Philip Cezar: King of the Hardcourt (Sports Weekly, 1979)

Sports Weekly Magazine

October 12-19, 1979

Pyke F. Jocson

 

 

            Perhaps, he didn’t mind it. Or if he did, he never showed it at all. For one, honesty has always been the name of his game. And for another, he never gave a damn.

 

            Ah, that bloody question who’s really number one!

 

            Philip Cezar, Crispa’s elongated 6’3 forward-center, easily heralded as the closest contender to the throne occupied by Ramon Fernandez as the premier all-around cager in the PBA, is number two no more.

 

            He must have gotten tired of the calling. This mere shadow of Fernandez hullaballoo. It had always been like that. Since that very first time they came face to face, and of all things, as teammates in the 1972 RP Youth quintet, and as, would you believe, relievers to the country’s then prince of a slotman, Ed Carvajal.

 

            From that time on, although he had managed to steal the thunder from Fernandez once in a while, Cezar remained a notch less than the Toyota beanpole. It was like everything was fixed and rehearsed, Fernandez as ever first, and Cezar, an ever second.

 

            Until the fateful PBA Sprite One-on-One game came along, and Cezar suddenly found himself at par with the player many had obviously regarded as the best. “Of course, I wanted to win, that would be pure hypocrisy if I say I didn’t. But as seed two, I believed that the pressure wasn’t on me. Sinabi ko na lang sa sarili ko, laban lang. Basta I’d do my best, and if my best wouldn’t be enough, that’s okay. I didn’t have the illusion na kaya ko ‘to. In fact, when I learned about what Ramon said before our match, yun sabi niya kaya niya ako ng two games straight, sabi ko wala akong pakialam sa iniisip niya. He could think that way if he wanted to. Pero deep within, noon ko lang naramdaman, that was the only time I felt and realized that kung kaya niya ako, kaya ko rin siya siguro.”

 

            Cezar’s first game with Fernandez was a picnic. He toyed on the highly-favored seed one, 15-9. The second game and the eventual clincher for the Crispa cage star had the trimmings of a championship duel. Cezar pulverized Fernandez, 22-19, on an extended thriller.

 

            “Akala ko rin, kay Mon na ang second game. Seven seconds na lang at kanya pa ang bola, there was really no way for me to stop him. Pero nabigla rin ako when he tried for a jump. I was expecting of course na dadalhin niya talaga ang bola sa loob then fish for a foul. Kanya na talaga ang laro. But when he jumped and missed, I really went up for the ball. At the extension, sabi ko, siguro akin naman ito.”

 

            The slit-eyed player, who’d rather keep mum about all the dirty words they are saying about him and his game, saw no significance in solidly preparing for the one-on-one.

 

 

 

            “Ano ang dapat mo pang i-practice? Mas maigi kung papanoorin mo na lang ang kalaban mo sa iba niyang games sa one-on-one. That way, napag-aralan mo ang moves niya. Iba kasi ang situation sa one-on-one dito. In actual game, you still think of other opponents sa court, ‘yung bang na-fake mo nga, pero eto pa ang isang kalaban para salubungin ka. Here, it’s entirely different. You’re concentrated on only one opponent. Wlaa kang iniisip na iba. And you have to put into your mind so many things because of the different rules applied here.

 

            How he beat Fernandez is a story in itself.

 

            “Alam kong mahusay siya sa ilalim, kaya I never really pushed myself close to him. Pinabayaan ko siyan ma-libre at mag-attempt sa labas. I took that gamble. Kasi when I watched Mon’s game against Abet and Freddie, Nakita ko, pagpasok pa lang ni Mon, dinidikitan na agad. Eh dito magaling si Mon. Besides, two inches taller siya sa akin. Pag-nakapag-shift siya papasok, patay ka na. So, maraming beses siyang tumira noong jump na malapit. And in that kind of shot, your ball control is limited. “Yun bang alangan sa mahina at sa malakas ang bitaw. Pagtira naman niya, sa akin sigurado ang bola dahil naba-box out ko siya. And I noticed also one thing. Ang fault siguro ni Mon, he doesn’t want to be blocked. Ayaw niyang masupalpal. Kaya mas madali siyang ma-ilang. “Yung jump nga niya, nai-iba ang porma kung tina-try kong supalpalin. Ako naman, I don’t mind getting blocked. Sabi ko, kung masupalpal niya ako, hindi naman siya mabibigyan ng points dito. Kaya sige lang, I think this was one advantage I had over Mon.”

 

            As the newly-crowned one-on-one champion, Philip was awarded a trophy and a cash prize of Php 25,000.

 

            The big amount is there, okay, and who wouldn’t be happy with it? But from how I sized up Philip, from how I’ve known him to be, the trophy, the usually taken for granted award takes the bigger and greater significance in his victory than the cash prize.

 

            The trophy, for Philip, clearly symbolizes the honest truth that he is no longer number two.

Toyota's Arnold Tuadles: The Birth of a PBA Star (Sports Weekly, 1979)

Sports Weekly Magazine

April 20-27, 1979

Pyke F. Jocson

 

 

            It isn’t everyday that the PBA gets a prodigious rookie. In comes Arnulfo Tuadles, with the ferocity of Ali and the grace of Comaneci, fresh from the amateur, and the PBA wears a wide smile.

 

            The reason is there, as glaring as a Toyota headlight on a moonless night. The prize recruit from Frigidaire, in this age where the most promising basketeers are kept virgin to the lures of the PBA by surrendering themselves to the MYSD closet, bolted out of the cage asylum to join Toyota and give, whether the PBA accepts it or not, the skidding pro the much-needed push.

 

            Where Mon Cruz, Pol Herrera and Romulo Mamaril are virtually handcuffed, Tuadles is a free bird.

 

            Since last year, Tuadles has been a participant in Toyota practices. Dante Silverio’s long wait for the 6’2 forward-guard was worth it. All the hitches and the headaches which resulted into Tuadles’ release from San Miguel in the MICAA has been a big but silently-talked about issue, with only his being trade for 1978 amateur player of the year, Mon Cruz, coming into surface. It was almost a mission impossible. But Dante did it.

 

            The amateur can now have its MYSD pool. A Tuadles is in the PBA, and wouldn’t this be enough?

 

            That the boyish-looking newcomer is a cinch for the 1979 PBA Rookie of the Year award is a fact that other newcomers like Fritz Gaston, Mon Dizon and Ely Capacio should take with nary a knit on their foreheads.

 

            And what does the Rookie of the Year award really mean?

 

            For Tuadles, it would be a most fitting welcome, a heralded tribute that he is in, and how, in the PBA. Like Gil Cortez, Jimmy Taguines and Jimmy Manansala, PBA rookie awardees for 1976, 1977 and 1978, Tuadles knows that with the award, he will be entering a bigger and more challenging basketball arena.

 

            Tuadles, one of the twelve children of Anastacio and Emiteria Batoon-Tuadles of Danao, Cebu, is 22, and was a national player in the 1975 ABC Games in Bangkok.

 

            “I learned basketball at an early age in Danao through my brothers and cousins,” he said.

 

            The members of the Tuadles brood: Jovy, Luthie, Fred, Marylou, Fe, Arnold, Celso, Jeffrey, Eva, Calvin, Elsa and Eric.

 

            He was discovered while playing for the junior team of Danao Visayan Institute. Recruited to play for University of Visayas high, where he spent two fruitful seasons, Tuadles was voted Most Valuable Player in 1975. For three years, he played for the UV Lancers along with PBA sophomore Marlowe Jacutin who is now with Royal Tru Orange.

 

            “It was Emong Basa who really taught me the rudiments of the game. Before this, I didn’t take my basketball seriously. All I knew then was shoot the ball. Even at an early age, I developed this penchant to try new shots. It was only when I started dreaming of playing side by side with my idols like Jaworski, Paner and Estrada, that I started to take my basketball seriously,” he said.

 

            Tuadles is under a three-year contract with Toyota. One of his favorite possessions nos is a white Toyota Corolla.

 

            Kidded about his sizzling debut against Crispa, Tuadles humbly said it was tsamba.

 

            “Sinuwerte lang,” he said, half-blushing. I’m also thankful I was given the chance.”

 

 

 

            With all the hossanahs being sung Tuadles’ way, the friendly Cebuano healthily thinks that “I still have to improve my outside shot. I feel at home with my movements within the keyhole area and undergoal penetrations, it’s really my outside shot which I have to develop some more.”

 

            Queried on why he’s playing a lot better now than in the MICAA, Tuadles had a ready answer.

 

            “While it is true that basketball is a lot tougher and physical in the PBA, there will be a better chance for an offense-oriented operator like me to display my wares in the PBA simply because the amateur still has the zone defense which is harder to penetrate, while in the PBA, sini-single mo ang iyong guwardiya. But it is only in this department na nakakalamang sa hirap ang amateur. Because in the PBA, one has to develop all the aspects of the game. In the PBA, one has to be extra good in both offense and defense.”

 

            Marriage for the good-looking bachelor?

 

            “Not now. I have yet to prove something in my chosen profession. I have to save muna. Girlfriend? Meron na. She just graduated from San Agustin in Iloilo. She’s staying there. When I finally get to save, I’ll bring her to Manila. I plan to settle here. Save more and have a house of my own. I can only do this if I really try hard, devote my time, make sacrifices to be, not only a good pro basketeer, but an esteemed one. I have for my models those basketball players who really have established themselves, thus giving security to their families, like Jaworski, indeed a pro in the real sense of the word.”

 

            The PBA is a bloody battlefield where only those with sterner stuff emerge unfazed. Tuadles knows this. Long before he joined the pro bandwagon, he had fashioned himself in such a way that the PBA won’t be a totally alien place to dribble in.

 

            Toyota is lucky to have the versatile forward-guard. As the Tamaraws’ filler for the void left by the “missing” Danny Florencio, Tuadles has no other way to go but up.

 

            The chance is there. And Tuadles only has to bite. It’s been sometime that the PBA has discovered somebody like Tuadles, somebody who has the grit and daring, somebody who has the knowhow, somebody just perfectly cut for the PBA.

 

            Indeed yes, somebody like Arnold Tuadles.

PBA '78 First Conference First Five (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine 

July 28 – August 04, 1978

Pyke F. Jocson

 

No PBA Conference, especially the All Filipino, would be complete to the eyes of the thousand followers of the premier basketball league in the country without the usual MVPs and other notable awards.

 

Hence, the mythical selection is played up not only by top weekly magazines but also by those who have religiously watched majority of the games at the Big Dome.

 

For this year’s All Filipino, SPORTS WEEKLY has come out with its own version of the mythical five, a recognition of the top five players for their distinguished performance in the conference.

 

Robert Jaworski, Philip Cezar, Ramon Fernandez, Danilo Florencio, Fortunato Co.

 

                                         

 

Robert Jaworski, the Toyota superstar, is our hands down choice as the conference’s number one, a most valuable player of the first magnitude. With the recognition, the Big J easily emerges as our first choice for one of the two slots in the backcourt department over other noted guards Atoy Co, Francis Arnaiz, Lim Eng Beng and Freddie Webb.

 

Joining Big J is the Fortune Cookie, for, despite a not too revealing act in the conference, manages to cling on to second spot with a presence that has always been considered a threat, a point he enjoys over Arnaiz, who was off in the early part of the contest, Beng, who was overly-trying, and Webb, who had some inconsistent nights.

 

Then the powerhouse, the pointmakers. The forwards who sizzled with their mastery of the offense.

 

Our original list came up with five: Danilo Florencio, Jaime Manansala, Alfredo Hubalde, Adriano Papa and Philip Cezar.

 

The final choice for the wings: Florencio and Cezar.

 

And here’s why.

 

Florencio proved to be Toyota’s scoring ace, a role some doubted he could play when Dante Silverio acquired him to bolster the Tamaraws’ offense. With such a star-studded lineup at Toyota’s, Florencio managed to reaffirm his supremacy as PBA’s top winger.

 

Cezar, whose hands may not be as comparatively hot as those of Papa’s or Hubalde’s or Manansala’s, made our selection nonetheless, because he best represented the other kind of a forward, a shooting threat and a tiger in defense. The latter quality made Cezar the forward with a difference, a star all his own.

 

Without this very strong point to back him up, our choice would be the gangling greenhorn, a top Esquire in so short a time, Jimmy Manansala, who could easily make it to our next five had there been any.

 

Hubalde, last All Filipino MVP, was off and on, while the veteran Jun Papa was strongly supported by Billy Robinson.

 

In the pivot, Ramon Fernandez, the Toyota beanpole, was another hands-down choice. Other names mentioned during SWM’s deliberation were Alberto Guidaben, Jaime Taguines and Rudolf Kutch.

 

“Without Fernandez, we doubt very much if Toyota would have gone this far. Of course, there were the other stars in his team. But his holding his own against Billy Robinson in the championship round was something which just cannot be ignored.

 

Robinson was not included in the deliberation.

 

Robert Jaworski, Philip Cezar, Ramon Feranandez, Danilo Florencio, Fortunato Co.

 

Indeed,a. dream first five.

 

They represent the conference’s best.

 

****

 

JPM Note 1: The individual awards were given out after the first conference (the All Flipino) of the season) from 1975 to 1979. It was only in 1980 when the PBA decided to hand out season-ending awards.

 

JPM Note 2:  The selection was done by SWM writers. The actual Mythical Five for 1978 were Robert Jaworski, Lim Eng Beng, Freddie Hubalde, Philip Cezar and Ramon Fernandez.

 

 

Bernard Fabiosa - Back as the Fabulous (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

July 7-14, 1978

Pyke F. Jocson

 

 

            Bernard Fabiosa’s greatest hardcourt virtue is his big heart, no doubt.

 

            In a sport punctuated by guts and daring, defiance and asperity, ruggedness and stubbornness, the 5’9 Fabiosa stands several inches taller.

 

            “I have to make up for my lack of height. Speed would be the easiest solution to this problem,” Crispa’s gritty number 15 said.

 

            The Boholano ace, with curly tops and boyish gait, a former national youth campaigner (1974), has distinguished himself in the star-studded lineup of Crispa due mainly to a fine physique and sturdy legs that make him a hardcourt speedster of the highest degree.

 

            Hustle is the name of his game, and a lot more!

 

 

            He gets to be Coach Baby Dalupan’s answer when the team needs a push. He is a sparkplug because he has never played the game half-heartedly.

 

            Earlier criticized in his stint with Crispa as nothing but speed, Bernard has learned how it is to be a speedster with a difference and faster than any of his contemporaries with the same playing brand.

 

            “He now has ball control and has become an able assist man. Besides, he is one of our best receivers on fastbreak plays,” a sports analyst commented on teevee.

 

            For two consecutive years, he has been in the PBA’s mythical second five, a recognition of his talent and contribution to Crispa for making the team what it is today.

 

            To many who watch PBA games, Bernard’s dribble is close to spectacular. He seems to toy with the ball rather than work on it.

 

            “Natuto akong mag-dribble sa maliit na bola. Dito ako tinuruan ng father ko,” Bernard told this writer once.

 

            Middle of last year, Fabiosa was on a slum. There seemed to have no fire in his playing. And if ever he tried, he overdid it, and the results were far from attractive.

 

            This conference, Fabiosa is back as the Fabulous, a moniker I gave him when he scintillated in the 1974 ABC Youth tournament. He scores. Assists. And live up to the pesky and peppery image that he is.

 

            “It’s because he hustles a lot,” defends somebody close to the Redmanizers on the question why he gets the goat of top players from the opposing teams.

 

            “I have done some misbehaviors in the past. Sawa na rin ako sa mga gulo-gulo. Good boy na tayo ngayon,” he said while the team was in Iloilo for a game against Tanduay.

 

            Of course, Bernard was just being honest about the whole rugged setup.

 

            “Minsan siyempre, tumatalab na rin ang pressure sa iyo, kaya napapasama ka sa gulo. Pero I always try hard not to be affected by it.”

 

 

 

            One of the friendliest in the Crispa bench whose head has yet to swell, a common sickness among super cagestars, Bernard still has that little boy attitude he was already possessed of when I first did an article on him sometime back.

 

            His playing might have changed and has improved, his outlook in life might already been influenced by the demands of the jungle city, but Bernard is still the same, likeable and easy to talk to. No airs, no put-ons.

 

            That Bernard has mellowed is another factor in his playing.

 

            “Wala na yung takbo ng takbo lang. Ngayon, ang pagtakbo niya, may direksiyon,” observed Augusto Castillo, an avid Crispa follower.

 

            Fabiosa’s big leap as a supporting player in the Crispa lineup to star category is something which he himself finds surprising.

 

            “I still have a lot to learn. Ayokong isipin na nandoon na ako. There is still more room for improvement. That’s why, I try to get pointers not only from my coach and teammates every game, but also I try to learn from the opposition,” he told me once.

 

            No wonder, Bernard’s star is a-gleaming.

Cezar Spills All (Sports Weekly, 1978)

Sports Weekly Magazine

March 03-10, 1978

Pyke F. Jocson

 

 

 

            The afternoon takes its toll and falls heavy, the sky elaborates, and one strong ray unhitches itself from up and floats off towards faint San Juan.

 

            Lt. Artiaga street doesn’t have the arched eyebrows of Dasmariñas. Nor does it have the twang of Magallanes.

 

            It is three o’ clock and the undone street is empty. Nothing smells of luxury.

 

            The sound of mahjong blocks signals we are on the right track. The quorum on the table lazily whiling the afternoon were familiar faces. We can see them from where we are.

 

            Out of the newly-painted mahogany gate is a group of men, probably who have had a few bottles of beer. And as they speed away, a figure, boyish in his sleeveless shirt, maong pants that reaches the ground, wearing nothing on his feet, flashes a smile, waves and ushers us in.

 

            He is Philip Cezar, alright, handsome in some natural way, boy-man with his gait, and certainly as big as life.

 

            The house is about three months old. In fact, everything in there, from the mini lawn to the interior, smells new.

 

            “It has three bedrooms upstairs. Pero may maids’ quarters sa ibaba,” Mrs. April Cezar quips as she leads us in, her hands clinging to our arms like a warm welcome.

 

            Philip removes the bottles of beer on the center table of the cozy living room and calls a maid to dry the glass top and empty the almost-pregnant ashtrays.

 

 

 

            The setting cleared of unwanted objects, we throw ourselves on the brown sofa’s flattering cushion.

 

            Philip excuses himself and asks whether his attire will do for Mon’s camera.

 

            Getting the nod, he rushes up for a last minute seeing through.

 

            April disengages herself from the quorum at the driveway and plays hostess to us.

 

            “Ewan ko ba, naawa nga ako sa kanya. Pero parang wala naman magagawa at the moment but wait,” she says pointblank as if knowing fully well why we are seeing Philip.

 

            “Kanya-kanya talagang araw ang tao, it so happens that my husband feels so affected by the mess he’s in. Sayang. Sana matapos na ito.”

 

            April excuses herself and joins the quorum after one lady on the mahjong table has called on her.

 

            We feast our eyes with the simplicity and the smoothness of lines in the Cezar interior. From where we are seated, we have a good look of the elegant dining table rested on an elevated floor. Beside the front door facing us is a small bar complete with wineglasses and several imported bottles. But the big thing in the house is the chandelier which spells chaste and sophistication inside and which spells class from outside, it giving a wide peep into the house through a wall glass.

 

            In five minutes’ time, Philip is back.

 

            He insists we take beer.

 

            “Pare, wala naman noon masyado personal. Baka mas lalong lumala ang situwasyon. And I don’t want that to happen. I’ll talk if it will help. Pero kung makakasama, sana maintindihan mo, pare,” He sort of warns us.

 

            Then, he begins.

 

            “Wala pang linaw. But somebody has already made a move for us to talk things over. Sana makapag-usap na kami ni coach so we can settle things, kung ano ang pagkukulang ko, bakit nangyari ito.”

 

            You mean, you haven’t talked with Baby since the misunderstanding occurred?

 

            “Hindi pa. Ni minsan. I didn’t have the chance.”

 

            Can you think of an instance na masasabi mong doon nag-start ang trouble?

 

            “Wala, wala talaga. I just learned about it after a game. Akala ko one of those things lang iyong noon una. But when I was sparingly utilized, pagkatapos ibinangko na nga, it was only then that I knew something was wrong.”

 

            You didn’t show up in some of the games?

 

            “Somebody told me to do so. Kung sa akin lang, siyempre hindi ako basta-basta makaka-absent. Obligasyon ko yan eh. Pero I was requested to do so. Ginawa ko lang ang sinabi sa akin.”

 

            How are you taking things?

 

            “Problema yan, diba? Now that I don’t join the team even in practices, medyo nag-iinsayo akong mag-isa. Pero it’s different. You know that. Pero, in a way, dapat pa rin akong magpa=kundisyon for my sake.”

 

            How important do you think you are to the Crispa team?

 

            “No comment. Can’t say. Ikaw, what do you think?”

 

            What can get you back to Crispa?

 

            “I still believe I’m with Crispa. I haven’t entertained the thought of moving out of my mother team. I can never leave the team kung ako lang ang masusunod. Pero kung sila na ang magpapa-alis sa akin talaga, wala na akong magagawa. I just have to go to a team na makapagbibigay sa akin ng tiwala, at siyempre, kung magkakasundo kami sa presyo ko.”

 

 

 

            How long will you, and can you, wait?

 

            “I don’t know. Everything is uncertain now. Medyo cool lang tayo.”

 

            Is the accusation affecting you?

 

            “Mahirap talaga. The talks, you know. Pero ano pa ang magagawa ko? Andiyan na yan. I have to bear up with the wild talks.”

 

            Wild talks, what are you referring to?

 

            “Yun sinasabi nga nila sa akin. Alam mo na yon. Pero it’s not true. God knows it’s not true. Ang hirap talaga. If you play well, they say nothing. Pag masama ang laro mo, sasabihin nagbebenta ka. No choice. And I don’t expect to play exceptional games everytime. There will be off nights naturally. I’m no superman.”

 

            You think you’ve reached your peak in caging?

 

            “At 25, hindi pa. I have so many things to learn. I still have a long way to go and am willing to learn. Minsan siguro, nagkakamali ako. But the more important thing is I’m willing to improve and help Crispa to earn more victories.”

 

            What are your plans?

 

            “Matapos ako sa basketball, saan pa ako susuot? Sa negosyo. Iyon lang, di ba? Pero, I’d rather play the game for more years, hanggang kaya ko.”

 

            Your ambitions?

 

            “I have a good wife, a cute daughter, a nice home. Sana makapaglaro uli ako sa Crispa. Pagkatapos magkaroon ng award. Siguro, it will only be then that I can say, I cannot ask for more.”

 

            At this stage, what can you say about your relations with Crispa?

 

            “No problem kay Boss (Danny Floro). Pero kung kailangan nila ako, kailangan ko rin sila.”