By Tony L Atayde
I just came from watching the PBA La Salle – Ateneo game where La Salle won for the 3rdstraight time. I was looking at all the DLSU players and they were all champions at DLSU.
Now they are all so matured with wives and children already.I began to think of the days when I saw all these players as very raw rookies. I remember TY Tang and Joseph Yeo in their rookie and sophomore years. I have to admit I was really hard on them because they were just totally confused.
I remember seeing Rico Maierhofer walking into the gym with his mom in tow asking if he could try out for La Salle. Rico was not a touted rookie since he was from Puerto Galera where scouts would not go. He was a reed thin rookie who seemed to be lost among all the veterans on the team.
I remember Macmac Cardona’s rookie year where he was a diamond in the rough, a kid who grew up poor and all of sudden here he was in La Salle. It was a great adjustment for him and it showed.
Then there was Simon Atkins who joined the team the year we were suspended. He was a star player in the La Salle Zobel champion team. The year after our suspension, Simon did not see that much playing time because there was TY Tang, already a mature and effective leader, Jvee Casio, a dependable outside shooter and a host of other veterans. The year after our suspension we won the championship.
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