AMONG the most prolific offensive players in the 41-year existence of the local professional league Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), only seven “homegrown” Filipino athletes were able to score 50 points or more in a single game during their distinguished careers.
All seven players are no longer active in the PBA.
Five actually broke the 60-point barrier – “The Triggerman” Allan Caidic , “Mr. Excitement” Paul (Bong) Alvarez, William (Bogs) Adornado, Danilo Florencio and Abe King.
As if scoring a 60 was not mind-boggling enough, two men – Caidic and Alvarez – even went over that mark to collect a 70 on separate occasions. This is truly a remarkable feat when one considers that their singular individual performances during the PBA’s early years could easily have been the total output of a team in a 48-minute game in today’s era.
In one shining moment, Caidic chalked up 79 points in a game – the highest ever by a homegrown Filipino player in league annals – for Tivoli (Presto) on November 21, 1991. The former University of the East gunslinger also had a 68 for Presto on November 2, 1989.
Alvarez tallied 71 points for Alaska on April 26, 1990. Adornado knocked in 64 scores for U-Tex on December 23, 1980; Florencio netted 64 points for Seven-Up on November 5, 1977; and King collected 60 points for Toyota on June 21, 1979.
All the aforementioned efforts happened between 1977 and 1991.
Of the six 60 points-or-more feats, four came on a winning note – Caidic (79, Tivoli 162-Ginebra 149), Alvarez (71, Alaska 169-Shell 138), Caidic (68, Presto 175-Alaska 159 OT) and Adornado (64, U-Tex 126-San Miguel Beer 111).
The two that were recorded in a losing cause: Florencio (64, Seven-Up 121-Toyota 136) and King (60, Toyota 142-Crispa 172).
Venancio (Benjie) Paras and Fortunato (Atoy) Co Jr. are the two other homegrown Filipino cagers with 50-point games in the past.
Paras, who has moonlighted as a comedy actor on television and in the big screen since his prime playing years, once made 50 markers with Shell in 1989.
It was the year that the amiable 6-foot-4 Paras became the first and only player in PBA history to secure Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player honors in the same season.
Like Paras, Co only had a single 50-point performance during his outstanding PBA career.
Monikered “The Fortune Cookie,” Co, who was famous for his difficult turnaround, fadeaway jumpers, got a 50 with the fabled Crispa Redmanizers franchise in 1979. He, too, gained the MVP plum that year albeit in a controversial fashion.
Co was way behind Toyota’s Ramon Fernandez in the MVP statistical category but subsequently collected all the media votes – following a get-together with the sports editors of the top national dailies by the late Crispa team manager Danny Floro – to walk away with the MVP award.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.