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| Bogs Adornado against Robert Jaworski |
Last
weekend, when I was strolling in the mall, I saw this book. It was an awesome
book. It was like the handout that every PBA
fanatic must have... until the information becomes outdated.
The
minute I saw the book, I knew I just had to buy it. This is the first time I
have ever bought a PBA Hardcourt Annual.
Before that, I had two but those two were free because the league technically
gave them to me when I was working for the TV stations that covered the games.
I would use that in utmost gusto especially during historical games like the Cheers for the Years game they had in 2005.
While
I was reading the book, I had an idea. Michael
Jordan is a many-time scoring leader. Before Jordan, George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated
the scoring. So was it a big man sport before Jordan arrived? Hell no. Fact is
though, these behemoths are lucky enough to become many-time scoring leaders in
their careers. After Jordan, a slew of slashers fit the bill – I’m talking
about Allen Iverson and then Tracy McGrady and then Kobe Bryant and then Lebron James and now Kevin Durant. We all know those that
can score 20 points a night and apparently the guys that can score in the
30-point mark.
But
what about in the PBA?
Who
are the scoring leaders in the PBA?
Do you
want to know?
If you
do, then check this out.
CRITERIA:
It’s
actually an easy hook. How many times does a player lead the league in the PBA
seasons? This is the only rule. However, the rankings all of a sudden become
the problem. We’re going to solve this using a tiebreaker method. For example, Jun Limpot and Vergel Meneses both led the league in scoring once. Limpot was part
of Sta. Lucia when he scored 22.0ppg
in 1994 while Sunkist’s Meneses led
all scorers in the 1996 season with 19.6ppg. Stating the obvious, Limpot’s
highest scoring average in that particular season trumps Meneses’.
Names with asterisks (*) are active
PBA players as of this writing.
On a
sidenote, just because they are in the Top
15 of the All-Time Best Scoring Average list doesn’t mean they automatically led
in scoring for a particular season. Among those who failed to lead in scoring in
a particular PBA season are Estoy
Estrada (third on the list), Danny
Seigle (fifth), Benjie Paras
(sixth), Jun Papa (twelfth), and Francis Arnaiz (15th).
GAME
STARTS NOW!
10 ATOY CO
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 1
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 17.3
(14 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
13
As of
this moment, Gary David, James Yap, and
Macmac Cardona are poised to oust the Fortune Cookie out. But as of this moment, he is still in the Top
Ten. During the 1979 Season, Atoy Co averaged 23.2ppg while playing for the Crispa
Redmanizers. This was also the year Co got his first and only Most Valuable Player Award.
9 ERIC
MENK*
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 2
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 15.0
(11 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
23
Playing
for the then-expansion squad, Tanduay
Rhum Masters, Menk quickly made a statement to the other PBA squads that he
is poised to dominate. In 1999, Menk was named the season’s top scorer after
hitting a 20.1ppg clip. In the
following season, Menk raised his average to 24.2ppg. However he only played 29 games in the combined 2000 and
2001 seasons because of citizenship issues.
8 MARK CAGUIOA*
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 2
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 17.571
(8 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK: 11
Mark Caguioa is a scoring monster, playing
all of his seasons with the Barangay
Ginebra Kings. There was a time that he would always go berserk in the
payoff period and it would definitely bring wins to the squad. His wrath was at
its peak when he led the Kings and the league in scoring for two consecutive
seasons. In the 2005-06 Season, he had 20.6 points. In the following season,
The Spark increased his scoring with 24.6 points.
7 RAMON
FERNANDEZ
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 2
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 17.68
(20 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
7
Despite
all the MVP trophies and the all-time records, The Franchise only led the league in scoring twice. However, who
the hell cares right? After all, he had a lot of records that is almost
impossible to break. In 1983, El
Presidente averaged 24.2 for the
Toyota Corollas. This would be the
Toyota’s last PBA Season and it also marked the end of the Fernandez-Robert Jaworski partnership. The
following season, Don Ramon again
led the league in scoring with 27.8ppg
– this time playing for Beer Hausen.
He also won the MVP trophy that
year.
6 DANNY
FLORENCIO
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 2
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 16.9
(8 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
14
Among
the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players, it
seems as if Danny Florencio is the
least popular to the current generation. Contrary to what you think though, he is the first and only local player to average 30 points or more in a PBA Season. Playing for Seven-Up in the 1977 PBA Season, Florencio averaged 32.3 points. Unfortunately, the reason why Florencio had those
numbers was because the Uncolas had a dismal 15-28 record. Seven-Up folded after that season and Florencio was
picked up by Toyota. He again
displayed his scoring prowess as he finished the season with 23.4ppg. Afterwards, his averages
dipped after getting hit by a number of injuries and the fact that he's playing alongside Fernandez, Jaworski, and Arnaiz.
5 ALVIN
PATRIMONIO
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 3
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 17.61
(17 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
8
The Captain is noted as one of the best
scorers in the rich history of the league. Playing his career with the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs, Captain Lionheart led the league in
three separate occasions. The first happened in 1992 where he averaged 25.2
points. A season later, Patrimonio averaged 21.6ppg. This was just actually bonus because the most important
win for Alvin was clinching his second MVP
plum. Patrimonio was also spending time with the Centennial Dream Team when his
final scoring title happened in 1998
where The Captain scored 19.1 points.
4 RICKY BROWN
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 3
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 23.1
(8 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
1
The Quick Brown Fox enjoyed eight short but
sweet seasons in the PBA. His most productive seasons scoring-wise were as part
of the Great Taste Coffee Makers. In
1985, Brown scored his first and
only MVP trophy. He also scored a career-best 27.9ppg. In 1986, Brown
did it again and scored 23.9ppg. In 1987, Brown did it again and while his
scoring has dipped to 21.5ppg. This
was the year Allan Caidic joined the
Coffee Makers and the Triggerman was
able to take a lot of his shot selections. The next season, Brown moved to San Miguel. His all-time scoring
average has yet to be broken ever since he retired in 1990.
3 ASI
TAULAVA*
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 4
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 17.58
(11 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
9
The Rock is one of two players to lead
the league in scoring in four consecutive seasons. However, Taulava’s averages
aren’t that scary compared to the other participants in this list. In PBA’s
history, five seasons failed to produce a 20+ per game scorer. Taulava led the
league in two of those five years. In 2001,
Taulava averaged 19.9ppg amidst
citizenship issues for Talk N Text
(called Mobiline at the start of
that season). In 2002, Taulava
averaged a very, very low 16.5ppg
for TNT while also playing for the Selecta-RP
pool. In 2003, The Rock averaged an
emphatic 23.4 points for the Phone Pals which also gave him his
first Most Valuable Player Award. In
the 2004-05 Season, Asi averaged 20.2ppg for the Phone Pals.
2 ALLAN CAIDIC
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 5
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 19.6
(13 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE RANK:
4
The Triggerman is one of the league’s most...
I’m sorry... let’s change that... The Triggerman is one of the most feared
scorers in Asia. He holds the record for most
points in a game with 79, most 3-pointers scored in a game with 17, and the
all-time 3-point attempts made with 1242.
When Ricky Brown moved to San Miguel, Caidic became the star of Great Taste which was eventually
renamed as Presto. In 1988, Caidic averaged 21.5ppg. In 1989, Caidic did it again with 27.4ppg.
This was the year The Triggerman scored 79 points. In 1990, Caidic again starred for Presto with 26.6ppg. Caidic also claimed his only MVP Award. In 1991,
The Triggerman again led the league with 27.1ppg
for Tivoli (formerly Presto). The
last time Allan Caidic led the league in scoring, he was now part of the San Miguel Beermen where he averaged 21.0 points per game.
1 BOGS
ADORNADO
NUMBER OF TIMES HE SCORED THE
BEST AVERAGE IN A SEASON: 5
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGE: 20.4
(12 SEASONS)
ALL-TIME SCORING AVERAGEs RANK:
2
Even
if Allan Caidic tied him in terms of
leading scoring seasons, and even if Caidic’s highest scoring average was 27.4 and it is the same as Adornado’s,
Adornado had the better All-Time Scoring
Average rank which is why he ranks first. In Adornado’s three MVP wins,
he topped the league in scoring. In 1975
where he won his first MVP Award
playing for the Crispa Redmanizers,
Bogs averaged 27.0. In 1976 where he won his second MVP Award, Adornado finished the
season with 25.7ppg. Moving to the U-Tex Wranglers, Adornado scored 24.0ppg during the 1980 PBA Season. In 1981,
Adornado scored 26.2ppg in the
season where he also clinched his third
MVP Award. One of the most decorated PBA players in league history – he claimed
his fifth scoring title by nailing 27.4ppg
for U-Tex in 1982. This was
Adornado’s gift to the ballclub as this was the Wranglers’ last season with the
league. Adornado after this season moved to Great Taste and then to Shell
before finishing his career in Alaska.
Other
scoring title holders besides the mentioned and Limpot (1994) and Meneses
(1996) are Nelson Asaytono (1997 –
23.1ppg playing for the San Miguel Beermen), James Yap (2007-08 – 21.3 playing
for the Purefoods TJ Giants), Macmac Cardona (2008-09 – 20.0 playing for the
Talk N Text Phone Pals) and Gary David (2009-10 – 18.2 playing for the
Coca-Cola Tigers).
Again,
more power to those who made the Hardcourt Annual!
It’s
freaking awesome!
Game
over!
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