This appears on philstar.com
Allan Caidic says he
doesn’t mind Jimmy Alapag surpassing his 3pt. record
by rick olivares
A
day after the Meralco Bolts’ Jimmy Alapag surpassed his total for three-pointers
in a career, Allan Caidic, the previous owner of the record said that he was
fine with the former’s feat.
Alapag
broke the 17-year old record when he drilled the 1,243rd triple of
his career during Game Two of the current Governors’ Cup Finals between Meralco
and the last club that Caidic played and coached, Barangay Ginebra.
“If
there is one guy to accomplish that, it’s Jimmy. Hats off ako,” lauded the man
known as “the Triggerman” for his shooting exploits during his heyday in the
amateurs and professional ranks. “I was already done playing and was into
coaching when Jimmy came up with Talk ‘N Text. Nakita ko kung paano siya makibagay;
with the way he conducts himself on and off the court.”
“More
so because Jimmy is a former Most Valuable Player and is a member of the PBA’s
40 Greatest so it’s all right. Besides, records are meant to be broken.”
Unknown
to many, Caidic didn’t start out as a shooter or even as a forward. “I played
center when I was in high school which explains why I can post up,” related
Caidic in a conversation a day after Alapag’s milestone. “When I moved to
college, I could no longer play the position because I was smaller than other
guys and I was too thin. So I moved to the small forward position where I began
to practice my outside shot.”
At
that time the three-point shot wasn’t in existence locally despite the field
goal being introduced in the now defunct American Basketball Association during
its 1967-68 season and in the National Basketball Association during the
1979-80 season. The three-point shot was officially allowed in the Philippines
in 1984.
“I
began to practice my outside shooting taking anywhere from 200-500 shots a
day,” recounted the long tom artist. “The more tired I was the greater my
focus. Playing against taller players helped me develop the quick release shot.
It also helped that when I was with Northern Consolidated Cement when my former
teammate Chip Engelland helped me with my form and mentality in getting shots
and in attacking the basket.”
“My
former coach in the University of the East, (the late) Roehl Nadurata asked me
a long time ago, ‘Allan, saan ang favorite spot mo?’ I told him sa left. And he
said, ‘bakit hindi mo naman subukan sa kanan para masanay ka sa lahat ng lugar
sa court?’ That really helped me in my approach to the game.”
Caidic
says that to his mind, the best shooters in the PBA that he has seen are (in no
particular order) Jimmy Alapag, Dondon Hontiveros, and Renren Ritualo. “They
have what I call are the ‘three Cs” – consistency, confidence, and coordination
– in making their shots.”
During
the 2010 NBA All-Star Challenge where former PBA players got to play alongside
NBA legends such as Gary Payton, Glen Rice, Chris Webber, and Mitch Richmond,
Caidic hot 14 treys in a scintillating performance that had the Americans in
awe. “Kahit exhibition game lang yun, highlight din yan kasi naipakita ko kung
ano kaya ng Pinoy,” recalled the Triggerman who finished with a game high 54
points in only 24 minutes of play.
Despite
losing the three-point record to Alapag, Caidic still holds 18 other individual
records in the PBA.
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