TWO cage greats and three champion coaches, all legendary in their own rights, are the latest batch to be feted with a Lifetime Achievement Award in the annual San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night on Jan. 29.
Hoop icons Allan Caidic and the late Avelino ‘Samboy’ Lim join basketball’s brilliant minds Dante Silverio, Joe Lipa, and Arturo Valenzona in being honored by the country’s sportswriting fraternity for their immense personal contributions in enriching Philippine basketball.
All four awardees along with Lim’s family, represented by his ex-wife Atty. Darlene Berberabe and daughter, karate champion Jamie Lim, are expected to add nostalgia in the formal gathering at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel as they recall their heydays while still playing and coaching the game.
Their recognition comes on the night the oldest media organization in the Philippines headed by its president Nelson Beltran, sports editor of The Philippine Star, salutes Gilas Pilipinas for ending 61 years of waiting by winning the elusive basketball gold in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Gilas Pilipinas will be accorded with the President’s Award during the blue-ribbon event presented by the 24/7 sports app in the country ArenaPlus, and Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Cignal, MILO, and PLDT/Smart as major sponsors, while being backed by the Philippine Basketball Association, Premier Volleyball League, Rain or Shine, and 1-Pacman Partylist Rep. Mikee Romero.
Caidic, Lim, Lipa, Valenzona, and Silverio all had their separate time serving the national men’s team in the past.
Lim and Caidic formed part of NCC’s (Northern Consolidated Cement) glorious basketball program which won the 1985 Jones Cup and the 1985 FIBA Asia Championship during their time with the team. Even after the NCC disbandment, the two continued to represent the country in international tournaments including the 1986 Seoul Asian Games – the last time the country sent an all-amateur team to the continental showcase – and the 1990 Beijing Asiad – the first time the country sent all all-pro team to the same event.
The two close friends, among the country’s most decorated players of all time, went on to carve out colorful careers in the PBA.
Lim, a star player at Letran and a three-time NCAA champion (1982-84), was among the NCC players who formed the core of the San Miguel squad that made a PBA comeback in 1986 after a brief leave of absence. Known for his high-wire acts and knee-length socks, the man known as the ‘Skywalker’ won nine championships as a pro, was a five-time All-Star, a part of the PBA’s Greatest 25 Players, and a Hall of Famer, who unfortunately, never got to be MVP owing to an injury-prone career. He passed away last December 23.
Caidic or ‘The Triggerman’ is considered one of the best shooters Philippine basketball ever produced. A product of University of the East where he won three UAAP championships, he was the top overall pick by Great Taste in the 1987 draft who would win his first PBA title three years later. A former Rookie of the Year and 1990 MVP, he won five championships while donning the Great Taste and San Miguel Beer jerseys. An eight-time All-Star, six-time Mythical First Team, and five-time scoring champion, Caidic still holds the single game record high of 79 points and most three pointers made in a single game at 17 which he did during the 1991 Third Conference. Like Lim, he is also one of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players and Hall of Famer.
Silverio was the classy owner and coach of the Toyota basketball franchise which he guided to the first two championships in PBA history. A five-time champion who’s also into painting, ‘Osbok’ as he is fondly called by his players and friends, is also a legendary car racer whose feat included winning a rare double in 1972 by topping the International Greenhills Grand Prix and Royal Rally of Champions. He’s a Hall of Famer in both the PBA and the Golden Wheel Awards. His major involvement in the national team came in 1973 when he acted as manager of the Philippine squad that won the FIBA Asia Championship held here in Manila.
Lipa mentored an all-amateur national team that included Lim and Caidic to a bronze medal finish during the 1986 Asiad in Korea, and then a few weeks later, steered University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons past twice-to-beat University of the East Warriors to claim their first UAAP men’s basketball title in 47 years. A teacher of the game, Lipa also coached two separate national teams to gold medal finishes in the Southeast Asian Games. The UP alumnus likewise had stints as coach in the PBA with Manila Beer, Formula Shell, and FedEx. He’s the founding commissioner of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League, and currently serves as consultant of Terrafirma.
For his part, Valenzona had a long coaching career spanning almost four decades highlighted by winning championships in the PBA, PABL, MICAA, UAAP, and NCAA. A member of the 1964 Philippine team to the Tokyo Olympics, the former Far Eastern University stalwart served as head coach of the 1978 and 1980 Philippine Youth squad. Valenzona was a former councilor of Manila and the first president of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP).
Lipa, Valenzona, and Silverio, incidentally, are all in their 80s now.