’54 star once sued PBA team

Tony Genato was honored in a virtual jersey retirement ceremony by Rep. Eric Martinez at the Bahay Alamat in Valenzuela last Sunday with the 91-year-old only known living survivor of the Philippine basketball team that took third place at the 1954 FIBA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro attending the rites via zoom.

During the 1 1/2 hour program, Genato spoke about his World Cup experience in 1954 and regaled his audience with stories of Uruguay’s “dirty” players, a Philippine team official (whom he declined to identify) stealing the last few days of the players’ $2 daily allowance, a Paraguay referee hiding under the officials’ courtside table when confronted for biased officiating and the long journey from Manila to Rio passing through Tokyo, Anchorage, Seattle, Houston, Florida, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela and the Brazilian port city of Belem.

Genato said the Philippines could’ve won the gold if only coach Herr Silva’s squad beat the US in the eight-team final round. The Philippines led, 31-26, with 10 minutes left but couldn’t stave off the hefty Americans who won, 56-43. Even as the Philippines lost to Brazil in the final round, it would’ve clinched the gold with a win over the US via the quotient system. The Philippines bowed to Brazil twice, 99-62, in a no-bearing qualifying game then 57-41 in the final round where Genato and teammate Caloy Loyzaga accused the Paraguay referee of partisanship. Nine of the 12 referees in the 1954 competition were from South America so Brazil enjoyed a healthy menu of home cooking. The Philippine squad’s bronze finish remains the highest ever by an Asian country in the FIBA World Cup.

Not too many remember that Genato once coached in the PBA. That was with Presto Ice Cream in the 1977 first conference. He was signed to a contract in March and terminated in May. He led Presto to a 3-4 record then after losing a one-point game to Tanduay, was fired. Genato sued CFC Corp., owner of the Presto team, for breach of contract and moral damages. His monthly salary was about P5,000 and he filed a suit seeking P600,000. Genato was represented by lawyer Alfredo Rosete.

Nothing came of the suit. Genato recalled there were two hearings then the case fizzled out when the presiding judge died. “I went to practice two days after the Tanduay game and saw Nilo Verona on the court,” he said. “I found out he was hired to replace me.” Genato said he was blamed for the loss to Tanduay because he benched import Cisco Oliver for disciplinary reasons in the final minutes. But Presto could’ve still won only Manny Paner committed a crucial foul in the dying seconds to bail Tanduay out.

Paner said he was contacted by Genato to act as witness during the court hearings but begged off. He remembered some of his teammates were Arthur Herrera, Loreto and Tomasito Tolentino, Johnny Revilla, Dante Ritualo and Danny Pribdhas. “Hard to control si Oliver,” said Paner. “Hindi rin nagtagal si coach Nilo. Ako nga pina-coach for two games.”  Genato said it was difficult working with team manager Chino Marquinez. “He would give me slips of paper telling me which players to use and I threw them away,” recounted Genato. Paner said although Genato’s coaching stint was brief, he had fond memories of their teamwork. Two years ago, they were reunited in a Gilas send-off before the fifth window of the FIBA Asia/Pacific World Cup Qualifiers at the Meralco Multi-Purpose Hall and reminisced about the good (and bad) old days.