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“AKO ANG TUNAY NA MVP!”
We heard this line in the past, more specifically, when Kerby Raymundo then of Purefoods blurted this in front of an overflowing crowd at the Araneta Coliseum. Raymundo felt that he was robbed of his chance to win the Player of the Conference Award and came out with this sound byte that will forever be etched in PBA history.
It would be interesting to note that the PBA has had its own share of controversies when it comes to choosing the MVP for the season. And we can trace this all the way back to its pioneer year of 1975. Even the last MVP award given out last August wasn’t spared.
Let’s try to take a look back over the years as to how the MVP award was given out season by season just to give an idea of who among the MVP awardees were regarded as undisputed and non-debatable.
Note though that the MVP Award from 1975 to 1979 was given after the first conference of the season. The reason for this was that the MVP Award was given to the best player of the All Filipino Conference, which normally ushered the season. It was only in 1980 when the MVP Award was given at the end of the season, based on the players’ performance for the entire 3 conferences.
1975:
William “Bogs” Adornado of the Crispa Redmanizers won the award as he also won the scoring honors at the end of the season, averaging close to 26ppg. The All Filipino Conference saw Crispa placing second to Toyota in the AFC. Logically, the MVP award should have been given to a player from the Toyota Comets. But because Toyota was reinforced by Byron “Snake” Jones in the All Filipino while Crispa didn’t have an import, sports scribes opted to give the award to Adornado. However, at the end of the season, the Philippine Sportswriters Association gave the Professsional Player of the Year Award to Francis Arnaiz of Toyota. To date, many would say that Arnaiz deserved the award more as Toyota won 2 out of 3 titles enroute to a near grandslam that season.
1976:
Adornado won his second MVP title this season but fell by the wayside in the second conference of the season on account of a knee injury. The sweet-shooting Bogs ended up with a near 27ppg average in an impressive performance that catapulted Crispa to its first AFC title. However, if the MVP award was given out at the end of the season, Adornado’s teammate Fortunato “Atoy” Co, Jr. would have won the plum as he took over Adornado’s role as the #1 offensive option for the Redmanizers that led Crispa to its first grandslam.
1977:
With Crispa continuing its dominance, a new face emerged from the Redmanizers. Adornado remained in the injury list and Rudy Soriano joining him, Freddie Hubalde, one of the most low-key players in Crispa, became a starter and another primary offensive option for the vaunted Crispa offense. With his uncanny ability to shoot from medium range by using the bank shot and his toughness to penetrate the lanes with ease, Hubalde is considered as the first undisputed MVP winner in PBA history. His closest contenders for the award were Co and Mariwasa’s Adriano “Jun” Papa. But since Crispa won the AFC and Papa getting help from import Billy Robinson to power the Panthers to a runner-up finish against the Redmanizers, Hubalde definitely stood above everyone else.
1978:
This was unmistakeably Robert Jaworski, Sr.’s year. Regarded in PBA history as probably the most dominating performance of a local player for a season, Jaworski not only led the league in rebounds and assists, he was also the second leading scorer for the Toyota Tamaraws while quarterbacking his team to two championships that season, including the all important AFC. Toyota rolled over sister team Filmanbank, powered by Billy Robinson as import, in the AFC, won the Invitational Conference against the Tanduay Esquires, and surprising World Champion Yugoslavia and 6th placer Canada in exhibition games sometime late September that year. Check out Jawo’s season numbers: 20 ppg, 12 rpg and 8.8 apg. This was done while sharing the ball with Danny Florencio (the 1977 and 1978 scoring king with 32.3 ppg and 23 ppg, respectively), Ramon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Estoy Estrada and Abe King alongside prolific imports with unlimited height, the 6’8 Bruce “Sky” King and the 6’5 Carlos Terry. To gain these numbers not just against solid competition but also with powerhouse teammates only proves Jaworski’s dominance.
1979:
Perhaps the first major controversy in the MVP selection. Toyota’s Ramon Fernandez was leading the statistical category against Atoy Co of Crispa at the end of the AFC but didn’t win the balloting, thereby earning for Co his only MVP plum. There were insinuations that Crispa team manager Danny Floro’s links with the sports scribes paved the way for Co winning the balloting but this was never confirmed. Crispa, though, won the AFC tournament that year. But the controversy lingered on and left a bad taste in the mouth – which may have led to the PBA changing the MVP rules by giving these out instead at the end of the season.
1980:
The stepping out season for Philip Cezar. Always tagged as Prince Philip, he became King Philip after winning the MVP award at the end of the season. For the past 5 seasons, he flourished but remained under the radar behind his more prominent teammates. Season 6 was different as Cezar teamed up with best buddy Co to lead Crispa to a dominating AFC championship. They did so by ending up with a 20-1 card in the AFC, their only blot was a Game 3 loss against the Tamaraws in a controversy-filled game that saw the ejection of Toyota coach Fort Acuna. But with Cezar leading his charges, Crispa’s destiny with the Promised Land was merely delayed.
1981:
The season saw only two conferences – the Reinforced (unlimited height) and the Open (unlimited height with handicapping) as Manila was hosting the South East Asian Games in December that year. Without an AFC, the performance of the teams relied heavily on their reinforcements. For the season, Toyota won the Open while Crispa won the Reinforced. Adornado winning the title surprised everyone but many felt it was the sportswriters’ way of honoring Bogs’ comeback from a near-career ending injury. While he came back in 1979 with Crispa and even became a Mythical 5 member in 1980, there was no dominant performer that season, allowing him to overcome the fine performances of Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Atoy Co and Philip Cezar. People will probably accept Jaworski, Co or Fernandez winning though.
1982:
A dominant Toyota year that saw Crispa not winning a single title for a season for the second time in history. And with Jaworski down with a groin injury, it was Ramon Fernandez’s turn to lead Toyota. He was successful as Toyota won 2 of three titles that year, getting able support from teammates Francis Arnaiz and Abe King. But this was definitely Fernandez’s season, finally winning his first MVP title after the 1979 debacle.
1983:
Crispa’s second grandslam, a dominant season for them with Billy Ray Bates leading the way. But this was also the coming out party of Alberto Guidaben, Crispa’s long-time center. From a gangling, butter-fingered slotman back in the mid-70’s, Guidaben slowly but surely improved his game through sheer hard work and became the league’s primary slotman by the end of the 1983 season. With impressive scoring and rebounding averages and having been transformed by Tommy Manotoc to become Crispa’s best local player, Guidaben showed why he truly deserved his first MVP award that year.
1984:
With Toyota’s disbandment, Ramon Fernandez became the franchise player of Beer Hausen, the new kids on the block. And Fernandez proved why he was the PBA’s best player already by then. Beer Hausen didn’t win a title despite having two AFC that season on account of the bad economy (the first one won by Crispa while Great Taste winning the second), but you only have to look at Fernandez’s numbers to see how impressive his season was. He ended the year with a phenomenal 27ppg, 11.8 rpg and 9.9 apg, missing out only on 6 assists that could have made him average in triple double. Despite missing out on a PBA title, there was no denying Fernandez’s dominance that season, thereby earning him the undisupted MVP title for 1984.
1985:
It’s Crispa’s turn to disband, and Great Taste was ready to become the next most dominant PBA team. They ran away with two PBA titles the previous season and were on their way to a grandslam after winning 2 more but got sidelined with import woes. Still, this didn’t stop Ricardo Brown from dominating the statistical race. With two of his teammates, Manny Victorino and Willie Pearson, joining him in the Mythical 5, Brown didn’t find any stiff competition that season as he became the first Fil-Foreign player in PBA history to romp away with MVP honors – undisputed at that. It also helped that a controversy involving Brown’s chief rival for the MVP, Ramon Fernandez ensued and was traded by Manila Beer to Tanduay vice Abet Guidaben.
1986:
With Fernandez fully adjusting to his role as the leader of the Tanduay franchise and backstopped by reliables Freddie Hubalde, Willie Generalao, JB Yango, Abet Gutierrez, Vic Sanchez, among others, the Rhum Makers became the dominant team of the season. Winning the first two titles, they were also on their way to the grandslam but ran smack into a Ginebra team that had no less than Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett for reinforcements in the 3rd Conference Open. While Tanduay didn’t win the “slam,” Fernandez’s stellar performance for the season coupled by Tanduay’s conquest of the AFC made it easy for everyone to recognize The Franchise as the best player for 1986.
1987:
A balanced season that saw 3 different champions – Great Taste for the AFC, Tanduay for the Open and San Miguel for the Open. With San Miguel’s conquest of the 3rd Conference featuring Bobby Parks as their import, it greatly helped voters to pick Abet Guidaben as the MVP for the season. Critics would say that Guidaben’s erstwhile Crispa teammates Elpidio “Yoyoy” Villamin and Philip Cezar can equally lay claim for the award but at the end, Guidaben’s more recent heroics with the Beermen made it easier for voters to select him. And while Guidaben did top the stats race, experts opined that the second-running Villamin, for leading Hills Bros to two runner-up finishes, could have gotten the nod.
1988:
A controversial season in terms of MVP selection. Abet Guidaben was ahead in the stats race by the end of the 2nd Conference, especially since Guidaben’s SMB team won the first conference against Fernandez’s Purefoods team. In the AFC Finals. A Game 1 fiasco occurred that led to Fernandez not being allowed by team management to play for the rest of the Finals series that saw Anejo Rum winning 3-1. Fernandez was traded to SMB vice Guidaben in a move that was despised by the latter. The Camiguin talent was heard complaining “gagawa siya ng kalokohan, idadamay pa niya ako” referring to Fernandez’s controversy with Purefoods. After the trade, Purefoods floundered in the 3rd Conference while Fernandez rebounded by powering the Beermen to the championship, catapulting Don Ramon to the MVP. Imagine if Guidaben wasn’t traded, that would have meant him tying Fernandez and Adornado with 3 MVP awards each, a feat later matched and surpassed by Alvin Patrimonio.
1989:
SMB Grandslam season. A rich rookie draft. The season otherwise known as the “changing of the guard” where the veterans were just about to give way to the new faces of Philippine basketball. At the end of the season, sophomore Alvin Patrimonio was on top of the stats race, followed by Ramon Fernandez and rookie sensation Benjie Paras. But with the Purefoods’ incident of the past season still lingering which led to a court case, Purefoods’ management, in order to spite Fernandez, allegedly instructed all their players to vote for Paras to prevent Fernandez from winning the MVP. Patrimonio got hurt, wondering why management didn’t encourage their players to vote for him, especially since he was ahead in the stats category. Fernandez, with his SMB team winning the Slam had the the huge edge, but Paras, courtesy of his media friends, in particular Ronnie Nathanielsz, romanticized the possibility of having the only rookie to win a MVP title that season. It worked – Paras won the nods of media and the broadcast panel and squeezed out a close victory against Fernandez. There was no denying that Fernandez could have won a 5th MVP title that season, or Patrimonio having won his 1st. But it was just too difficult not to vote for Paras who may end up in history as the only rookie in the PBA to win the MVP award on his maiden season. Just simply too much to pass upon for the voters.
1990:
This was another season that saw three different champions – Shell in the Open, Presto in the AFC and Purefoods in the Reinforced. Ultimately, the league gave the award to Allan Caidic as his team won the AFC title. Caidic though was also ahead in the stats race, making it an easy decision to vote for him. Apart from that, Caidic’s stellar performance in the Beijing Asian Games also helped convince voters to choose him even this had nothing to do with the MVP criteria. By then as well, Caidic was already the scoring champion, averaging close to 26ppg for the entire season.
1991:
Another season featuring three different titlists – Ginebra in the Open, Purefoods in the AFC and Alaska in the Reinforced. The three contenders for the MVP award in 1989 were slugging it out once more but ultimately, the award deservingly went to Alvin Patrimonio in the first of his 4 MVP titles. Patrimonio was the top stats guy, averaging close to 22 and 9 per game, and also led the Hotdogs to its first AFC crown at the expense of sophomore team Diet Sarsi. But Patrimonio’s real contender for the MVP crown was the late-surging Jojo Lastimosa, who became a solid rival when his team Alaska cracked the Finals in the 3rd Conference and defeated the Wes Matthews-led Ginebra team, 3-1. But Patrimonio’s leadership in the stats race and the Hotdogs’ conquest of the AFC was more than enough to convince fans that the Captain finally deserved his first MVP award
1992:
When three different teams win the three different conferences, expect controversies. 1992 was no exception. Shell won the Open, SMB won the AFC and Swift the Reinforced. By the end of the season, Swift’s Nelson Asaytono, traded by Purefoods at the start of the season, ended on top of the stats race. SMB’s Renato Agustin, getting heavy playing time from Coach Norman Black because of Samboy Lim’s frequent injuries, ended up second. The lead was comfortable enough that Agustin could still have played an additional 3 to 4 games and won’t be able to surpass Asaytono’s cumulative stats. But with Agustin’s agent, Danny Espiritu working wonders, Agustin found himself winning the balloting among the players and media. These were enough to earn him enough points to get past Asaytono for the award. Asaytono, a shy, unassuming player, was often branded by the media as a “snob,” making it difficult for him to be endeared by the press guys. This took its toll as Agustin surprisingly romped away with his only MVP award. Scribes later defended their choice as Agustin was one of the key players that led SMB to win the AFC while Swift’s title in the Reinforced was helped no doubt by the team having a super import named Tony Harris.
1993:
This was a season that saw two teammates battling it out for the MVP crown. With Coney Island snatching the AFC crown, Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codinera were pretty much on top of everyone else in the stats race. Helped as well by a runner-up finish against the Ronnie Thompkins-led Swift in the Commissioner’s Cup, these two wound up 1 and 2 at the stats race. Many would doubt Patrimonio’s victory this season as a lot felt that he wouldn’t have won this without Codinera. But then, we have to understand that Codinera wouldn’t have won it as well without Patrimonio. Hence, the choice had to be made as to who was on top of the statistical race. Patrimonio eventually won by a close shave, his second MVP plum in three years.
1994:
The third of Alvin Patrimonio’s 4 MVP’s. Good year for him as he found himself topping the statistical race at the end of the season. Although Purefoods lost to SMB in the AFC finals, thereby losing the chance to represent the country in the Hiroshima Asian Games, the Captain still got to suit up for the Japan stint as injuries hounded the Beermen. Alvin was at his peak already by this time, practically playing around with his defenders and capable of playing physical or finesse when needed. When the smoke cleared, it was unmistakable to see Patrimonnio holding up the MVP trophy once more at the end of the year.
by:Jay P. Mercado
“AKO ANG TUNAY NA MVP!”
We heard this line in the past, more specifically, when Kerby Raymundo then of Purefoods blurted this in front of an overflowing crowd at the Araneta Coliseum. Raymundo felt that he was robbed of his chance to win the Player of the Conference Award and came out with this sound byte that will forever be etched in PBA history.
It would be interesting to note that the PBA has had its own share of controversies when it comes to choosing the MVP for the season. And we can trace this all the way back to its pioneer year of 1975. Even the last MVP award given out last August wasn’t spared.
Let’s try to take a look back over the years as to how the MVP award was given out season by season just to give an idea of who among the MVP awardees were regarded as undisputed and non-debatable.
Note though that the MVP Award from 1975 to 1979 was given after the first conference of the season. The reason for this was that the MVP Award was given to the best player of the All Filipino Conference, which normally ushered the season. It was only in 1980 when the MVP Award was given at the end of the season, based on the players’ performance for the entire 3 conferences.
1975:
William “Bogs” Adornado of the Crispa Redmanizers won the award as he also won the scoring honors at the end of the season, averaging close to 26ppg. The All Filipino Conference saw Crispa placing second to Toyota in the AFC. Logically, the MVP award should have been given to a player from the Toyota Comets. But because Toyota was reinforced by Byron “Snake” Jones in the All Filipino while Crispa didn’t have an import, sports scribes opted to give the award to Adornado. However, at the end of the season, the Philippine Sportswriters Association gave the Professsional Player of the Year Award to Francis Arnaiz of Toyota. To date, many would say that Arnaiz deserved the award more as Toyota won 2 out of 3 titles enroute to a near grandslam that season.
1976:
Adornado won his second MVP title this season but fell by the wayside in the second conference of the season on account of a knee injury. The sweet-shooting Bogs ended up with a near 27ppg average in an impressive performance that catapulted Crispa to its first AFC title. However, if the MVP award was given out at the end of the season, Adornado’s teammate Fortunato “Atoy” Co, Jr. would have won the plum as he took over Adornado’s role as the #1 offensive option for the Redmanizers that led Crispa to its first grandslam.
1977:
With Crispa continuing its dominance, a new face emerged from the Redmanizers. Adornado remained in the injury list and Rudy Soriano joining him, Freddie Hubalde, one of the most low-key players in Crispa, became a starter and another primary offensive option for the vaunted Crispa offense. With his uncanny ability to shoot from medium range by using the bank shot and his toughness to penetrate the lanes with ease, Hubalde is considered as the first undisputed MVP winner in PBA history. His closest contenders for the award were Co and Mariwasa’s Adriano “Jun” Papa. But since Crispa won the AFC and Papa getting help from import Billy Robinson to power the Panthers to a runner-up finish against the Redmanizers, Hubalde definitely stood above everyone else.
1978:
This was unmistakeably Robert Jaworski, Sr.’s year. Regarded in PBA history as probably the most dominating performance of a local player for a season, Jaworski not only led the league in rebounds and assists, he was also the second leading scorer for the Toyota Tamaraws while quarterbacking his team to two championships that season, including the all important AFC. Toyota rolled over sister team Filmanbank, powered by Billy Robinson as import, in the AFC, won the Invitational Conference against the Tanduay Esquires, and surprising World Champion Yugoslavia and 6th placer Canada in exhibition games sometime late September that year. Check out Jawo’s season numbers: 20 ppg, 12 rpg and 8.8 apg. This was done while sharing the ball with Danny Florencio (the 1977 and 1978 scoring king with 32.3 ppg and 23 ppg, respectively), Ramon Fernandez, Francis Arnaiz, Estoy Estrada and Abe King alongside prolific imports with unlimited height, the 6’8 Bruce “Sky” King and the 6’5 Carlos Terry. To gain these numbers not just against solid competition but also with powerhouse teammates only proves Jaworski’s dominance.
1979:
Perhaps the first major controversy in the MVP selection. Toyota’s Ramon Fernandez was leading the statistical category against Atoy Co of Crispa at the end of the AFC but didn’t win the balloting, thereby earning for Co his only MVP plum. There were insinuations that Crispa team manager Danny Floro’s links with the sports scribes paved the way for Co winning the balloting but this was never confirmed. Crispa, though, won the AFC tournament that year. But the controversy lingered on and left a bad taste in the mouth – which may have led to the PBA changing the MVP rules by giving these out instead at the end of the season.
1980:
The stepping out season for Philip Cezar. Always tagged as Prince Philip, he became King Philip after winning the MVP award at the end of the season. For the past 5 seasons, he flourished but remained under the radar behind his more prominent teammates. Season 6 was different as Cezar teamed up with best buddy Co to lead Crispa to a dominating AFC championship. They did so by ending up with a 20-1 card in the AFC, their only blot was a Game 3 loss against the Tamaraws in a controversy-filled game that saw the ejection of Toyota coach Fort Acuna. But with Cezar leading his charges, Crispa’s destiny with the Promised Land was merely delayed.
1981:
The season saw only two conferences – the Reinforced (unlimited height) and the Open (unlimited height with handicapping) as Manila was hosting the South East Asian Games in December that year. Without an AFC, the performance of the teams relied heavily on their reinforcements. For the season, Toyota won the Open while Crispa won the Reinforced. Adornado winning the title surprised everyone but many felt it was the sportswriters’ way of honoring Bogs’ comeback from a near-career ending injury. While he came back in 1979 with Crispa and even became a Mythical 5 member in 1980, there was no dominant performer that season, allowing him to overcome the fine performances of Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Atoy Co and Philip Cezar. People will probably accept Jaworski, Co or Fernandez winning though.
1982:
A dominant Toyota year that saw Crispa not winning a single title for a season for the second time in history. And with Jaworski down with a groin injury, it was Ramon Fernandez’s turn to lead Toyota. He was successful as Toyota won 2 of three titles that year, getting able support from teammates Francis Arnaiz and Abe King. But this was definitely Fernandez’s season, finally winning his first MVP title after the 1979 debacle.
1983:
Crispa’s second grandslam, a dominant season for them with Billy Ray Bates leading the way. But this was also the coming out party of Alberto Guidaben, Crispa’s long-time center. From a gangling, butter-fingered slotman back in the mid-70’s, Guidaben slowly but surely improved his game through sheer hard work and became the league’s primary slotman by the end of the 1983 season. With impressive scoring and rebounding averages and having been transformed by Tommy Manotoc to become Crispa’s best local player, Guidaben showed why he truly deserved his first MVP award that year.
1984:
With Toyota’s disbandment, Ramon Fernandez became the franchise player of Beer Hausen, the new kids on the block. And Fernandez proved why he was the PBA’s best player already by then. Beer Hausen didn’t win a title despite having two AFC that season on account of the bad economy (the first one won by Crispa while Great Taste winning the second), but you only have to look at Fernandez’s numbers to see how impressive his season was. He ended the year with a phenomenal 27ppg, 11.8 rpg and 9.9 apg, missing out only on 6 assists that could have made him average in triple double. Despite missing out on a PBA title, there was no denying Fernandez’s dominance that season, thereby earning him the undisupted MVP title for 1984.
1985:
It’s Crispa’s turn to disband, and Great Taste was ready to become the next most dominant PBA team. They ran away with two PBA titles the previous season and were on their way to a grandslam after winning 2 more but got sidelined with import woes. Still, this didn’t stop Ricardo Brown from dominating the statistical race. With two of his teammates, Manny Victorino and Willie Pearson, joining him in the Mythical 5, Brown didn’t find any stiff competition that season as he became the first Fil-Foreign player in PBA history to romp away with MVP honors – undisputed at that. It also helped that a controversy involving Brown’s chief rival for the MVP, Ramon Fernandez ensued and was traded by Manila Beer to Tanduay vice Abet Guidaben.
1986:
With Fernandez fully adjusting to his role as the leader of the Tanduay franchise and backstopped by reliables Freddie Hubalde, Willie Generalao, JB Yango, Abet Gutierrez, Vic Sanchez, among others, the Rhum Makers became the dominant team of the season. Winning the first two titles, they were also on their way to the grandslam but ran smack into a Ginebra team that had no less than Billy Ray Bates and Michael Hackett for reinforcements in the 3rd Conference Open. While Tanduay didn’t win the “slam,” Fernandez’s stellar performance for the season coupled by Tanduay’s conquest of the AFC made it easy for everyone to recognize The Franchise as the best player for 1986.
1987:
A balanced season that saw 3 different champions – Great Taste for the AFC, Tanduay for the Open and San Miguel for the Open. With San Miguel’s conquest of the 3rd Conference featuring Bobby Parks as their import, it greatly helped voters to pick Abet Guidaben as the MVP for the season. Critics would say that Guidaben’s erstwhile Crispa teammates Elpidio “Yoyoy” Villamin and Philip Cezar can equally lay claim for the award but at the end, Guidaben’s more recent heroics with the Beermen made it easier for voters to select him. And while Guidaben did top the stats race, experts opined that the second-running Villamin, for leading Hills Bros to two runner-up finishes, could have gotten the nod.
1988:
A controversial season in terms of MVP selection. Abet Guidaben was ahead in the stats race by the end of the 2nd Conference, especially since Guidaben’s SMB team won the first conference against Fernandez’s Purefoods team. In the AFC Finals. A Game 1 fiasco occurred that led to Fernandez not being allowed by team management to play for the rest of the Finals series that saw Anejo Rum winning 3-1. Fernandez was traded to SMB vice Guidaben in a move that was despised by the latter. The Camiguin talent was heard complaining “gagawa siya ng kalokohan, idadamay pa niya ako” referring to Fernandez’s controversy with Purefoods. After the trade, Purefoods floundered in the 3rd Conference while Fernandez rebounded by powering the Beermen to the championship, catapulting Don Ramon to the MVP. Imagine if Guidaben wasn’t traded, that would have meant him tying Fernandez and Adornado with 3 MVP awards each, a feat later matched and surpassed by Alvin Patrimonio.
1989:
SMB Grandslam season. A rich rookie draft. The season otherwise known as the “changing of the guard” where the veterans were just about to give way to the new faces of Philippine basketball. At the end of the season, sophomore Alvin Patrimonio was on top of the stats race, followed by Ramon Fernandez and rookie sensation Benjie Paras. But with the Purefoods’ incident of the past season still lingering which led to a court case, Purefoods’ management, in order to spite Fernandez, allegedly instructed all their players to vote for Paras to prevent Fernandez from winning the MVP. Patrimonio got hurt, wondering why management didn’t encourage their players to vote for him, especially since he was ahead in the stats category. Fernandez, with his SMB team winning the Slam had the the huge edge, but Paras, courtesy of his media friends, in particular Ronnie Nathanielsz, romanticized the possibility of having the only rookie to win a MVP title that season. It worked – Paras won the nods of media and the broadcast panel and squeezed out a close victory against Fernandez. There was no denying that Fernandez could have won a 5th MVP title that season, or Patrimonio having won his 1st. But it was just too difficult not to vote for Paras who may end up in history as the only rookie in the PBA to win the MVP award on his maiden season. Just simply too much to pass upon for the voters.
1990:
This was another season that saw three different champions – Shell in the Open, Presto in the AFC and Purefoods in the Reinforced. Ultimately, the league gave the award to Allan Caidic as his team won the AFC title. Caidic though was also ahead in the stats race, making it an easy decision to vote for him. Apart from that, Caidic’s stellar performance in the Beijing Asian Games also helped convince voters to choose him even this had nothing to do with the MVP criteria. By then as well, Caidic was already the scoring champion, averaging close to 26ppg for the entire season.
1991:
Another season featuring three different titlists – Ginebra in the Open, Purefoods in the AFC and Alaska in the Reinforced. The three contenders for the MVP award in 1989 were slugging it out once more but ultimately, the award deservingly went to Alvin Patrimonio in the first of his 4 MVP titles. Patrimonio was the top stats guy, averaging close to 22 and 9 per game, and also led the Hotdogs to its first AFC crown at the expense of sophomore team Diet Sarsi. But Patrimonio’s real contender for the MVP crown was the late-surging Jojo Lastimosa, who became a solid rival when his team Alaska cracked the Finals in the 3rd Conference and defeated the Wes Matthews-led Ginebra team, 3-1. But Patrimonio’s leadership in the stats race and the Hotdogs’ conquest of the AFC was more than enough to convince fans that the Captain finally deserved his first MVP award
1992:
When three different teams win the three different conferences, expect controversies. 1992 was no exception. Shell won the Open, SMB won the AFC and Swift the Reinforced. By the end of the season, Swift’s Nelson Asaytono, traded by Purefoods at the start of the season, ended on top of the stats race. SMB’s Renato Agustin, getting heavy playing time from Coach Norman Black because of Samboy Lim’s frequent injuries, ended up second. The lead was comfortable enough that Agustin could still have played an additional 3 to 4 games and won’t be able to surpass Asaytono’s cumulative stats. But with Agustin’s agent, Danny Espiritu working wonders, Agustin found himself winning the balloting among the players and media. These were enough to earn him enough points to get past Asaytono for the award. Asaytono, a shy, unassuming player, was often branded by the media as a “snob,” making it difficult for him to be endeared by the press guys. This took its toll as Agustin surprisingly romped away with his only MVP award. Scribes later defended their choice as Agustin was one of the key players that led SMB to win the AFC while Swift’s title in the Reinforced was helped no doubt by the team having a super import named Tony Harris.
1993:
This was a season that saw two teammates battling it out for the MVP crown. With Coney Island snatching the AFC crown, Alvin Patrimonio and Jerry Codinera were pretty much on top of everyone else in the stats race. Helped as well by a runner-up finish against the Ronnie Thompkins-led Swift in the Commissioner’s Cup, these two wound up 1 and 2 at the stats race. Many would doubt Patrimonio’s victory this season as a lot felt that he wouldn’t have won this without Codinera. But then, we have to understand that Codinera wouldn’t have won it as well without Patrimonio. Hence, the choice had to be made as to who was on top of the statistical race. Patrimonio eventually won by a close shave, his second MVP plum in three years.
1994:
The third of Alvin Patrimonio’s 4 MVP’s. Good year for him as he found himself topping the statistical race at the end of the season. Although Purefoods lost to SMB in the AFC finals, thereby losing the chance to represent the country in the Hiroshima Asian Games, the Captain still got to suit up for the Japan stint as injuries hounded the Beermen. Alvin was at his peak already by this time, practically playing around with his defenders and capable of playing physical or finesse when needed. When the smoke cleared, it was unmistakable to see Patrimonnio holding up the MVP trophy once more at the end of the year.
by:Jay P. Mercado
Last edited by supladita_28 on Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:49 pm; edited 2 times in total
