Ex-Ginebra mentor revisits old haunts

Old Barangay Ginebra diehards surely remember the man. Rino Salazar, the first coach to handle the Ginebra Kings in the post-Robert Jaworski era, is in town for a short vacation after being away for almost a decade.

“I’m Sonny’s advanced party. He asked me to come home ahead of him to start scouting the other teams,” said Salazar in jest, aware that Jaworski has a standing offer to coach Air21.

Salazar, Jaworski’s deputy at Ginebra for the longest time, arrived Sunday from Alaska where his family is now based. He works for the Alaska Airline.

His very  first destination a day after his arrival  was the Green Meadows gym to watch the Gin Kings in their practice. His former assistant Allan Caidic introduced him to the players.

“I don’t know most of the players since only Jayjay Helterbrand was there during my time,” said Salazar, 55.

The former RP Youth player and Toyota Tamaraw rued missing the NCAA final between his alma mater Letran and San Beda but looked forward to watching some PBA games, specially the Ginebra-Red Bull tiff at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday.

A champion coach with a Reinforced Conference championship with Shell and a preseason title with Ginebra, Salazar said he misses coaching but doesn’t regret trying his luck abroad.

Salazar is still nursing an injured left hand he suffered during the recent fund-raising game among ex-PBA players in the US for the benefit of Rudy Distrito.

Salazar and Abe King are the top supporters of Distrito who is serving time in the US jail for manslaughter.  – Nelson Beltran