Arnaiz remembers Cutillas

PBA legend Francis Arnaiz recently shared interesting stories about the late national football coach Juan Cutillas who also served as physical director of the Toyota and Ginebra basketball teams where Mr. Clutch played. Additionally, Arnaiz was on the Philippine teams that saw action at the 1973 FIBA Asia Championships and 1974 FIBA World Cup with Cutillas in charge of strength and conditioning.

Arniaz, now 74, recalled how Cutillas worked the players to the bone in preparing for the FIBA World Cup in Puerto Rico in 1974. Coach was Tito Eduque and the national players were Arnaiz, Jimmy Mariano, Joy Cleofas, Tembong Melencio, Robert Jaworski, Abet Guidaben, Ramon Fernandez, Bogs Adornado, Yoyong Martirez, Manny Paner, Dave Regullano and Big Boy Reynoso. The Philippines finished 13th of 14, beating Australia, 101-100 and Central African Republic, 87-86 while losing to the US, 135-85, Argentina, 111-90, Spain, 117-85, Mexico, 101-84 and Czechoslovakia, 119-112 (Arnaiz scored a team-high 25 points).

“Before we did our drills, Cutillas would tell us, OK everyone, follow Arnaiz and Reynoso and Melencio, go play chess,” he said. “Big Boy and Tembong hated doing drills and would always slack off. But I would train hard and could do all his drills which were mostly soccer drills. That’s why he would say to the rest to follow me. Big Boy and Tembong were kind of tamad and would complain about the drills. Kaya, go play chess na lang.”

The game against Mexico was rough and tumble. “When we played Mexico, Juan kicked the ball and it hit a Mexican player’s face,” related Arnaiz. “I think it was inadvertent. At least, that’s what Juan said.”

Arnaiz and his wife Bebe would visit Cutillas and his wife Tessy in Spain. He remembered a funny incident during a visit. “We were at a beach near Juan’s home in Spain, lounging in chairs after a huge lunch,” recalled Arnaiz. “Juan dozed off then we heard a loud yell coming from where he sat. For some reason, he had fallen off his chair and was laying on the sand. I was caught by surprise and sort of froze. There was a lady near him who immediately rushed to help him up. She bent down and I noticed she was topless. You know how some beaches are in Europe. After everything was calmed down, I asked Juan if he was OK. Juan answered, for a while, he couldn’t breathe. Who could if you had a topless lady with her chest in your face? That was his sense of humor.”

Arnaiz said Cutillas was more than a coach, trainer and lover of football. “Juan was a good friend,” he said. “It’s difficult to put into words how you feel when losing a good friend. James Taylor said it for me in his song ‘Fire and Rain.’ ‘Oh, I’ve seen fire and rain, I’ve seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend but I always thought that I’d see you again.’ I’m just grateful that Bebe and I got to spend some wonderful times with Juan and Tessy the last few years in Benalmadena where they moved to. Rest in peace, Juan.”