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This Day in PBA History: Atoy Co first player to reach 10,000 points

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Rey Joble

When William “Bogs” Adornado was sidelined by a career-threatening knee injury in 1976, Fortunato “Atoy” Co immediately took over the role as the Crispa Redmanizers’ top gun. For about three years while Adornado was still recuperating, Co carried the brunt of the Redmanizers’ offense and it wasn’t surprising why he was the first player to reach the 5,000-point and 10,000-point plateau. On this day, May 1, 1984, during the final season of the Redmanizers’ campaign, Co became the first member of the 10,000-point club during their game between guest team Northern Consolidated. Looking back, Co’s scoring mentality was a product of reinvention. In his early days with Mapua, he was known as a highly athletic player. “Before, I can dunk with my two hands,” Co said. “Pero inabot ko kasi dati sina Turing Valenzona, sina Boy Arazas, sina Tembong Melencio, ’yung mga matatawag mong bad boys ng basketball. Hindi naman talaga sila bad boys, pero mga brusko maglaro, so I have to do something, so I worked on my shooting. “Minsan kasi ang style ng mga players nu’ng araw, kunyari magda-drive ka, biglang may magtatali ng sintas ng sapatos sa ilalim o kaya medyo pipitikin ka. Kaya ihihinto ko na lang to take a jump shot at naishu-shoot ko naman. Pero at that time, I’m very confident na mashu-shoot ko.” Co’s trademarks include his patented fadeaway shot and his pull-up jumper even in fastbreak situations. “Pero ’yung sa PBA na ginagawa kong pull-up jump shots, lamang na kasi kami noon. Hindi ko gagawin ’yun kung dikitan ’yung laban,” added Co.“ ’Yung fadeaway naman, nangyari ’yan nu’ng practice sa Mapua. Aksidente lang. Mas magaling akong mag-dribble sa kaliwa kaysa sa kanan. Pag-drive ko sa kaliwa at hinarang mo ako, iikot ko ’yun tapos magpi-fadeaway ako. Nu’ng nagawa ko sa practice, sabi ko sa sarili ko, ‘Aba, puwede pala ’yun.’” Co did it throughout his PBA career and that netted him numerous individual awards, including 14 championships. Co was the Most Valuable Player award winner in 1979, but as early as 1976 during Crispa’s first of two grand slams, “The Fortune Cookie” already played a big role. He averaged 31.8 points per game in the Third Conference that season and helped the Redmanizers complete a triple crown. Between 1975 Third Conference where Crispa denied Toyota of winning a grand slam all the way to the 1977 Second Conference, the Redmanizers won six straight championships. During his MVP season in 1979, Co averaged close to 30 points per game and he would have averaged more had the 3-point shot been already introduced to the PBA. The 3-point shot was only adopted the next season. “Tandang-tanda ko ’yun, anim na dikit na championships kami,” Co told ABS-CBN News. “Sa totoo lang, nu’ng na-injured si Bogs, hindi ko inisip na kailangan kong magdoble-kayod sa opensa kasi mai-stress lang ako. At that time, I was only 25 years old, I just love playing basketball. “Kapag nagba-basketball ako noon, I simply forgot everything. Basketball lang. Gusto ko talagang manalo. I love to win. But 1976, for me, was one of my best years in basketball. ’Yung Toyota at that time, parang mga apat, limang players nagpapalitan para bantayan lang ako. ’Yun ’yung kagalingan ko na kasabay ko si Cyrus Mann.” Mann was highly responsible in giving Crispa its first grand slam. Although he took a backseat in 1983 when Abet Guidaben blossomed to become Crispa’s biggest star that year, Co was still a key figure in the team’s grand slam run and remained steady until the final season of the Redmanizers’ campaign in 1984 where he averaged close to 19 points per game. Co recalled the final season of the Redmanizers, just before the death of the dynasty. “At the back of our minds, in 1984, we felt na magkakahiwalay na kami, pero I was not happy with how we were dispersed. Inalis nila ’yung mga tandem-tandem, like ako, sanay ako na and’yan si Philip (Cezar), pero wala kang magagawa. Kailangan mong mag-trabaho. Pero after Crispa, wala medyo bumaba na ’yung joy to play. Andu’n na lang ako dahil sa suweldo,” added Co. Co would win one more championship with Great Taste in 1987 and it was one of sweetest as he achieved it with long-time teammates Cezar and Bernie Fabiosa, but he retired a season after. He retired as one of the members of the league’s first 25 Greatest Players and was the first batch of Hall of Famers in 2005.

When William “Bogs” Adornado was sidelined by a career-threatening knee injury in 1976, Fortunato “Atoy” Co immediately took over the role as the Crispa Redmanizers’ top gun.