THERE were many things written about Carlos Loyzaga that had made him larger than life, but like most Filipinos, he was as real as he can get. Yes, he was handsome owing to his Cuban-Filipino-Spanish blood, but he had become what he was in the minds of many basketball fans because of his skills.
Loyzaga earned the monicker “The Big Difference” during his two-decade long basketball because he was big, not only in size but the way he played. He spelled the difference in many title victories of the Philippines in the Asian Games and Asian Basketball Confederation tournaments as well as the honors and respect the country gained in he Olympics and world fronts.
Caloy served as a vital cog in the Filipinos’ campaign in the 1954 World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil where the country brought home the bronze medal, the highest by any Asian country in the biggest basketbaall event outside of the Olympic Games.
He even outdid himself in that meet by emerging one of the three top scorers in the entire tournament with an average 16.4 per game next to Uruguay’s Oscars Moglia (18.6) and Carl Ridd of Canada (18.2).
Caloy’s feat earned for him a slot in the world team along with Kirby Minter of the United States, Moglia, Zenny de Azevedo and Wlamir Marques, both of ost country Brazil, an honor only one other Asian, Yao Ming, would duplicate five decades later.
This is why many believe that Loyzaga should be recognized as “the greatest Filipino and Asian for that matter, to ever played the game.
How good a player Loyzaga was can be gauged when he hang up his no. 41 uniform in 1964, the Philippines lost its in supremacy in the sport the Filipinos are passionate about. The Filipion basketeers, once the apple of the eyes of Asians, likewise, lost their slots in the Olympic Games where they last saw action five decades ago.
The first time Loyzaga wore th country’s red, white and blue colors at a tender age 21, he led his team to a gold medal triumph in the inaugural staging of the Asian Games in 1951 in New Delhi. Subsequently, he was at the forefront of the team that defended its title in 1954 in Manila, 1958 in Tokyo and in 1962 in Jakarta.
Before losing the Asiad Crown jewel, the Philippines, again starring the beanpole product of sandlot basketball in Teresa ni Sampaloc District of Manila, shifted it supremcy in the Asian Basketbsll Confederation, a regional basketball organization, which like the Asian Games Filipino sports leaders helped established.
Like in the Asiad, Caloy and teammates ruled the First ABC right in front of their countrymen in 1960, and defended the title the next time around in Taipei in 1963 before losing it in 1965 in Kuala Lumpur. Loyzaga. again, was reponsible for the Philippines’ regaining the title in 1967, this time as head coach. He was the assistant coach when the country again won it in 1973 here in Manila.
Caloy’s first love, actually was football, a sport his father Joaquin’s forte having served many a national teams during the Far Eastern Games, the precursor of the now Asian Games.
Caloy was 15 when he first learned the rudiments of basketball playing on sandlot courts in Teresa in the Sampaloc district of Manila where he was spotted by Gabby Fajardo, one of the leading coaches in the collegiate and commoercial leagues, who saw the potentials of the lanky but skinny protege.
Fajardo offered the young Loyzaga a slot in his PRATRA junior squad in the then Manila Industrial-Commercial Ahletic Association basketball tournament. Caloy quit schooling at the National University and accepted Fajrdo’s offer. That was 1949, the year Loyzaga led PRATRA for the MICAA junior diadem which served as his baptism of fire.
The following year, he saw action with the PRATRA senior squad with the illustrious Lauro “The Fox” Mumar, Ignacio “Ning” Ramos and Caddy Tanquintic, and soon enough, he caught the attention of no less than coach Fely Fajardo, brother of Gabby and coach of the San Beda Red Lions in the NCAA.
That opened the gate for the former Tervalac boy to play in the country’s collegiate glamour league and at the same time a chance to continue his studies. He was alreay 20 and in second year high school. In other words, he was still in high school when started playing collegiate ball.
From there, the rest is history. From PRATRA, then PRISCO, then San Beda, Caloy extended his wings until he landed a place in the line-up of the famous Yco Painters, the team he helped win 49 straight games in 1956, an awesome streak by any language in any league in any country.
He was also at the forefront of the Painters’ seven straight title conquests of the National Open during their historic rivalry with the equally-famous Ysmael Steel quintet.
When the Philippines copped third place in the 1954 World Championship and Loyzaga earned his place in the Mythical Five, he was named “Athlete of the Year” by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.
