Push Admin

PBA: How Vince Hizon got an early taste of Ginebra’s physical style of play

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

Retired PBA star Vince Hizon is one of the most recognizable faces in Barangay Ginebra&#x27;s club history.Recalling the days before turning pro, Hizon said he first encountered the team he would be forever associated with during a practice session he attended at PhilSports Arena in Pasig. He was still in university then.&quot;I was in Ateneo and Dodot (Jaworski) was my (Blue Eagles) teammate, we&#x27;re joining one of the practices that (Ginebra) had,&quot; Hizon said in an interview on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLinkPodcastByReyJoble/videos/347631793068117/">&quot;The Link&quot; podcast</a>.&quot;They said, &#x27;Hey, do you want to join us in the scrimmage?&#x27; I said, &#x27;Sure.&#x27; I&#x27;d never forget, I got the ball on the left side, I remember Macky de Joya guarding me, so I went down the middle,&quot; he recounted.There, Hizon was met by Ginebra&#x27;s 6-foot-5 enforcer Sonny Cabatu and one of the Loyzaga brothers, who slammed him.&quot;I was sandwiched there. I got up and was like, &#x27;Wow&#x27;,&quot; he said.Hizon said at first he felt offended by the hit, but later he understood that was just Ginebra&#x27;s rough style of play.&quot;At first parang pikon ako, pero OK lang. I learned that&#x27;s how it is. And if you&#x27;re not going to be physical, you&#x27;re going to have a hard time,&quot; he said.When he eventually played in the PBA, he first suited up for the star-studded Purefoods squad for a year. He asked to be traded to Ginebra, where he flourished as a versatile scorer and became known as &quot;the Prince.&quot;Hizon made it to the 1997 PBA Mythical First team and won 4 league championships before moving to the Metropolitan Basketball Association.&quot;It was sort of a homecoming because that&#x27;s where really I started practicing in the first place. I know it&#x27;s going to be rugged, so I said let&#x27;s go,&quot; said Hizon, now a team consultant for Blackwater.For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="https://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.

Still playing for the Blue Eagles, Vince Hizon joined a Ginebra practice once and immediately realized he was playing with the big boys now.

Still playing for the Blue Eagles, Vince Hizon joined a Ginebra practice once and immediately realized he was playing with the big boys now.