June 21 Sydney Olympic Park, NSW

It has been four years since the last HOOPDREAMZ-PBA LEGENDS Tour.  When the new batch finally arrived on June 20, the celebrated basketball superstars gave it their all in front of a capacity crowd at the cavernous Sydney Sports Centre in Olympic Park. 

The HOOPDREAMZ-PBA LEGENDS exhibition marks the second year of the KALAYAAN Basketball Festival, a celebration of our Independence Day. The annual event is a showcase of basketball talent from the Filipino community.  This year, teams from four States took part, with a total of twenty teams overall.  The main game put the run-and-gun Great White Sharks up against the visiting HOOPDREAMZ-PBA Legends squad. 

The star-studded PBA Legends line-up included two members of the 25 Greatest Players in Philippine History, 1995 MVP Vergel “Aerial Voyager” Meneses and multi-titled point guard Ronnie Magsanoc. Nelson “The Bull” Asaytono and Zandro Limpot played big, while “Mr Excitement” Paul Alvarez completed the first five.  Playing coach Jun da Jose manned the bench alongside four Australian players from the local NSW champion AMIGOS, including Filipino-Australians Cromwell Alvarez and Vergel Alcantara, American Terry Amir and gigantic centre Patrick Piliae. 

The Sharks first five included former Sydney Kings forward Dave Pollard, Singapore Slingers guard Eban Hyams, and ABA trio Ben Hollis, Matt Crowe and Darryl Pepito.  The bench mob included rising Filipino players Rodel Manuel, Bing Mantua, Dustin Aquino, Clarence Chalvin and import Peter Khoury.

Living Legend Robert Jaworski extended his apologies with an official statement.  The former Ginebra playing coach was scheduled to travel with the touring party.  However, the organizers were advised a day before the event that Jaworski fell ill with flu and was too sick to travel and fearful of being quarantined.  He will re-schedule a separate visit and has promised to meet all his fans and organize a free clinic for the kids at a later date (TBA). 

Despite the Jaworski setback, the PBA Legends stepped into the middle of the court to the delight of the pro-Filipino audience.  Ronnie Magsanoc shared their joy in playing in front of their countrymen. 

Everyone felt electricity and excitement right before tipoff.  From the get go Pollard and Hollis created havoc above the rim, slamming home big dunks from Pepito’s lob passes. Team captain Hyams’ back to back three pointers put the Sharks on an 8 – 0 run, before the Legends’ Asaytono scored inside. This opened up the game as Meneses and Alvarez ran the lanes like it was 1995, with Magsanoc feeding the high flying duo in fast break situations.  It was a see-saw battle until the fourth quarter, when the LEGENDS opened up with a 10-point lead as Limpot and Asaytono put on an array of post moves and mid-range jumpers.  Magsanoc sealed the game with a pair of three pointers. 

The halftime show generated a dynamic NE-YO dance performance led by choreographer Debbie Hatumale.  This was followed by the ABS CBN Dance Battle between the LION Mascot and six Dads.  The HOOPDREAMZ Under-10s kids had a quick run, while Nelson Asaytono and a fan played the HOOPDREAMZ Half-court Shootout. 

The KALAYAAN Basketball Festival and HOOPDREAMZ-PBA LEGENDS TOUR is proudly supported by GROOVETV, Bayanihan News, Amigos Mechanic, Galang Home Loans, Visual Line Optical, Priority One DJs, FILCOM ACT, Ateneo AA, La Salle AA, Funhauz, Banag Banag, Christian Fellowship, NorthWest Filos, Northside Basketball Inc, Gani Soria, V-BAR, Dennis Shen, Ric Fortaleza, Anna Tagle and Friends, News Pinoy, Pinoy Ticketek, Debbie Hatumale, FiloPages, ABS-CBN Global, Alvin Lai Photography, Re-Vibe and ACBA.

HOOPDREAMZ PBA LEGENDS 74 – (Alvarez P 17, Limpot 15, Asaytono 14, Meneses 11, Magsanoc 8, Amir 4, Alcantara 3, Piliae 2, Da Jose, Alvarez C 0) 

GREAT WHITE SHARKS 61 – (Pollard 18, Hyams 18, Crowe 9, Hollis 8, Khoury 4, Mantua 2, Manuel 2, Pepito, Aquino, Chalvin 0)