22
Philippine Showbiz Today
October 22 - November
March 8 - 7,
21, 2017
2018
Basketball
He carried the national colors
in the different international arenas
eight times but Danilo “Daredevil
Danny” Florencio is to be best
remembered as the hero in the
Philippines’ campaign in the 1967
Asian Basketball Confederation (now
FIBA-Asia).
Florencio, also acknowledged
as the original “Skywalker” in the
local basketball scene, scored the
Carlos Loyzaga-coached nationals;
last four points, including the title
clinching two free throws in the dying
seconds that gave the Philippine an
83-80 victory over host South Korea
and its third championship in the
biennial series.
That, likewise, qualified the
country to the Olympic Games held
in 1968 in Mexico City for the seventh
straight time. Danny’s teammates
in that champion team were Robert
“Sonny” Jaworski, Narciso Bernardo,
Orlando Bauzon, Jaime Mariano,
Rogelio Melencio, Edgardo Ocampo,
Adriano Papa Jr. Renato Reyes, team
captain Alberto “Big Boy” Reynoso,
Joaquin Rojas Jr. and Edgardo
Roque.
Florencio, likewise, was a
member of the National Five in the
1969 and 1971 editions of the ABC,
the last when the country ended up
runner up to make it anew to the 1972
Munich Olympics, the last time the
Philippines saw action quadrennial
comclave.
Danny also saw action in the
Asian Games – 1966 and 1970 in
Bangkok and 1974 in Tehran.
Born on September 5, 1947
in Quiapo, Manila Florencio passed
away last February 25 in Pittsburg,
California at age 70.
Florencio first made his mark as
a forward and shooting guard while
playing for the University of Santo
Tomas from 1965-1967 at the height
of the Glowing Tigers vs. University of
the East Red Warriors, then starring
Jaworski, rivalry. After he left UST,
A tribute to basketball legend
Danny Florencio
SPORTS
Clockwise: ‘Daredevil Danny’ at the peak oof his career and a recent photo in
the USA; Florencio playing for the 7-up Uncolas in the young PBA league in
1977 and winning the gold medal against South Korea at the Asian Basketball
Championships in 1967, being held up by teammate Jimmy Mariano.
the YCO Painters competing in the
MICAA in the late 1960s, which was
coached by no less than the great
Loyzaga.
He was part of the resurrected
legendary Crispa Redmanizers of the
Danny Floro-Baby Dalupan tandem
that won every amateur title to be on
from the early 70s in the early 1970s
until the birth of the professional
Philippine Basketball Association in
1975.
Florencio played in the PBA
from 1975 to 1983 with the U/Tex
Wranglers, the Toyota Super Corollas,
7-Up, and the Galerie Dominique.
Though generously listed as 5’10”
he distinguished himself with daring
drives to the hoop capped by rarely-
before-seen hang-time moves and
twisting undergoal stabs. He also
had some accurate jump shots from
up to 18 feet.
On November, 5, 1977, the then
30-year-old Florencio became the
first Filipino player in the pro-league
to score over 60 points, 64 points to
be exact, in Seven-Up’s 121-136 loss
to Toyota.
What made his performance
spectaculars was that
he fashioned it out in a
conference which had
teams parading a pair
of imports each with no
height limit in a season.
In 39 games with
the Uncolas that season,
Florencio averaged a
mind-boggling
32.3
points a game, a record
that remained unbroken
for 14 years before it
was surpassed by Alan
Caidic.
His scoring spree
started
immediately
after he was traded
from Universal Textiles
to Seven-Up for Cristino
Reynoso.
Aside from his 64-
poing showing in a game that season,
Florencio also jumped and drove his
way to at least 50 points per game
four times, at least 40 points six times
and at least 30 points eight times
that overshadowed even the league’s
certified ‘Triggerman’ Caidic’s.
He was also the ninth player
to achieve the
5,000
point-
plateau, reaching
the
milestone
on his birthday
in 1981. At the
end of his career,
he ranked 11th
in the all-time
scoring plateau with 5,791 points,
eighth in scoring average, and 13th
all time in steals.
He was named one the PBA’s
25 greatest players during the
pro league’s silver anniversary
celebration.●
29 Pinoy athletes to receive funding targeting Olympic gold
Olympic silver-winning weight-
lifter Hidilyn Diaz, triathlete Kim
Mangrobang and trackster Eric Cray
are 3 of 29 elite Filipino athletes who
will receive financial backing from a
private organization bent on captur-
ing the country’s first Olympic gold
medal.
During the launch of Siklab Atle-
ta Pilipinas Sports Foundation Inc. in
Manila over the weekend, Phoenix
Petroleum president and CEO Den-
nis Uy, the brains behind the founda-
tion, announced the 29 athletes who
stand to receive financial support.
Besides Diaz, Mangrobang and
Cray, here are the other names:
Nicole Tagle (archery)
Eumir Marcial and John Tupas
(boxing)
Hermie Macaranas and OJ
Fuentes (canoe-kayak)
Marella Salamat, Sienna Fines
and Ariana Dormitrio (cycling)
Carlos Yulo and Kaitlin De Guz-
man (gymnastics)
Kiyomi Watanabe, Mariya Taka-
hashi, Shugen Nakano and Kesei
Nakano (judo)
OJ Delos Santos (karateka)
EJ Obiena (pole vault)
Philmar Alipayo and Edito Al-
cala (surfing)
James Dieparine and Nicole
Oliva (swimming)
Elaine Alora and Pauline Lopez
(taekwondo)
Trenton Beram (track and field)
Kristel Macrohon (weightlifting)
Geylord Coveta and Yancy Kai-
bigan (windsurfing)
Siklab executive director Raymond
Zorilla said resources would be pooled
through the foundation to provide
athletes with training equipment
and facilities, coaching, exposure
to
international
competitions,
education, housing and livelihood
programs.●
- ABS-CBN Sports
Hidilyn Diaz (from left), Eric Cray and Kim Mangrobang are some of the athletes who will
benefit from Siklab Foundation, a privatized program that will support athletes looking to
win gold medals at the Tokyo XXXII Summer Olympics in 2020.