Top gun plays for late dad

Meralco star Solomon Jemuel Mercado said yesterday he’s playing for his late father Aaron who passed away from a sudden heart attack just before the PBA season started and it’s his motivation to win a championship for the Bolts.

“My dad never got to watch me play in the PBA,” said Mercado of his Puerto Rican father who died at 51. “I missed quite a bit of our training camp when I flew to the US for two weeks because of my dad. Now, I know he’s watching me in every game I play. I’m dedicating my season to him.”

Mercado, 28, is driven by the thought of his father’s spirit guiding him. Last Friday, he took over the league’s scoring leadership from Willie Miller and is now averaging a career-high 20.4 points. Mercado also leads the PBA in assists with a 6.2 clip. The only player to lead the NBA in points and assists was Nate Archibald in 1972-73 so it’s a rare feat. Oscar Robertson had the highest scoring and assist averages in 1967-68 but that season, the NBA recognized Wilt Chamberlain as the assist leader based on total dishes.

* * * *

Mercado, however, said he’s not conscious about how he performs individually so there’s no pressure to pile up the points or assists to stay No. 1. “My personal stats don’t mean a thing if we get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to win the championship. I really don’t care about individual stats. At Meralco, I think we’re a big man short of becoming a championship team. We’ve got a lot of tools now to make things happen. We all know what MacMac (Cardona) can do and bringing in Ronjay (Buenafe) gives us one of the league’s best spot-up shooters. When coach Ryan (Gregorio) plays all three of us together, it’s a lot of fun out there.”

Mercado said when he played with the Biola University varsity, he was never a big-time scorer. Biola is a private evangelical Christian university in southern California. “I averaged about 13 a game although I shot a high of 30 once,” he said. “The college game isn’t as wide open. In the PBA, you get a chance to score because if you’ve got teammates like MacMac and Ronjay, the defense isn’t just focused on you. Sure, I get a little frustrated when we lose. But it’s all about learning from your mistakes to get better. It’s a long season and right now, we’re still in the process of jelling.”

In the offseason, Meralco enlisted three rookies Cliff Hodge, Kelly Nabong and Jaypee Belencion and signed up three veterans Sunday Salvacion, Carlo Sharma and Buenafe. Struck out from last conference’s roster were Asi Taulava, Mark Macapagal, Dennis Daa, Mark Yee and Jason Ballesteros.

* * * *

Mercado said his Filipina mother Rosalie Rayos of Pampanga was in town for the 2008 draft where he was picked fifth overall by Alaska then immediately traded to Rain Or Shine. His mother, who is employed as an office manager with Blue Shield, California, hasn’t been back since but hopes to visit next year. Mercado is the youngest of three children and only boy. He has a younger half-brother Joshua, 22, who lives in Sacramento. His oldest sister Noraa is 34 and also lives in Sacramento with three children. His other sister Andrea recently moved to Manila with her husband and their 13-year-old son Jordan. “My sister, who works remote, and her family moved here for me and live with me now,” said Mercado, a bachelor.  

Before making his mark in the PBA, Mercado played for Harbour Centre in the PBL. He said the person he most admires in the PBA is Talk ‘N’ Text guard Jimmy Alapag. “Jimmy took me under his wing when I first came out here and showed me everything – how to be a professional, how to treat the people and the fans, how the style of play was,” said the man called Sol Train. “He’s really like a big brother to me. So he’s my fave in the PBA.” In the NBA, Mercado said his favorite player is Miami’s LeBron James. As for point guards, his favorites are Brooklyn’s Deron Williams and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul.

An intense player on the court, Mercado now plays with a sense of security and extreme motivation. He knows his late father is watching over him game in, game out.