Ex-PBA import makes history

A former San Miguel Beer import made history recently by becoming the first Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) veteran to be named a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Keith Smart, 38, took over the Cleveland Cavaliers’ reins from John Lucas who was fired for piloting the squad to a league-worst 8-34 record this season. But in his coaching debut last Tuesday, Smart couldn’t lead the Cavs out of their slump as the Orlando Magic posted a 103-94 win at the Gund Arena.

Smart played briefly for San Miguel in the 1989 Third Conference. He averaged 31.2 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. Despite the glowing stats, Smart was replaced by Ennis Whatley after five games. The six-foot, 175-pound guard was too small to match up against rival imports Dexter Shouse, Terrance Bailey, and Carlos Briggs.

Hector Calma, who played with Smart at San Miguel, said the former Indiana University star was quiet and easy to get along with. "Keith played offguard and I played point guard," recalled Calma. "He was good but a little too individualistic. Nakisama naman siya sa amin. His problem was size. He was too small kaya even the locals could guard him. That’s why we made the change."

Smart tried to do things on his own and was often thwarted in driving to the hole. Bigger defenders had little difficulty swatting away his twisting layups. When he went to the line, Smart hardly missed–he shot 84.5 percent. But from three-point distance, he was atrocious and buried only 1-of-11 treys.

In coach Norman Black’s mind, the smart thing to do was to replace Smart. As it turned out, Whatley powered San Miguel to the title and completed the Beermen’s Grand Slam. San Miguel’s nucleus that year included Calma, Samboy Lim, Ricardo Brown, Ramon Fernandez, and Ato Agustin.

Smart will always be remembered in hoop history for hitting the clutch jumper from the left baseline, with five seconds remaining, to ice Indiana’s 74-73 win over Syracuse for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) crown in 1987. After Syracuse called a timeout, Smart sealed it by intercepting the inbound pass. He wound up with 21 points–9-of-15 from the field and 3-of-4 free throws, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Smart was voted MVP of the playoffs. A teammate was Rick Calloway who played for San Miguel in 1992.

Indiana coach Bobby Knight, in his bestseller "A Season on the Brink," recounted the big play: "Almost any player in that situation, time running out, national title at stake, would have panicked. Smart took one dribble to his left, flew into the air and shot. He was slightly off balance as he went up from 16 feet but the shot was true all the way. It hit the bottom of the net as the clock rolled from five seconds to four. The Syracuse players were stunned. For almost three seconds, no one moved to call time out. By the time they did, only one second was left. It was not enough time. Smart stole the last desperate inbound pass and hurled the ball to the heavens."

Smart played at Garden City Community College in Kansas before transferring to Indiana as a junior for the 1985-86 season. At Garden City, he looked like an undersized Mr. T, dripping with gold chains and a tiny arrowhead shaved in the back of his head. But when he reported to Knight for his first Hoosiers practice, the jewelry was gone and his hair was cut neatly. "I’m not going to improve as a player unless I get some discipline," said Smart who knew Knight wouldn’t tolerate a less than conventional image.

One of Smart’s Indiana teammates Steve Alford, in his book "Playing For Knight," described him as "a small guard with slashing moves, incredible.