Sports Weekly Magazine
August 29-September 5, 1980
This, then is it – the long-awaited duel under the bright lights of the Big Dome; something like Gun-fight at the OK Corral, part II, the hardcourt version of the “Shootists.”
The protagonists? Crispa’s Fortunato (Atoy) Co and U/Tex’s William (Bogs) Adornado, once Crispa’s dreaded 1-2 punch but now on opposite sides of the fence as a result of Adornado’s acquisition by U/Tex midway in the last conference of the PBA in a Php 100,000 deal that up to now has continued to spark spirited disputes among local basketball fans.
The current invitationals actually is not the first full-length shootout between the two. They have tangled during the first conference, a league eventually won by Adornado’s team, the Wranglers. But things were different then. For Adornado had the advantage of operating under the cover of U/Tex ‘s two imports whom the Wrangler could field at the same time unlike Atoy who didn’t have the same advantage because Crispa and Toyota could only use their imports one at a time.
So the matchup between the two in the Invitationals is “it” – the even-steven shootout between Bogs and Atoy.
It was Co who got off the first draw as the Jeansmakers went up against Nicholas Stoodley in the opening game of the Invitationals. But apparently still unable to fully get over the slump that hit him in the First Conference. Co could only manage an 18-point performance that was only the fourth best individual score by Crispa, as the Jeansmakers pulled off a 103-99 decision over Stoodley, a team composed of pick-up American players from the U.S. West Coast.
Three days later, in the league’s second playdate, Co and Adornado got to meet head-to-head, shot-for-shot as the Jeansmakers took on the Wranglers.
Co’s team won the “war,” coming from 26 points down to score a 99-97 squeaker over a U/Tex team that folded up in the last quarter, but in the personal battle between Atoy and Bogs, it was Adornado who came out on top. While Adornado was pumping in 25 points in a performance that reminded fans about those days when he was chief hit man of Crispa, Co was a picture of frustration almost all the way as attested by this anemic six-point showing.
It was Atoy’s lowest output this season and it could not have come at a worst time – the night o fhis first face-to-face shootout in the Invitationals with his comebacking former teammate.
But very quickly, Co made up for the comedown by coming up with the night’s high of 30 points in Crispa’s losing game two nights later against the tough Adidas-France selection.
That was red-hot shooting Atoy showed against Adidas and it may well mean that the Fortune Cookie is on his way back as Crispa’s principal local bombardier.
If this were really the case, the performances of Co and Adornado in the remaining games of the Invitationals’ double round robin eliminations could turn into an exciting phase of the Co-Adornado shooting duel.
In the two rounds of the first conference’s elimination series, Co finished way ahead of Adornado with 19.05 points per game average against Adornado’s 13.75. But the statistical fact remains that in the first round, Bogs was still with Crispa. In this round, he only averaged 6.57 points per game. When he moved over to U/Tex, he averaged 19.33.
In the semifinals, Adornado was clearly the better offensive performer than his old shooting partner.
Thus, as both went into the Invitationals, it was Bogs who seemed on the way up and Co still struggling to shake off his shooting woes.
With his 30-point explosion against Adidas, however, Atoy appears to have regained his old shooting form. With Adornado keeping up his almost flawless performance, it perhaps may be said that the duel is heating up, the “new rivalry” between two former teammates hitting a crucial turn.
As to who will manage to come out on top after it’s all over remains anybody’s guess. One thing is sure though. Atoy, the old king of the hit men in the PBA, is not expected to relinquish his crown without making Bogs work hard. And logically, neither will Co’s whole team.
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