Caloy Loyzaga is the GOAT of RP Basketball…’Pogi na , Goli Pa’
![Caloy owned a 58-14 record in 10 global competitions. [Henry Liao photo]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/146150589_3685379861583295_7043500414210937829_n-400x200.jpg)
He was big. He was great. He was a game changer. Rolled into one, he was Carlos Loyzaga, the greatest athlete in Philippine basketball history.
COLUMNISTS
CJ Perez Trade: The Painful Truth
![CJ Perez [photo credit: PBA Images]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/PBA-Images-21-e1612345094369-400x200.jpg)
We can discuss and judge the CJ Perez trade but at the end of the day, it’s a done deal.
Once Upon a Time … in Rio de Janeiro
![The 1954 Nationals that won the bronze medal in the 1954 World tournament. [Henry Liao photo]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/144950691_774393143285027_3026363166572188338_n-400x200.jpg)
A dozen countries were in attendance in the 1954 edition – seven from the Americas, three from Europe and two from Asia, the Philippines and Formosa (Taiwan/now known as Chinese-Taipei).
Quo Vadis, Philippine Basketball?
![PH National Team that won the bronze in 1954 World Basketball in Rio de Janeiro. [Henry Liao photo]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/144429345_221818172990075_1891445414791191084_n-400x200.jpg)
According to the famous historian and National Artist awardee Nick Joaquin, basketball was introduced to Filipinos within the historic walls of Intramuros, Manila. Unclear, however, is the exact date of the first basketball game ever played on Philippine soil.
Broken Vows, Broken Dreams?
![Kai Sotto [FIBA.com photo]](https://sportsbytes.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/4622-400x200.jpg)
Unlike Japeth Aguilar and Kobe Paras before him, Kai Sotto was not simply a walk-in, trying his luck in American basketball.
Carving A Niche
Officially, I became a professional sportswriter on June 6, 1981, when my first materials on basketball, particularly about the NBA, were published in Sports World, a weekly national sports magazine.