Macaraya looks forward to CEU’s Filoil experience

This appears in philstar.com

Macaraya looks forward to CEU’s Filoil experience

by rick olivares

When the name of Edgar Macaraya crops up in any basketball conversation, his record of 14 triples in a game is invariably brought up.

A deadeye shooter, Macaraya won NCAA titles with the San Sebastian Stags alongside Bong Alvarez, Eugene Quilban, Eton and Mandy Navarro, Nani Demigillio, Toying Teves, Nap Hatton, and Allan Garrido among others. Aside from success in the NCAA, Macaraya won eight titles in the PABL with Magnolia and Triple V. It was also in the PABL where Macaraya broke Allan Caidic’s record for the most number of triples made in an amateur match with 14 with Sta. Lucia against Burger King. “Parang doon ako nakilala,” noted Macaraya. “It’s also nice to be remembered for a part of basketball history.”

Like many of his Stags’ teammates, Macaraya moved up to the PBA suiting up for Swift and Sta. Lucia.

Almost three decades later, Macaraya, the former San Sebastian Stags hotshot finds himself coaching the Centro Escolar University Scorpions in NAASCU and Café France in the PBA D-League.

Coaching is something he never thought he’d get into. However, wanting to extend his role in the game long after he hung up his sneakers, Macaraya found himself on the sidelines teaching the rudiments of the game. “Hindi ko akalain na mag-co-coach tayo. Pero happy naman ako. Maraming challenges kasi bilang head coach na hindi mo naranasan as a player. Mas well-rounded ka.”

And unlike the scoring feat for which he is known, he preaches a little known facet of his game – defense.

“When I was playing even for San Sebastian, I played a lot of defense,” he bared. “Not many players do that at the two-guard position but I loved stopping my opponent.”

“Medyo glamoroso yung scoring,” the coach noted of players’ mentality. “Everyone wants to score. The hard part is getting them to play defense. Iba rin yung satisfaction of stopping an opponent. And everyone knows that defense is a key in winning a championship. No defense. No championship. Ganyan lang ka-simple.”

With CEU, Macaraya piloted the Scorpions to their first NAASCU title last season in the process unseating erstwhile defending champion, St. Clare (he learned his chops assisting another former Stags star Topex Robinson at San Sebastian). “You have to make believers out of everyone.”

Now in the summer Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, Macaraya hopes that his wards will learn from the experience of playing the best college teams from around the country. “You have to look at this from a different perspective,” he quipped. “This is a whole new learning experience for all of us. And we are moving to a bigger stage.”