Skyscraper back in groove

The word from the Meralco Bolts camp is 6-9 Marlou (The Skyscraper) Aquino is playing like a man possessed at practice and working his butt off to convince management he deserves more than just a one-conference renewal in the PBA.

Aquino, who turns 38 on Oct. 7, once enjoyed a five-year contract paying P500,000 a month with Sta. Lucia Realty. Now that he is working under league limitations of three years for a contract and P350,000 for a monthly salary, Aquino has had to make major adjustments in his lifestyle. But he’s far from exasperated with the change of fortunes. Aquino is even more motivated to show he still belongs in the PBA, that he remains a force in the middle.

“Marlou is rejuvenated,” gushed Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio the other day. “He’s coming early for practice and finishing up strong, like he wants to do more. It’s been three weeks since we started practice and Marlou’s been an inspiration to all of us. He’s running, dunking, scooping, skyhooking, setting screens, blocking shots and rebounding. When he dunks, the guys go up to him, slap high fives and do body bumps. He’s the example. We’ve told Marlou that when he plays tirelessly, it rubs off on his teammates because no one wants to play with less energy than our oldest player.”

Gregorio said the way Aquino is playing, he can continue dominating the interior in the PBA even in his 40s. Centers are known for longevity in the game because they don’t rely on quickness as much as their size and ability to play around the basket. In the NBA, the oldest players on record were big men Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (retired at 42), Robert Parish (retired at 43), Dikembe Mutombo (retired at 42) and Kevin Willis (retired at 44) who all stood at least seven feet. The only exception was 6-1 guard Bob Cousy who retired at 34 but came back for seven games as a Cincinnati playing coach, averaging five minutes, at 41.

“We’re using the tandem system at practice and Marlou is paired with Beau Belga,” said Gregorio. “They’ve been battling it out like everybody else. At the two-guard spot, it’s MacMac Cardona against Ogie Menor.”

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Cardona has fit in Gregorio’s system like James Yap in Purefoods.

“MacMac’s our go-to guy and we set multiple screens for him,” said Gregorio who led Purefoods to three PBA titles. “Everyone screens for him from the small guy to the big guy. MacMac told me now he understands why James was our top scorer in Purefoods and likes the same role. But MacMac is finding out he’s enjoying passing, too. At practice, when the defense reacts to screens by trying to cover up, MacMac looks for an open teammate to pass to. The other guys realize because of MacMac’s ability to draw the defense, they can get a split second opening to score if they set good screens. As I’ve often told the guys, I’m using plays designed to make them succeed, not to make them fail. I won’t do complicated plays that confuse players. I’ll make things simple to execute. That way, we don’t misunderstand each other.”

Gregorio pointed to Gabby Espinas as his Marc Pingris from the Purefoods mold. “We want to take advantage of Gabby’s strengths and not ask him to do more than what he can do,” said Gregorio. “He’s very athletic and strong. He has very good defensive instincts and likes to play off the ball. Our rookies are coming along. Shawn Weinstein is a tough pressure defender on the ball. Bam-Bam Gamalinda has size and can play three or four along with Ford Arao. Khasim Mirza could develop into our KG Canaleta.”

On Sept. 24, the Meralco gym will be reopened with a game between Meralco and Smart-Gilas. That will be a big test for the Skyscraper as he shows his mettle against Marcus Douthit, Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter.

Aquino was the PBA’s top overall pick in the 1996 draft and played four years with Ginebra before moving to Sta. Lucia Realty, now Meralco, in 2000.

“We may not be as deep or talented as other teams but we’ll be out there fighting,” he said. “With us, it will be all about heart. When we gave out our practice jerseys, we made a big thing of it because we told the guys playing for Meralco is special. What’s important isn’t the name on the back of the jersey but the name in front – Meralco. We have a proud tradition to uphold. We’ll be playing for the company, Caritas and the fans.”

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UP team managers Chitong Rivera, Bert Mendoza and J Castro are determined to keep the flag flying for the Fighting Maroons in the UAAP next season.

“Our resolution is we won’t stop trying,” said Mendoza. “We don’t want to lose. We’ll do everything we can to turn things around. But not at the expense of academics. First and foremost, our players are students. We want them to graduate with UP diplomas. If there’s ever a conflict between basketball and studies, our priority is studies. We provide tutors to make sure the players are on track academically.”

Next season, the Maroons will lose Magi Sison, Woody Co and Martin Reyes but will welcome 6-8 Mbah Alinko of Nigeria, 6-5 Raul Suyod of West Negros College and 6-1 Jelo Montecastro of St. Benilde. Among the holdovers are Mark Lopez, Alvin Padilla, Mike Silungan, Mikey Reyes and Mark Juruena.

Who will coach is a question mark. Boyet Fernandez is an option. Jigs Mendoza, Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc may be tapped. Ariel Vanguardia, formerly of Jose Rizal, wants to apply, saying “it’s like the situation with the Heavy Bombers when I joined, they were also in eighth place.” The Three Musketeers aren’t decided whom to choose at the moment.

In UAAP history, UP has won only two basketball titles – in 1986 with the seniors varsity bannered by Paras, Magsanoc and Eric Altamirano and in 2002 with the juniors led by Marvin Cruz. Rivera, Mendoza and Castro realize it’s a major challenge for the Maroons to reach the top but there’s no other way to go but UP.