Click photo to read article at pba.com.ph
UPDATED: Josh named PBA Player of the Week!
It’s been nearly a full week since the last Poor Man’s Commish post, but how fitting that we follow up the dreamleaguers-in-the-PBA news with a blast from Bay Area native Josh Urbiztondo. First off, apologies for the delay, as this past week has been filled with launching our 112-team league in the Bay as well as live-tweeting the Warriors’ home opener for GoldenStateOfMind.com.
But back to Josh! He got the start because fellow ex-MVP dreamleaguer Ryan Reyes was injured, sliding Reyes to the 2. Scored 24 points on 2-for-5 from downtown, 9-for-16 overall, 4 boards, and 4 assists. As reported on the PBA site…
“I just tried to bring out the energy of the team and I think I was able to do that while also having some point production,” said the 26-year-old Fil-Am…
“With Ryan injured, we changed our rotation, getting Joshua to play the point and sliding Ryan at No. 2. It worked well and I think it deserves a second look. We’ll analyze things baka pwedeng ulitin ng ulitin,” said [Coach Boyet] Fernandez.
Meanwhile, FHM Sports reported the following…
Ryan Reyes tallies “franchise player” stats: 15 pts 5 rebs 6 assists 3 steals 6/8 FG…
Urbiztondo’s former PBL Pharex teammate Ronnie Matias (8th pick overall) plays nightmare game for BK
On the second point — and we will give the full lowdown someday — during this past summer’s PBA draft, Urbiztondo was basically colluded on by the PBA owners, skipped over by all the teams. It was a slap in the face, but at the same time, a business decision. And a racial decision.
Drafted PBA players are paid according to when they got picked, so by leaving Josh off the board, they could pick him up as a free agent for cheaper (yeah, it’s kind of backwards from the NBA, or maybe the NBA is backwards?). At the same time, there’s been a push in the PBA to celebrate more of the native Filipinos. There’s been discrimination on American, non-full-blooded, or otherwise “foreign” Filipinos trying to win a spot in the PBA.
Looks like PBA fans are just getting a glimpse of Josh, calling him an “unlikely hero”, but once his team and teammates figure out what he can do and how he fits into the equation, look out. We just saw the dam crack. Big time.
Special thanks to Josh’s dad David for the links!
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