The BIG J Wishlist - Jaworski would have wanted these players for Ginebra

Unlike the Ginebra of the present, the team under Coach Robert Jaworski from 1985 to 1998 was made up mostly of unglamorous, blue-collar players who worked their tail off in proving to the Big J they deserved their floor burn. During that time, salary was always an issue among the players as Ginebra, despite being owned by the Carlos Palanca Group and, later, San Miguel Corporation, had perhaps the lowest payroll in the league.

Coach Robert Jaworski in action with assistant Rino Salazar

It was both a source of inspiration and frustration for the legion of Ginebra followers. Having "average" players perform beyond their capabilities from the prodding of their coach, and eventually win championships can only make a fan prouder for cheering for this team. On the other hand, it was not uncommon for Ginebra fans to constantly have heartbreaks - runner-up losses to Tanduay in the 1986 AFC, to San Miguel Beer in the 1989 Reinforced, missing the Finals of the Reinforced from 1985 to 1988 and 1987 Open by a whisker, and so on.

More discerning fans felt the team needed a quality player or two for them to win more championships. This was even more evident in the doldrum years of 1992 to 1995 when Ginebra looked like the New York Knicks today when it seemed no one wanted to play for them. It didn't help when they had a couple of rookie draftees who didn't want to play for them because of pay issues, or free agent players who wanted to leave for "greener pastures."

Jaworski has always said that he won't force anyone to play for him if they don't want to, making it more difficult to get marquee players from other teams. The team never soaked themselves in the free agent market, unlike up and coming teams like Swift and Pepsi who tendered juicy offers to free agents like Alvin Patrimonio, Nelson Asaytono, Al Solis, Alvin Teng, Jun Limpot, among many others.

But the Big J also had his favorites. These were players that he yearned for. And while Jaworski never admitted anything to the public regarding his personal preferences, you sense this when he coaches All Star games, or how he treats the players on and off the court. There were players he got in their twilight years who Jaworski would have wanted to get much earlier. Names like Freddie Hubalde and Philip Cezar of arch rivals, Crispa, Manny Victorino and Bong Solomon (who had a detached eye retina when Ginebra got him that led to his early retirement) were the most notables. Ex-Toyota teammates, Chito Loyzaga, Ricky Relosa, Terry Saldaña and Arnie Tuadles got a chance to suit up for Ginebra with Jaworski as head coach.

This list may not be 100% accurate, as this is based on conjecture and educated opinion.  But Jaworski followers who have followed his playing and coaching career would most likely agree with me on this one. Here's a roster of players that the Big J would have wanted to coach at Ginebra but never got to do so:

1.  Yoyoy Villamin

Yoyoy Villamin guarding Jaworski

Villamin joined the PBA midseason of 1981, suiting up for the Crispa Redmanizers. He was already a celebrated amateur player by then, terrorizing the opponents by dominating the paint as a player for Solid Mills, APCOR and several national teams. His performance peaked in 1987 when he became an MVP runner-up to Abet Guidaben while playing for Hills Bros. Jawo's fondness of Villamin was apparent when the two teamed up in the 1989 All-Star game, as well as serving as playing coach of the 1990 Veterans team in the All Star game.

Villamin remained a valuable contributor after his Hills Bros stint, serving as one of Yeng Guiao's most trusted veterans at Swift. It was probably during this period when the Big J wanted to get Villamin's services as Ginebra lost key big man, Rey Cuenco, to Shell via a trade. The Bicolano Superman would have been the post presence the Gins needed during that slump period. Too bad Guiao equally valued Villamin's worth, becoming an All-Star and a Mythical Second Team member in 1991. Villamin would have essayed what Terry Saldaña and Dondon Ampalayo did at Ginebra - a phenomenal one-on-one post player who's equally vicious off the offensive boards.

2.  Abe King

Abe King guarding Carlos "Red" Briggs

Not a surprise choice. In an exclusive interview on An Eternity of Basketball hosted by ESPN5's Sid Ventura, Noel Zarate and Charlie Cuna, King admitted that Ginebra was offering a roster spot with the team in the 1994 season. That offer would have probably been made much earlier except that King was well-entrenched with Great Taste after the Gokongwei franchise secured his services in 1985 and has become the team's resident leader and veteran.

King, who joined the league in 1977, nearly became the Rookie of the Year winner, losing by a a vote or two against Tanduay's Jimmy Taguines. But oldtimers felt King deserved the award more - not only did he come in much later in the season compared to Taguines, King had to put in his numbers as part of a vaunted Toyota unit that had multiple superstars.

With Vic Pablo declining the offer from Ginebra and the latter forcing to trade him for Manny Victorino, King would've been perfect for the team as he reunites with Jaworski and Chito Loyzaga. Opposing teams' prolific bigs would have a handful figuring out how to score with King and Loyzaga patrolling the paint, while typifying the gritty defensive lockdown that Ginebra was known for in the late 80's and early 90's. King, in a Ginebra uniform, may have also given the Chairman of the Boards the rightful recognition the richly deserves as one of he league's greatest players of all time.

3.  Romy Dela Rosa

Romy Dela Rosa and Rey Cuenco battling for the rebound

In 1989, Añejo Rhum 65 shocked fans when they drafted little known Cebuano, Romy Dela Rosa for the fifth overall pick. While there was no denying Ginebra was looking for a big man to shore up its interior, no one thought of DL Rosa. They were still able to acquire the 6'5 Peter Aguilar in the second round but they did miss out on talented guards like Boy Cabahug, Ato Agustin and Dindo Pumaren in getting the 6'2 Visayan cager.

But Dela Rosa turned out to be a well-scouted and intelligent pick for Ginebra. Shell was also interested in getting him but they obviously won't pass up on Benjie Paras as the top pick. They didn't have a second round pick so perhaps, they were hoping to snag him in the third round (13th overall). Jaworski's fondness for prolific, yet tough, defensive post up power forwards came to fore when they drafted Dela Rosa. It was unfortunate that the two parties didn't agree, leading to his trade to Shell for Rey Cuenco. He would have been an ideal fit, and Ginebra fans turned their ire on him for turning down Jaworski. Dela Rosa proved to be as mentally tough as he was advertised, and became a pivotal member of that successful Shell team from 1989 until 1992.

4.  Benjie Paras

Benjie Paras and Jaworski jockeying for position

Perhaps the biggest what-if in Jaworski's coaching career. Not only did the Big J wanted to have a great center for the first time, he could have gotten the country's best center at that, and arguably, the best PBA player that time. Odds became much better when Paras openly expressed being traded to Ginebra after his contract with Shell ended at the end of the 1992 season, heightening talks of a possible trade.

Previous to that, Paras unleashed his true value as a player when he powered the 1990 national team in the Beijing Asian Games to a silver medal finish. Jaworski, who was coach of that team, gave extensive exposure to Paras and the big guy delivered. Ginebra tried to work out a deal when they offered multiple future trade picks, or any two players in their roster, or a combination of both. When Shell didn't reciprocate, Paras sat out for one conference in the 1993 season, dabbled into show business, before finally affixing his signature to a new max contract with the Oilers prior to the start of the 2nd conference. If there's one player perhaps that Jaworski would have loved to coach, that would be the Tower of Power - the one man who would fulfill his needs at the slot, and the one person who he can focus his offense on. Even the Big J would have wanted to play longer with Paras around just to make these plays come to fruition.

5.  Ronnie Magsanoc

Ronnie Magsanoc, guarded by Jaworski

Just how good Ronnie Magsanoc was? In the tumultuous 1990 First Conference Finals between Shell and Añejo Rum, won by the former, Magsanoc was phenomenal and a total beast. He scorched the nets, sinking treys from all angles. All these, despite the roughhousing done to him by Ginebra enforcers Rudy Distrito, Dante Gonzalgo and Mike Advani. Magsanoc even got socked by a Distrito punch but just shook it off, earning further respect not only from Distrito but Jaworski himself.

It was not a surprise therefore to see Magsanoc play longer than Hector Calma in the 1990 national team. Understanding Magsanoc's three-point shooting as a critical weapon in international competition, Jaworski started Calma but played Magsanoc longer, particularly in the all-important games. If the Point Laureate can accept all the physical beating he received from his Ginebra wards, the Big J understood how mentally strong Magsanoc was - an important trait from all Jaworski guards. Add to this his impressive accuracy from the three point line, he would have made Ginebra a strong contender every year. But then, Shell, just like in the Paras issue, was smart enough not to give him up for any team during his peak playing years.

6.  Samboy Lim

Jaworski guarding Samboy Lim

Which coach would not want to have a Samboy Lim in his roster? Yup, no one. And Jaworski had a special fondness for Lim. Jaworski is always known for his physicality on defense, but somehow, just like how he defended against Marte Saldaña, the Big J never really went after Lim as hard as he was with other guys like Willie Generalao, Jojo Lastimosa, Totoy Marquez, Boy Cabahug or Al Solis. It was clear that Jaworski respected Lim's game and while he remained physical at him, Lim appeared "safe" from the Big J's defense.

When Lim won the MVP award in the 1990 All Star game, the Jaworski-coached Veterans team walloped the Rookies-Sophomores-Juniors (RSJ) team, 146-118, led by Lim's 42 points. He earned MVP honors unanimously from the press corps with Jaworski practically feeding him in every play. The playing coach has always admired gutsy players who feared no one and gave everything inside the court - superstar or otherwise - and Lim personified all the characteristics that the playing coach wanted in a player. Of course, there was no way for Ginebra to get Lim during his prime because of his value to San Miguel Beer, but it won't be surprising if Ginebra would give an arm and a leg just to get someone like the Skywalker.

7.  Alvin Patrimonio

Jaworski consoling a dejected Alvin Patrimonio

There were rumors that Alvin Patrimonio wanted to be traded to another team, in particular, Añejo Rum 65, prior to the start of the 1990 season after Purefoods management, led by President Rene Buhain, allegedly ordered all Purefoods players to vote for Benjie Paras as MVP of the 1989 season to prevent Ramon Fernandez from winning the plum a 5th time. Unfortunately, Patrimonio was actually ahead in the statistical race by the end of the season and was himself, a candidate for the award. Feeling slighted for being shunned by his own team management, Patrimonio sought to move to another team.

Jaworski and Añejo would have been more than a willing trade partner. In the first place, who wouldn't want Captain Lionheart in your team? Secondly, Patrimonio was the complete embodiment of the power forward that Jaworski's teams were known for.  He had power, he had smarts, he was unstoppable one-on-one, one of the best clutch players of all time, and a no-nonsense defender himself. Simply put, Patrimonio would not just have been the franchise player of the Gins, he was also going to be the all-time second most popular player in league history next to his playing coach. During crucial situations and needing a basket, the Big J would normally go to the post and let guys like Ampalayo, Saldaña, Distrito, Joey Loyzaga, Leo Isaac, or even himself, post up and go one-on-one against their defender. You can only imagine the multiple number of games Alvin would have won in the final seconds for the franchise. It never happened though as The Face ended up staying with Purefoods until his retirement in 2004.

8.  Rey Lazaro

Jaworski looking to defy Rey Lazaro's defense

True-blue Ginebra fans would be surprised with this choice. Rey Lazaro was perhaps Ginebra's first public enemy number one - and we all remember how "Lazaro, Gago!" became the first vitriolic chant of the Ginebra faithful. This, of course, later morphed into any player's name (preferably 3 syllables), then "gago" - from "referee, gago!" to "Polistico, gago!" (okay, that's 4 syllables, but expect the fans to find a way to fit those in). It all came from a skirmish Lazaro had with Ginebra import, Terry Duerod. Everything else followed.

But only a few are aware that Lazaro nearly joined Toyota in 1981, only to be beaten to the draw by Freddie Webb and YCO/Tanduay. In 1985, when Lazaro's contract expired, Jaworski actually had a meeting with Lazaro and expressed interest in acquiring his services. The 6'2 stalwart nearly signed with Ginebra only to be convinced by Webb (again!) to join expansion team, Shell instead. Jaworski's near signing of the acrobatic player, considered one of the greatest one-on-one post up players in PBA history, proved his partiality towards bruising power forwards who can post up, go one-on-one, and and dominate the paint. He would have made a formidable troika of post players for the Gins in 1986 with Terry Saldaña and Dondon Ampalayo. Too bad Webb was quick to the draw...

9.  Bogs Adornado

Jaworski guarding Adornado was a common sight back in the 70's

The Big J and Adornado go a long way back. Jaworski's primary defensive role was against Adornado dating back in the MICAA. They were also teammates in several national teams, particularly the 1973 ABC and the 1974 World Championship. Heated rivals on the court, Bogs would score 20 points or more despite the tough defense employed by Jaworski.

Jaworski had an opportunity of grabbing Adornado in 1985 when he debuted as playing coach for Ginebra, but Shell beat him to the draw. There's no denying how much the Big J respected his game - Bogs had everything the Big J wanted from a player - the ability to create his shots, to draw fouls, to score from all over.  Perhaps the only drawback in Bogs' game was his defense, but that was something Jaworski can live without. There were more pluses in Bogs' game than his minuses, and, despite the fact that his game was slowing down by 1985, he remained one of the most prolific scorers in the league, averaging 34.5 points in the 4-game Finals against Great Taste Coffee in the All Filipino conference. I won't be surprised if Bogs' career went further beyond 1987 had he suited up for Ginebra instead.

The Early PBA Broadcasters (1975-1981)

When the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) debuted on April 09, 1975, only the second game was aired live, starting at 7:30PM. The first game would eventually be aired immediately after the second game, or, when it moved to the government network, GTV-4 in 1978, the first game was shown after the 30-minute news.

The first coveror was KBS Channel 9 (eventually became RPN 9 and now CNN Philippines).They were able to secure the contract with the PBA for a then hefty amount of one million pesos. The year after, in 1976, the PBA switched channels and joined the Banahaw Broadcasting Network (BBC) Channel 2 owned by the Benedicto family. In 1977, the league went back to KBS 9 and stayed there for another year before moving to GTV-4 when the league tied up with Media Specialists, Inc. (MSI) owned by former Congressman Romy Jalosjos. MSI was able to secure the contract with the PBA and then bought airtime from the government network to show the games as a blocktimer. They continued to air the games until 1981 until Vintage Enterprises of Carlos Velez was able to acquire the rights to air the games on City 2 network. Vintage will be credited for bringing world-class basketball broadcasting in the Philippines when they took over in 1982. It was only in 1987 when the doubleheader was aired live starting at 5PM.

Let's list down some of the broadcasters from the pre-Vintage era and recall how they covered the games.

1.  Frank Sanchez (1975 and 1977)

One of the PBA's first play-by-play commentators (now called anchor), the mestizo-looking broadcaster had an excellent command of the King's language and preferred a conversational approach when covering the games. He and Raffy Mejia were the first PBA anchors back in 1975 with Caloy Prieto doing the color commentary. Sanchez was part of a quartet of broadcasters along with Mejia, Babes Romualdez and Emy Arcilla who put up RPN and BBC Sports. They covered the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics in Canada. Sanchez's style was mild-mannered and moderate - traits of the typical broadcaster back in the 70's.

A 70's vintage photo of Raffy Mejia (seated), Frank Sanchez (second from left) and Caloy Prieto (rightmost)

(Photo taken from the late Caloy Prieto's FB account)

2.  Raffy Mejia (1975 and 1977)

Another familiar voice during the 70's was that of Mejia's. Similar to Sanchez, he was extremely professional when covering the games. He did the play-by-play commentary with authority, speaking in straight English, and described the plays as he saw it. It wasn't unusual for play-by-play commentators to refrain from giving their opinions as they were trained to say what they saw. Mejia had excellent diction and pronounced the names of the players in his own snazzy manner. Older sports fans would remember Mejia for being one of the resident broadcasters of RPN and BBC. Mejia was part of the original broadcast team of the PBA in 1975.

3.  Caloy Prieto (1975 and 1977)

The unmistakeable baritone voice of Prieto was always a treat to listen to. While I first heard him in 1975 with the PBA, the memory that sticks out was how he covered the Olympics in 1976. Curiously, we learned that the then 14-year old Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, was pronounced as "Ku-ma-ne-chi" but in actualiy, it should be pronounced "Ku-ma-nech." Despite the faux pas, I've always been impressed with Prieto's distinct broadcast control. His ability to support Mejia and Sanchez's play-by-play by providing descriptions of the players, what school or amateur team they came from, etc., will always be relevant information that helped the viewer like me know more about the personalities on the court. Like Mejia and Sanchez, Prieto was a pioneer in the PBA broadcast team.

The KBS-9 crew in the Montreal Olympics. Sanchez is the one kneeling, Prieto is leftmost, while Mejia is the one in red shirt

(Photo taken from the late Caloy Prieto's FB account)

4.  Emy Arcilla (1976 - 1981)

One of the more glamorous guys in the broadcast team was Emy Arcilla, He was only 30 years old when he was part of the BBC-2 panel in 1976. Contrary to what many thought, Arcilla only came in on the league's second season, alongside Dick Ildefonso. Arcilla can be fashionably trendy - whether in formal attire whenever he hosted the opening ceremonies or in casual wear. He didn't speak much, allowing Ildefonso to dominate the microphone. He normally interjected though, especially when a player goes to the charity line for a pair of FT's. It was Arcilla's cue - to provide the stats of the player, his FT%, and total points contributed in the game. His charisma spilled over when they interview players after the game as they would instantaneously warm up to Arcilla's charming ways (at that time, players were asked to sit between the broadcasters after the game).

The late Emy Arcilla (rightmost) interviewing Bb. Pilipinas winners during the game

5.  Dick Ildefonso (1976 - 1981)

The most popular among the first batch of PBA broadcasters, Ildefonso was pretty much the voice of the PBA during the early years. Like Arcilla, Ildefonso joined the coverage when BBC-2 secured the rights to air the games. What I've always admired about Ildefonso is that he never seemed to be absent in any PBA game. He was practically the sole anchor in the coverage, and was made to talk around 80% of the time, and yet, never seemed to miss a single game. Note that broadcasters did two coverages per game date, making it even more impressive. Ildefonso's coolness was legendary - he never seemed to get ruffled even when there was a scuffle inside the court or when fans were pelting the floor with coins or any form of litter. It was Ildefonso who started using player monikers more frequently during the PBA coverage - "that's a triple from the Big J!" He and Arcilla did the coverage of the Crispa-Toyota reunion game in 2003.

Dick Ildefonso interviewing Coach Baby Dalupan

The memorable duo of Dick Ildefonso and Emy Arcilla in this 1976 game

6.  Ronnie Nathanielsz (1978 - 1981)

Nathanielsz is a Sri Lankan who was given Filipino citizenship by President Marcos. He worked for the government network, National Media Production Center (NMPC), under Greg Cendaña, then the Minister of Information. An avid sports fan himself, he earned his ticket to the PBA broadcast team when Media Specialists, Inc. became a blocktimer for GTV-4 where he worked. Nathanielsz provided the analysis of the game, although if you're a Crispa fan watching a Toyota-Crispa game, you wouldn't want Ronnie covering because of his partiality to the Tamaraws. When it wasn't the norm back then to roundly criticize the referees for their calls, Ronnie somehow was given enough latitude to air his contrary sentiments. Nathanielsz continued his broadcasting career with ABS-CBN in the 2000's, doing the boxing coverages alongside Bill Velasco and Dyan Castillejo.

Die-hard Toyota fan, Ronnie Nathanielsz, smiling from ear to ear, while interviewing Andy Fields after Fields won the first Best Import Award

7.  Zal Marte (1979 - 1981)

We first heard of Zal Marte as "the voice" that we didn't see on cam. Only those who watched the games live had the opportunity of knowing how Marte looked like in his first few months of broadcasting. It was a "gimmick" on MSI's part not to have Marte's face seen on camera, but his analysis was quite authoritative. Possessing a DJ voice, Marte was also candid with his comments particularly when a player wasn't doing well. He won't mince his words criticizing players, not especially common then, and sure caused some feathers to ruffle. Later on, Marte was finally seen on camera and remained part of the broadcast team until 1981. This was the time when MSI opted for a three-man panel by having an analyst. While his style may have been uncomfortable to the players, this came quite refreshing to the ordinary viewer.

8.  Lauro "Bay" Mumar (1980-1981)

"The Fox," as he was called when he was still playing for "Murder, Inc." of the Letran Knights in the 50's, was one of the more successful MICAA coaches after he retired from playing. His biggest success was piloting the Meralco Reddywatts to the MICAA championship in 1971. He later coached U/Tex before handling the Noritake Porcelain Makers in the 1975 season. He moved to 7/Up in 1976, was retained by Filmanbank in 1978 after buying the Uncolas' franchise, and then joined the panel in the 1980 season as an analyst. Mumar's coaching experience served him well as he was the first broadcast analyst to view things from the coach's perspective. Mumar was often asked by Ildefonso and Arcilla how the coach would design the next play. It was unfortunate though that Mumar wasn't exactly articulate, but to the regular viewers, the points he raised were more than enough to learn from him.

The late Lauro "Bay" Mumar while coaching Sonny Jaworski and Big Boy Reynoso in the sidelines

There were also times that MSI would invite guest analysts to cover the games. Legendary coaches Carlos Loyzaga and Tommy Manotoc were asked to dissect the games when they weren't coaching their respective teams that day. Somehow, this move served as the template of future broadcast coverages to utilize more knowledgeable minds to serve as guests to dissect the games. Coaches like Freddie Webb, Norman Black, Ron Jacobs were invited to add spice. Curiously, the winningest coach in the PBA, Tim Cone, did it the opposite way. Cone started out as a Vintage analyst in the late 80's before latching up a job as head coach of the Alaska Air Force.

Doing the commentary today is a far cry from how it was in the past. Signs of the times. Even in the NBA, when we grew so fond of CBS anchors Dick Stockton, Brent Musburger, Frank Glieber, Jim Kelly and Gary Bender, and analysts Hubie Brown (still my favorite of all time), Doug Collins, Tom Heinsohn, and Kevin Loughery, the present cast made up of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson of ABC and Marv Albert, Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller of TNT continue to keep the games entertaining and informative. The one constant though that I look for in an anchor is his ability to take control of the broadcast - that person remains the key to making for a worthy coverage.