Basketball fans in Laguna were in for a treat on Wednesday evening. Not only was Alab Pilipinas playing, but Filipino-Americans Caelan Tiongson and Mikh McKinney were making their debuts in the Philippines.
And boy were the fans in for a slobberknocker.
Alab was able to get away with a 94-91 win over the second-running Chong Son Kung Fu. Moreover, the quartet of Bobby Ray Parks, Jr., Renaldo Balkman, Justin Brownlee, and Josh Urbiztondo were able to give the home crowd a show.
“I’m happy for our guys. I’m more happy for our fans here at home kasi they deserve this. This team, continues to work everyday. They work extremely hard and they work for one another. I know we got to a slow start,” shared Alab head coach Jimmy Alapag.
“I want the fans — especially in Laguna — to see that this team has come a long way [in] the past two months. Our message to them was to continue to push, continue to work, and we’ll continue to improve.”
As an added attraction for the night, Tiongson and McKinney also impressed; Tiongson in particular caught Alapag’s eye.
Tiongson, though saddled with foul trouble for the entire evening, gave Brownlee a tough time. The California-born Fil-Am had 11 points and six rebounds, while limiting Alab’s World Import to just 7-for-27 shooting.
“Got to give a lot of credit to Caelan Tiongson. He reminds me a lot, a lot, of Rudy Hatfield. And Rudy Hatfield is a Hall of Famer here in the Philippines,” Alapag remarked about the bruiser.
“It was great to see him and McKinney here at home. Just not against us.”
For those who did not have the privilege of watching Hatfield, the 6-foot-3 power forward was a tenacious rebounder during his 14-year pro career. He won the Finals Most Valuable Player award during the 2002 All-Filipino Cup, named the 2003 Defensive Player of the Year, and is a three-time All-Star.
Alapag, who had numerous encounters with Hatfield, sees the same tenacity in Tiongson.
“Just the power, the motor. He plays the game the right way. He competes every possession. Just like Rudy Hatfield. I think Rudy Hatfield is an absolute winner here in our country,” added Alapag, who himself is a six-time PBA champion.
“I think our fans got an opportunity to see in our country who is very, very similar to him.”
The rookie mentor, who is also a Filipino-American, expressed his hope that players like Tiongson, McKinney, Mikey Williams of the Saigon Heat, and Joshua Munzon of Westsports Malaysia Dragons will find their way back home and to the PBA some day.
“I hope so. I really hope that the rules will change a little bit to give these guys an opportunity to play here in our country. We’ve come so far from 20 years ago with the issue from a long time ago. There’s so many great Filipino players both here at home and abaroad. Why not all of them playing in our country? That’s the way I look at it,” Alapag reflected.
“He’s Filipino. It’s a known fact that him and McKinney, and Williams from Saigon, these guys are Filipino. Whether they were raised in the States or here. I was raised in the States. I like to think I’m just as Filipino as anybody else here in our country. So I would hope that those guys would get an opportunity,” the Gilas legend furthered.
“Whether it’s the PBA or here with our team, those guys deserve it. At the end of the day, their blood is Pinoy.”
