Henry Liao

In The Firing Line

Tams manager Pablo Carlos (right) unceremoniously handed coach Fort Acuna his walking papers during halftime of Game 3 of the All-Filipino finals in 1980.

September 3, 2021

This is a ticklish question: Is the authority of management, specifically a club owner, abused when it meddles in the game strategies and player substitutions of his team’s head coach?

In the opening game of the best-of-five finals in third conference (Invitational), Crispa blasted Toyota, 129-101, as the Tamaraws played without Ramon Fernandez, Abe King and Ernesto Estrada. The three were benched by head coach/team manager Dante Silverio, who had returned to the bench midway through the second conference for “not playing their best.”

JA-WOR-SKI, JA-WOR-SKI … In the NBA?

Justin Jaworski [photo from justinjaworski11 Instagram]

August 31, 2021

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Justin Jaworski is his name. He’s a 6-3 guard out of Lafayette University (2017-21) who suited up for the Atlanta Hawks in the recently-concluded MGM Resorts NBA Summer League that was won by the Sacramento Kings (one of the assistants of head coach Bobby Jackson was Jimmy Alapag, who has since gotten another gig as an assistant coach with the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s NBA affiliate in the G (Gatorade) League.

NBA – Pro Ball Notes by Henry Liao

Curry has spent his entire 12-year NBA career with the Warriors.

August 29, 2021

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For the fifth season in a row, transcendent Golden State Warriors guard Wardell Stephen (Steph) Curry II will the highest-paid player in the National Basketball Association.

Julian Macoy: A Sugbu Legend in His Own Time

The legendary Julian Macoy scores on an easy twinner against Meralco in a MICAA game. He played for Yutivo from 1961 to 1970.

May 16, 2021

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There have been only seven documented 100 points-or-more individual performances by a Filipino player in Philippine basketball history, at least in the high school, college and major commercial league levels.

PBA Season 1: Toyota 2, Crispa 1

Toyota captured the first-ever PBA conference crown when the Comets defeated the Crispa Redmanizers in the best-of-five First Conference finals in 1975.

May 6, 2021

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More than 140 players crossed their Rubicon in shedding their amateur status to turn professional in the inaugural season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in 1975.

Crispa vs. Toyota: How the Heated Rivalry Started

Crispa won its first MICAA title in 1970

April 20, 2021

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It was the Crispa-Floro Redmanizers and the Toyota Comets/Tamaraws that romanticized PH basketball for more than a decade.

PH Basketball Landscape Altered In 1975

Munich Olympian Freddie Webb helped guide Yco to the MICAA title in 1975 and only joined the PBA the following year.

April 11, 2021

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The creation of a professional league, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), in April 1975 altered the landscape of the country’s basketball history locally and internationally.

PBA: The Day Local Pro Ball Made Its Debut

On April 9, 1975, the first game ever in PBA history was held at the Araneta Coliseum. Here, Noritake's Israel Oliver and Concepcion Carrier's Ramon Lucindo await the ceremonial opening toss as PBA commissioner Leo Prieto and PBA president Emerson Coseteng look on.

April 5, 2021

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In local sports, the date April 9 also is special to hoops fans. A momentous occasion moment it was forty-six years ago on that day for it marked the birth of professional basketball in the Philippines.