PBA Trivia

[capitantiago]

for me the best import that the Gokongwei franchise had gotten was 6'5 Walker Russell

and he also played for purefoods in the 1990 reinforced but was later replaced by robert paul rose who helped purefoods won its first title.

[insulares]

and he also played for purefoods in the 1990 reinforced but was later replaced by robert paul rose who helped purefoods won its first title.

And he had to rub it in too. During the post-game ambush in the champagne-soaked dug-out, Romy Kintanar needled Rose about scoring a measly two markers.

Rose deadpanned, "Without my two points, we wouldn't have won."

[capitantiago]

And he had to rub it in too. During the post-game ambush in the champagne-soaked dug-out, Romy Kintanar needled Rose about scoring a measly two markers.

Rose deadpanned, "Without my two points, we wouldn't have won."

i kinda remember that.
but rose was a role player in the scheme of things for coach baby dalupan.
besides, darren queenan was a volume scorer and they have a great collection of scorers in alvin, jolas, jerry, nelson! (lol), solis, and naning valenciano! (lol)

[ogre]

Bruce "Sky" King (Toyota)
Billy Ray "Black Superman" Bates (Crispa, Ginebra)
"Sweet" Lew Massey (Gilbey's Gin) and Terry "Sweet Dew" Duerod (Ginebra)
Byron "Snake" Jones (Toyota)
David "Sheriff of Bradley" Thirdkill (Purefoods, Tanduay)
Winston "Human Eraser" Crite (Alaska, Presto)

How about Andrew "Andres Bukid" Fields? (Toyota)

[The_Big_Cat]

Alaska import Willie Bland was a sensational dunker. He won a slam dunk contest during the late 80s.

Sean Chambers won the slam dunk contest featuring PBA imports and the IBA All Stars in the late 80s as well.

[tiburcio]

Poster Players

Call it marketing ingenuity!
The success of PBA at its maiden opening in 1975 was because of the posting of the players' faces (18" by 12" picture photo) at every nook of the country. The faces of Abet Guidaben, Francis Arnaiz, Big Boy Reynoso, Bogs Adornado, Manny Paner, and many more, were the ubiquitous icons in the 70's. It's like President GMA of today publicizing a structural project using billboards at roads and highways.

[capitantiago]

Call it marketing ingenuity!
The success of PBA at its maiden opening in 1975 was because of the posting of the players' faces (18" by 12" picture photo) at every nook of the country. The faces of Abet Guidaben, Francis Arnaiz, Big Boy Reynoso, Bogs Adornado, Manny Paner, and many more, were the ubiquitous icons in the 70's. It's like President GMA of today publicizing a structural project using billboards at roads and highways.

at least they knew how to market the pba and its superstars then.

[insulares]

Alaska import Willie Bland was a sensational dunker. He won a slam dunk contest during the late 80s.

Bland was exciting (sounds like an oxymoron...). The funny part was his Alaska teammate Eddie Cox was the one getting all the hype pre-contest. Cox's "Baby Jordan" monicker only served to increase fan expectations.

Turned out the Bland Bombshell's thundering dunks were a cut above Eddie Cox's feeble attempts.

[insulares]

i kinda remember that.
but rose was a role player in the scheme of things for coach baby dalupan.
besides, darren queenan was a volume scorer and they have a great collection of scorers in alvin, jolas, jerry, nelson! (lol), solis, and naning valenciano! (lol)

Yeah, Rose was kinda like what Victor King was to Toyota. In a word: effective.

As for Queenan, his vertical leap really lived up to his alma mater (Lehigh). He gained maturity and a lot more confidence with the Purefoods. In his Anejo debut the year before, he was atrocious on the stripe especially in pressure situations...a bad case of rookie import nerves. But he really shot the lights out in the Purefoods title game.

Nelson? Couldn't stop laughing whenever Joe Cantada found every excuse to call him "Babyface Nelson".

Valenciano? Now there's another nervous player...he should've been called Praning Valenciano.

[gary_hole]

John Kazmer's mark in the PBA is of two things. First,him being a lemon import for Utex (he was replaced after a few games by Leroy Jackson, enroute to a runner-up finish in the 1981 Reinforced Conference). Second, he's always been tagged ERRONEOUSLY as the first white import in the PBA. There are more than a dozen white imports in the PBA before Mr. Kazmer.

I first saw this error in the internet in 2003 and it has been copied from one forum to another. In a current FHM.PH 35 PBA facts list they've quoted the same error as a fact. It is the responsibility of the PBA to correct all the false informations that are out there. Let's face it, even Wiki entries have errors in it. But what can the PBA do if even their own annuals contains errors.

For example, in their PBA annual, the team records for 1976 shows a total of 392 games - 186 wins and 206 losses. It doesn't take a genius to see that a win corresponds to a similar loss. On the same year, Noritake has a record of 10 wins 26 losses. I don't think you will reach the semifinals in two conferences with only 10 wins.

Enough of the complains, here are some more white imports trivia:

1. 1975 Second Conference have the most white imports at the same time. Pete Crotty of Crispa, Ron Wrigley of CFC Presto, Steve Smith of Royal Tru Orange and Lee Haven of Utex.

2. Lee Haven is the first white import to play in two seasons - 1975 and 76.

3. Peter Crotty is the only white import to win a PBA championship - 1975 All Philippine Championships.

4. There are only two pairs of white imports in the PBA. 1976 Second Conference - Tanduay Distillers' Tim Hirten and Bill Bozeat. 1981 Open - Finance Funders' Jim Zoet and Michael Carter.

5. Former Tanduay import Kevin Cluess (1980 Open) died in 1986 of leukemia at the age of 33.

6. 1978 Open Conference - Royal Tru Orange import Frank Gugliotta's youngest brother is Tom Gugliotta of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

[gary_hole]

There was one post out there that says Joy Dionisio was the starting point guard for Crispa in the inaugural season. That's not the case. Dionisio was acquired in 1976 from Carrier to beef up their point guard lineup after Johnny Revilla was released a few months earlier.

Baby Dalupan is an unconventional coach who doesn't stick to a particular starting five and relies on gut instincts or who has the hot hand. There were games in the earlier years where players such as Guidaben, Hubalde and Fabiosa are benched for an entire game. This is why Revilla was pushed out of the team. He didn't like not starting a crucial game against Toyota. This led to an altercation between him and Baby D.

In 1975, the best five for Crispa was Cezar, Adornado, Soriano, Co and the point guard slot was a toss up between Revilla, Fabiosa and Rey Franco. The duties of guarding the 6-8 Byron Jones of Toyota fell in the shoulders of 6-2 Cezar, 6-2 Soriano and a young, raw 6-5 player in the name of Abet Guidaben.

[The_Big_Cat]

John Kazmer's mark in the PBA is of two things. First,him being a lemon import for Utex (he was replaced after a few games by Leroy Jackson, enroute to a runner-up finish in the 1981 Reinforced Conference). Second, he's always been tagged ERRONEOUSLY as the first white import in the PBA. There are more than a dozen white imports in the PBA before Mr. Kazmer.

I first saw this error in the internet in 2003 and it has been copied from one forum to another. In a current FHM.PH 35 PBA facts list they've quoted the same error as a fact. It is the responsibility of the PBA to correct all the false informations that are out there. Let's face it, even Wiki entries have errors in it. But what can the PBA do if even their own annuals contains errors.

For example, in their PBA annual, the team records for 1976 shows a total of 392 games - 186 wins and 206 losses. It doesn't take a genius to see that a win corresponds to a similar loss. On the same year, Noritake has a record of 10 wins 26 losses. I don't think you will reach the semifinals in two conferences with only 10 wins.

Enough of the complains, here are some more white imports trivia:

1. 1975 Second Conference have the most white imports at the same time. Pete Crotty of Crispa, Ron Wrigley of CFC Presto, Steve Smith of Royal Tru Orange and Lee Haven of Utex.

2. Lee Haven is the first white import to play in two seasons - 1975 and 76.

3. Peter Crotty is the only white import to win a PBA championship - 1975 All Philippine Championships.

4. There are only two pairs of white imports in the PBA. 1976 Second Conference - Tanduay Distillers' Tim Hirten and Bill Bozeat. 1981 Open - Finance Funders' Jim Zoet and Michael Carter.

5. Former Tanduay import Kevin Cluess (1980 Open) died in 1986 of leukemia at the age of 33.

6. 1978 Open Conference - Royal Tru Orange import Frank Gugliotta's youngest brother is Tom Gugliotta of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.

Welcome gary_hole.

Another NBA player who had a brother playing as import in the PBA was LA Laker and NBA Champ Mychal Thompson. Mychal's younger brother Andy, played for Tanduay.

[Big Ticket]

Welcome gary_hole.

Another NBA player who had a brother playing as import in the PBA was LA Laker and NBA Champ Mychal Thompson. Mychal's younger brother Andy, played for Tanduay.

add to the list derek gervin, brother of the george the iceman, who played for purefoods....ironically, the iceman's son, george jr, played for the coca-cola tigers....

[Jay P. Mercado]

Great inputs as usual Gary! Nice to see you around here!

More on white imports - TNT had back-to-back caucasians in 2002 and 2003. They had Damien Cantrell in the 2002 season and then secured the services of Richie Frahm of Gonzaga University the season after. Cantrell eventually returned to play in the PBA but his second stint was uneventful.

Toyota never had a white import during their 9-year stint with the PBA. Crispa only had one in Pete Crotty. I also don't recall Robert Jaworski, while coaching Ginebra, getting a white import for his team. Ron Jacobs, who was then consultant for Ginebra, wanted a hardworking, blue-collared import to reinforce the Gins in 1998. Enter Ryan Fletcher, a burly 6'5 player with a strong upper body and a rebounding demon. While Fletcher wasn't that gifted offensively, he more than made up for this by his work rate.

[gary_hole]

Thanks Jay and the Big Cat