The arrival of new stars, the birth of new rivalries, the wave of new story-lines and new alliances: these factors were ushering in a new dawn for Philippine Basketball.
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The arrival of new stars, the birth of new rivalries, the wave of new story-lines and new alliances: these factors were ushering in a new dawn for Philippine Basketball.
In 1975, the Philippine Basketball Association was born, founded by 9 teams that bolted the MICAA in a bold move, leaving the BAP and saying goodbye to their amateur days. The PBA would become the first professional basketball league in Asia, and the second oldest in the world, next only to the NBA.
The storied rivalry between Yco and Ysmael Steel was what mainly stoked the fires of cage fandom in the Philippines in the mid-60s. Long before the well-renowned Crispa- Toyota duel, it was Yco and Ysmael at centerstage.
The 60s saw the Philippines slowly lose control of Asian cage supremacy. With the venerable Caloy Loyzaga exiting the playing court, and the other Asian nations slowly learning the rudiments of the game, Philippine cage supremacy in Asia slowly diminished.
In the best-ever finish by an Asian country in the international basketball arena, the Philippines captured the bronze medal in the 2nd FIBA World Championship held in Brazil in 1954. Led by our dynamic duo of Mumar and Caloy Loyzaga, the Philippines surprised the heftier American and European teams with a dazzling display of speed and skill in basketball.
Thailand had the homecourt advantage. Vietnam’s superstar and tournament top scorer Nguyen Xuan Son suffered a nasty broken leg just before half time. Thailand scored a questionable goal to take the lead, 2-1. It looked like the stars were aligning to favor Thailand. But no, the football gods just would not have it that way. And in the end, Vietnam’s winning goal would simply trickle in oh-so-slowly to a defenseless goal. What a roller-coaster ride this game was!