The Pinoy Michael Jordan (2 of 2)

Here's the second part of this little write-up that has (surprisingly) amassed a couple hundred views since its posting just a few days ago. Hope you enjoy and yes, comments/ rebuttals are most certainly welcome and will not be deleted/ screened.

The style. The hair. The Swag.
Yeah, MC47's Jordan-like.

5. Mark Caguioa (Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings)

Filipinos are a smiling, happy bunch. We celebrate the littlest things, dance to the silliest of songs and laugh to the most awful “Boy Pick-Up” joke known to mankind. The same could be said of our current crop of professional basketball players, that they treat games as such, and are sportsmen first (speaking in terms of majority the majority of course—so that excludes San Beda’s fiery head coach Frankie Lim, and a couple years back, Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao). But Caguioa isn’t like most. He’s cut from the same cloth as PBA legends who would literally spit on their opponent’s face, throw elbows and just mean mug fools all game long. This is where MC47 takes after MJ—the swagger, the will to win, the hatred to lose and the enigmatic, kept personality that either wins fans or throws them off. People love MJ for who he is on television. But those who have played with or against him, despise him (if you belong to today’s generation, think Kobe Bryant before his stint with the USA Redeem Team).

Jolas had game like MJ

4. Jojo Lastimosa (Alaska Milkmen)

I know what you’re thinking. Lastimosa has never been the regular 25-30 point scorer as the other names on this list. But from a game and mentality standpoint, Lastimosa is right up there with the Pinoy Jordans.  From a young, wiry high flying Cebu superstar, Lastimosa altered his game to fit that of whoever he was playing for. At Purefoods, he was the guy that they looked to provide a spark off the bench to complement Alvin Patrimonio. When he was traded to Alaska, he took the leadership role and while still scoring, played defense first and was always within the team concept. During the Grand Slam year and onwards, Lastimosa’s game evolved from soaring dunks and layups to a tactical, clutch jumpshooter (hello MJ) widely known as “Mr. 4^th Quarter.” Oh, and he never stopped playing defense.

3. Danny Seigle (San Miguel Beermen)

Dynamit Danny's hang time
was Jordanesque

If only he were more of a fitness buff, Seigle would’ve easily captured MVPs and multiple title reigns. Seigle benefited most from being a walking mismatch when he entered the league in the late 90s—where only Jun Limpot could’ve competed with him on a daily basis (which they did for a while, but Limpot always fell on the losing end because of a weaker roster). Back-breaking threes, double pump “pabitin” drives and dunks—Seigle was beasting the competition early in his career. Sadly, his lack of conditioning (it doesn’t take a genius to see he’s not exactly on the same program as teammate Danny Ildefonso) finally caught up with him and robbed us all of his greatness on the court.

From 2nd fiddle to Superstar

2. Kenneth Duremdes (Alaska Milkmen)

What if Duremdes was never traded to Alaska by Sunkist and was stuck playing alongside buddy Vergel Meneses to which he was what JVee Casio is now to Gary David? What if Vergel Meneses was the one who was sent to the Milkmen and won several titles under coaching great, Tim Cone? Either way, there’s no denying that Duremdes worked hard for everything he was able to accomplish in the PBA. From an able, second option to being the league’s top gun, Duremdes is similar to MJ in the sense that he always added new elements to his game. From high flying acrobat to jumpshooter and even post up player (only on rare occasions though), Duremdes soon became the benchmark for Filipino shooting guards. He didn’t have other worldly athleticism, or a Caguoia-like crossover, but at his prime, not even Meneses could touch Duremdes.

1. Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska Milkmen)

Yes, yes, I know, I know. He’s a point guard. He’s too short. He lost himself in vices and gambling (rumored). But the thing with MJ that you can also say about our own “The Flying A” is that both are transcendental talents. MJ took the SG position to newer heights by introducing a post up game to the position that was traditionally meant for high flyers and/ or jump shooters. He played defense maniacally. He scored when he wanted, how he wanted and didn’t concern himself with remorse or pity. Abarrientos is just the same. 

The Greatest

The 5”7 guard out of FEU played more SG than PG on offense, calling his own number, making clutch plays and crossing up fools like an unforgiving assassin. Back then, his peers were either just calling plays and settling for three pointers and fastbreak lay-ups—never offering anything in between. Abarrientos changed all that. He mixed it up, he hit crossover fade aways before Filipinos were introduced to the NBA’s Allen Iverson. He changed the PG position to the point that teams were starting to look for and draft speedy guards (Olsen Racela, Bal David, Jason Webb) rather than the traditional ones (Richie Ticzon, Ronnie Magsanoc, Boyet Fernandez, Dindo Pumaren). Abarrientos was the guy coach Tim Cone would look for other than Jojo Lastimosa to win games, and his ability to make his teammates better- while playing top notch defense, is at a league of its own. 

We'd like to think that, in the scheme of things, Ramon "El Presidente" Fernandez is our answer to Celtics' great Bill Russel, Alvin Patrimonio as a better looking "Kareem Abdul Jabbar" and Abarrientos, as, well, MJ. 

Before Abarrientos, basketball crossed over showbusiness but only because of "matinee idol" looking players and not because of the game. Alvin Patrimonio, Benjie Paras and Bong Alvarez were known more by household wives not because they were big time scorers and MVP front runners-- but because of showbiz. Abarrientos changed all that and made non-basketball fans, avid viewers. He danced with Gary Valenciano, proving that basketball players aren't stiffs. He could talk like the everyday Filipino. But above all that, he was a basketball player first and foremost. Hell, he was even THIS close to being signed by an NBA team (Charlotte Hornets).

Jimmy Alapag may try his best to duplicate Abarrientos’ greatness, but you don’t see Alapag averaging 4 to 5 steals nowadays—something JA14 did when he was in his late 30s during his last run with Barangay Ginebra.  To this very day, coaches, players, teams, franchises and fans aren't really looking for the next Fernandez, Jaworski, Patrimonio or Paras-- everyone's looking for the next Johnny A.

Like the search for the next MJ, a whole bunch of "heir apparents" have surfaced but never really lived up to half of the expectations and settled for a different path-- from Alapag (who's probably the Kobe Bryant to Abarrientos' MJ) to L.A. Tenorio to Alex Cabagnot-- it seems that there's always something missing from their games that makes Abarrientos even greater.

And that's exactly who he is, The Greatest. The Pinoy Michael Jordan.