Ex-PBA imports in Tigers cast

Two former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) imports are playing for the visiting Melbourne Tigers who arrived from Down Under last night to face the Busan-bound national squad at the Cuneta Astrodome tonight and the Big Dome on Saturday.

Tiger stalwarts Lanard Copeland, 37, and Marcus Timmons, 30, are back to display their wares before local fans. Copeland saw action for Pepsi in the 1991 First Conference while Timmons played a game for Pop Cola in the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup. Additionally, Timmons powered Tanduay to a Philippine Basketball League (PBL) title under coach Alfrancis Chua and won Best Import honors in 1996.

Copeland will be the oldest Tiger on the floor against the Philippine team. Tigers teammate Andrew Gaze would’ve been the senior statesman–he’s two days older than Copeland–but it doesn’t look like the five-time Olympian will play. Gaze is recovering from ankle surgery.

The 6-5, 210-pound Copeland is known as a hoops survivor who has made it a habit to beat the odds in a storybook career. He never played high school basketball yet claimed a spot on the Georgia State varsity as a walk-on in 1985. Copeland averaged 11 points and shot 35.3 percent from triple range in four years for Crimson Panthers coach Rob Reinhart. As a senior in 1988-89, Copeland hit at a 15.3 clip and led Georgia State to a 14-14 record–the most wins ever in the school’s history.

Copeland was never drafted by a National Basketball Association (NBA) team but that didn’t bother him. He showed up at the Philadelphia 76ers tryouts camp–unheralded, unannounced, and uninvited. Reminiscent of his Georgia State breakthrough as a walk-on, Copeland battled his way to a roster spot and signed a no-cut, one-year $110,000 contract to play for the Sixers after an impressive showing at the Southern California Pro Summer League.

Copeland averaged 3.2 points in 23 games for the Sixers in 1989-90. He went on to play for Pepsi in 1991, posting impressive norms of 38.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.8 steals, and 2.8 blocked shots in 11 games. Among his Pepsi teammates were Philippine team assistant coach Eric Altamirano, Alaska assistant coach Jun Reyes, St. Benedict’s College (Alabang) seniors varsity coach Carlito Mejos, Abet Guidaben, Tonichi Yturri, Manny Victorino, and Naning Valenciano. Pepsi’s coach was Derick Pumaren, now calling the shots for FedEx.

Copeland scored at least 40 points in six of his 11 outings and fired 51 in a 131-129 win over Presto on March 21, 1991. Only 10 PBA players whom Copeland faced in 1991 are still active today–namely, Ronnie Magsanoc, Benjie Paras, Jerry Codiñera, Alvin Patrimonio, Nelson Asaytono, Dindo Pumaren, Gerry Esplana, Zaldy Realubit, Jojo Lastimosa, and Alvin Teng.

From the PBA, Copeland bounced back into the NBA, scoring 16 points in 10 games for the Los Angeles Clippers in 1991-92. Then he packed his bag for Australia where a new life awaited. Copeland joined the Tigers in 1992 and led coach Lindsay Gaze’s club to the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) championships in 1993 and 1997. He was the NBL MVP in 1997. Last season, Copeland averaged 24.1 points, four rebounds, and 3.4 assists for the Tigers. He now lives permanently in Australia as a naturalized citizen. Copeland is eligible to play on the Australian national squad.

Timmons, 30, played four years at Southern Illinois University, the school that produced NBA legend Walt Frazier. Aside from the NBL and the PBA, Timmons has played in Italy, Lithuania, the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and the United States Basketball League (USBL).

The youngest of eight children who all stand at least six feet, the 6-6 Timmons is the shortest among five brothers. His father Randy is 6-10 and works in a family-owned Missouri farm.

Timmons was tapped to replace Sherrel Ford as Pop Cola’s import in Game 3 of the best-of-5 semifinal series against San Miguel Beer during the 1998 Commissioner’s Cup. Pop Cola was in a do-or-die situation as San Miguel enjoyed a 2-0 lead when Timmons arrived. In what turned out to be his only PBA appearance, Timmons compiled 26 points, 17 rebounds and six assists in Pop Cola’s 92-79 loss to the Beermen on July 24, 1998. The loss sent Pop Cola to a knockout game against Shell for third place. Timmons, however, didn’t stay around for the contest and coach Norman Black was forced into duty, steering Pop Cola to an 84-80 decision with 10 points and 16 rebounds.

Curiously, two national team mainstays–Olsen Racela and Danny Ildefonso–were on the San Miguel team that Timmons played against in 1998. Racela scored 12 points and Ildefonso, 14, in the contest that eliminated Pop Cola from contention.

In 1997, Timmons paired with Copeland to lift Melbourne to the NBL crown. Three years later, Timmons moved to Perth and took the Wildcats to the NBL title. Last season, he was back on the Tigers lineup and averaged 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 30 games.

Tonight, Copeland and Timmons will lead the Tigers’ charge against coach Joseph Uichico’s Fighting 15.