The sins of Goliath

Lorenzo Coleman is an unhappy man, smarting from both physical and emotional bias he feels have been hurled his way. Coleman, the 7’1" Purefoods import, was unable to play in last Thursday’s game in Malolos, Bulacan for retaliating to what he considers excessive physical punishment he has been receiving since he arrived. A product of Tennessee Tech, the quick-footed center started his basketball career unexpectedly in the eighth grade, since he was already head and shoulders above everyone else.

"The coach just saw me walking through the parking lot, and asked me to come in for the team," Coleman told The STAR. "And I’ve been playing ever since."

Purefoods head coach Ryan Gregorio has been looking for a seven-foot import ever since the PBA declared no height limit for reinforcements for this conference. After two failed attempts, he finally has an answer to his prayers.

"Everyone says we’re a big man away from being a legitimate contender," Gregorio elaborates. "We needed a big man to grab rebounds and challenge other teams. With ‘Zo inside, he draws a lot of attention, and this opens things up for our three-point shooters. We just dump the ball inside, and he makes a lot of decisions, and they’re often good ones."

It has been almost two decades since imports of this size were last seen in the PBA. The last two were NBA veteran Otto Moore, and journeyman Jim Zoet. Ronnie Magsanoc, now an assistant for the Hotdogs, recalls playing in that era.

"It was like watching giants walk the earth," confesses Magsanoc, then a point guard for Shell. "And when they bumped into a local player, you would just laugh, because they’d really get moved out of the way. Now, with ‘Zo, we have a focal point for our offense. And he also brings a lot of intimidation inside, because we’re really small overall."

Unfortunately for Coleman, that same combination of size, strength, agility and ability has also come at a heavy price. Coleman complains that, because he is so big, referees allow other players to beat up on him more. This has been a complaint of athletic big men since the time of Wilt Chamberlain, who went so far as to entitle his autobiography "Nobody Loves Goliath". And Miami Heat Shaquille O’Neal has frequently voiced a similar complaint.

"You can’t just let them hack, hack, hack," Coleman told this writer. "It comes to a point where they realize that "Hey, I can get away with this." Then they take it to another level, then another level."

In January of 2002, Coleman, then playing for the Roanoke Dazzle in the National Basketball Development League or NBDL, had to have two stitches in his right eyeball after getting cut by the fingernail of Huntsville Flight forward Shelly Clark in the first quarter of their game. Coleman also had to wear corrective goggles as a result of a muscle contusion in the eyeball that caused double vision. At the time, he was leading the league with a 59.6 percent field goal percentage.

"I went to the PBA technical committee," Gregorio explains, "to show them instances where calls were not made. And I really hope that they decide to make the calls not because he’s big or he’s a seven-footer, but because there was a foul."

"What they see is the second motion of ‘Zo," Magsanoc adds. "But they don’t see him getting hit in the neck on the head. What concerns us is what goes on below. How do you chop down a tree? From below. And it hurts, so it’s only natural for another player to get upset. Who wants to get hurt."

The Purefoods coaching staff said that, at times, Coleman is bumped, kneed, stepped on, and, in their opinion, other players get away with it.

"There are certain things I won’t comment about, but that’s my experience in some places I’ve played. I walk a lot. So, on one hand, I’d like to complain, but I shouldn’t. But there are some things people shouldn’t get away with. I do want to play somewhere else when this is over," said Coleman, who heard good things about the PBA from former Purefoods import Eddie Elisma. "And I don’t want to get hurt."

I asked the Purefoods braintrust if things would have been different if there were other giants walking the court in the PBA.

"If they were as nimble, it probably would balance out," Magsanoc assumes. "Because he’s agile. And it’s a shame if this continues, because he brings a different kind of excitement to the league."

It would be unfortunate if a unique talent like Coleman was handcuffed simply because of the impression that big people don’t get hurt. That would be downright petty. It’s as if all giants were paying for the sins of Goliath.

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More on the Lorenzo Coleman issue on this week’s episode of The Basketball Show on ABC 5 at 3 p.m.