e-mail me at carlfrancisramirez@gmail.com.