Push Admin

This Day in PBA History: Bogs goes for 64 points, a league record then

Article (news)

Rey Joble

<p>Back when high-scoring games were the norm in the PBA, one of the players who stood out and showed his scoring prowess was 3-time Most Valuable Player William “Bogs” Adornado.</p><p>Adornado just completed his comeback trail in 1981, when he emerged as the first 3-time Most Valuable Player winner.</p><p>Many basketball purists had written him off after suffering an ACL tear. Back then, this knee injury was considered the end of one&#x27;s career, but he proved to all and sundry his determination to come back and remain one of the PBA’s all-time greatest players.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/11/20/21/this-day-in-pba-history-a-rivalry-turning-one-sided">This Day in PBA History: Crispa nips Toyota to earn right to face U/Tex in finals</a></li></ul><p>One of his better games happened in Game 5 of the 1979 All-Filipino championship series between archrivals Crispa and Toyota in a game where he was designated by legendary Redmanizers coach Baby Dalupan to play point guard.</p><p>Adornado, then on his way to recovery, pumped in 20 points in what was easily his best performance after coming back from an injury.</p><p>When Adornado got traded to U/Tex in the elimination round of the 1980 Open Conference, the sweet-shooting forward assumed his role as his new team’s top gun and in his first conference as a member of the Wranglers, he helped his team to a dramatic Game 5 overtime victory over Toyota after battling back from four points down in the last 16 seconds of regulation.</p><p>“I wanted to regain my old form,” Adornado said. “Dapat maghanap ka ng team to regain ’yung form mo. Less minutes na talaga ako noon sa Crispa, so I transferred to U/Tex. It was (coach) Tommy Manotoc who arranged my transfer from Crispa to U/Tex.”</p><p>“Ang daming magagaling na players sa Crispa, mahihirapan kang makabalik (old form).”</p><p>But Adornado, who led the scoring averages for 5 seasons in his career, including in 1980, displayed his scoring prowess on this day, November 23, 41 years ago, when he tied Danny Florencio for the most points scored by a local player at that time.</p><p>He scored 64 points during U/Tex’s 126-111 victory over San Miguel Beer.</p><p>For Adornado, the 1980 season gave him a new lease in life.</p><p>“I would say it was the turning point of my career,” added Adornado. “I worked so hard to regain my old form. “</p><p>“In fact, after winning the championship, I enrolled sa gym, and told myself, ‘Kaya ko siguro makuha ’yung MVP ulit.’ Kasi, nu’ng nag-MVP si Philip Cezar noong 1980, I was the first runner-up. Na-include ako sa Mythical 5. I was feeling well from my knee injury, almost 100 percent na ako.”</p><p>Adornado did just that as he claimed the MVP award in 1981. His remarkable comeback from a career-threatening injury also earned recognition from the PBA Press Corps as the group named the Comeback Player of the Year award after him.</p><p>From 1980 to 1983, Adornado led the league in 2-point field-goal percentage.</p><div><em>Rey Joble is a sports journalist who has been covering the PBA since 1998, and followed the league as a fan way before that. </em></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1836852" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Adornado's scoring output 41 years ago on November 23 should serve as a reminder of how potent a scorer the 3-time PBA MVP was.