MANILA, Philippines - Ricky Brown described Philip Cezar as the best Filipino basketball player he ever saw in the PBA, and said he’d run through a brick wall only for one coach: Baby Dalupan.
“There are many names to choose from. But I say this: Philip Cezar,” the 1985 MVP said yesterday when asked to name the best player he ever played with or against in the PBA.
“If he (Cezar) only had the coaching at a young age and was drilled fundamentally, he would have been off the chart in the PBA,” Brown told the PSA Forum at Shakey’s UN Ave.
Cezar played for so long with Crispa, and in the latter of the Crispa dynasty was given the difficult task to guard Brown, who was then playing for Great Taste. He was successful.
Eventually, Brown and Cezar became teammates with Great Taste which won four titles in a row with the former Pepperdine University standout at the helm.
“Philip Cezar could do it all. He was also my teammate at Great Taste. Philip Cezar was a tremendous basketball player,” said the player nicknamed “The Quick Brown Fox.”
He said it was also a great opportunity to play with Robert Jaworski.
Brown, now 55 and principal at the Ross Middle School in Artesia, California, is in town for a very short visit. He said he plans to make it a very memorable one.
In the next few days he’d be roaming the city to meet and greet PBA fans, and on Sunday he pays the PBA a visit to personally receive the Hall of Fame award given to him in 2009.
Health reasons kept Brown from returning to the Phillipines. Now that he’s in the pink of health, saying he feels like he’s 35 and can still handle the ball well, he’s back.
It’s his first visit to the country he loves so much in 22 years.
Brown, who said he’d opt for a managerial position than a coaching job if ever he returns to basketball, said he wouldn’t leave the country without seeing Dalupan.