Love him or hate him, RESPECT the Hook

Respeto! Ang kailangan ko.
Kung di nyo bibigay nanakawin ko.
- Ghetto Doggz

While this writer belongs to the proud De La Salle system (spent more years there than with the Royal, Pontifical University of Santo Tomas so go figure) and has always held one Mac-Mac Cardona in high regard, it is quite refreshing to see that the PBA’s lead “villain”, outside of KKS Vince McMahon/ PBA’s San Miguel Corporation’s Noil Eala, is finally being rewarded with the respect he deserves.

A fierce competitor often branded as a ballhog—Cardona has always been on the wrong end of popularity contests since coming to the league in 2005. Known for his unforgiving, assassin-like ways, Cardona was coming off a stellar collegiate and amateur career that most of his peers and now superstars James Yap, Rico Villanueva, JC Intal and even L.A. Tenorio could only dream of.


Drafted by Air21 before being traded to Talk ‘n’ Text on the same night, Cardona was fortunate enough to have learned the ropes behind established league stars Willie Miller and Ren Ren Ritualo before finally being elevated to full time starter.

Still, it wasn’t enough to win over PBA fans who couldn’t saw passed the swagger, bald head and signature sneer. All they saw was a skinny punk who shot the ball way too much despite being on a loaded team bannered by future Hall of Famers Asi Taulava and Jimmy Alapag. Even during Cardona’s best year with Talk ‘n’ Text when he tried to make a mighty push for the Philippine National Team coached by Yeng Guiao in 2008, Cardona couldn’t or didn’t make the cut due to his ill-deserved, “one-dimensional” tag.

It also didn’t help that when Meralco bought the Santa Lucia franchise in 2010, it was Cardona who was made expendable by Talk ‘n’ Text. You could look at it two ways, that management believed in Cardona’s “main man” abilities to the point that they rewarded him with being the face of their new team OR, that they were cutting ties with the guy who was disrupting team chemistry on the hard court.

And since Talk ‘n’ Text almost waltz into a rare grand slam while Cardona and Meralco floundered in their first season, well, people were leaning more towards the second argument above.

Then came the Sol Mercado acquisition which pretty much sealed Cardona’s fate as the league’s premier ballhog, having to share minutes with yet another temperamental “black hole” of a superstar.

But all that changed, even for just a bit, in last Wednesday’s victory over this conference’s favorites, Barangay Ginebra. Cardona was his usual, defiant self, shouting, screaming, sneering every time he made an ice cold basket much to the chagrin of the Ginebra faithful who were just about ready to blow the roof off SMART Araneta. Ginebra tried and almost succeeded in making runs, but Cardona was always there to keep them at bay and he wasn’t shying away from the limelight.

That night, Cardona was in his usual role as villain. Dropping teardrops at the heart of the much fortified Ginebra frontline’s defense and drilling in dagger threes. We’ve seen all this before, but finally, even Ginebra fans were being won over not only by his brilliant offensive display but the very thing that has made Cardona, Cardona.

Passion.

We’ve celebrated Willie Miller’s crossed eyebrows several times in the past, ditto with the KKS Bomber Gary David newfound affinity for blowing on his palms, but never Cardona. We’ve all jumped for joy with Mark Caguioa despite not being Ginebra supporters, because he always played with fire on the court.

Well, Cardona is no different. Daresay, his swagger is even above Caguioa’s (though, on all accounts, Caguioa is the better player not because he is cheered by the Ginebra crowd but because he is a first class ball handler while Cardona isn’t).

At 31 years and counting and playing on a team that is still going through its infancy, Cardona’s title aspirations may have been put on hold (possibly for a longer period of time unless Meralco starts acquiring superstars ala their sister Talk ‘n’ Text and rivals Ginebra, B-Meg and Petron). Still, make no mistake about it, while Gary David remains as the PBA’s top gun, Cardona is arguably the most relentless and feared scorer in the field not named Caguioa.

And yes, he can play solid man-to-man defense (better than flop master Ronald Tubid—but only  when he wants to or whenever Franz Pumaren is his head coach).