MERALCO Bolts guard Antonio Jose “Anjo” Caram’s career game against NorthPort Batang Pier was not just a personal milestone for the Ilonggo guard but also a league record.
According to PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon, Caram, who is officially measured at 5-6 3/4, carved his name in PBA history books as the shortest player to score 30 points in a game.
The former San Beda University Red Lion drained 11 of his 15 attempts from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. He scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone to match his previous career-best of 16.
“I’m happy for him because he works very hard in practice. He’s a guy who has a great attitude, comes to work every day, doesn’t complain about anything,” Bolts head coach Norman Black said.
He added: “When we play him two minutes, when we play him 30 minutes, it doesn’t make any difference, he always gives his best so you have to be happy for a guy like that.”
“I think you could see the response of his teammates when he was making shots, everybody on the team was very happy for him,” said Black.
Caram’s offensive explosion helped the Bolts keep their winning streak at five and improved at 8-2 overall for a tie with NLEX Road Warriors on top of the standings with a week to go before the end of the eliminations.
“Focus lang ako this game kiasi ‘yung role ko sia team is to relieve Baser and nagkataon na this game, I was taking lang what the defense was giving me,” said the Iloilo City native Caram.
“Yung role ko talaga hindi naman to score kasi andaming scorers namin eh so credit na rin sa teammates ko na pagdino-double sila, napapasa sa akin and thank you kay Lord, kasi sinu-shoot ko naman,” he added.
“Part of the job ko naman, syempre as a role player, everytime na ipasok ka, kailangan ibigay mo yung best mo, magbigay ka ng energy,” he said.
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Four weeks into the 2019-2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, Filipino hoops fans will finally be able to see the games via national free-to-air channel CNN Philippines starting yesterday.
NBA Philippines managing director Carlo Singson said CNN Philippines will televise select games and feature highlights across their various news programs including Sports Desk and News Night.
“Weekends just got better with the return of live NBA games on national television through CNN Philippines,” said Singson.
“Filipino fans now have a choice of watching our games across a variety of platforms including television, computers and mobile devices via social media and NBA League Pass,” he added.
CNN Philippines is available on free-to-air television on Channel 5 for Zamboanga, Channel 8 for Bacolod, Channel 9 for Manila, Cebu and Davao, and Channel 12 for Baguio, while cable subscribers can check with their local providers for more information on channel listing./PN
