EVERY now and then, a top prospect emerges from nowhere and catches the fancy of basketball fans perpetually on the lookout for the next big star.
Back in the late eighties, not one, not two, not three but an entire team of bright basketball prospects were introduced, en masse, to Manila fans by way of the Mama's Love team in the old Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL).
The selection of standouts from Cebu's commercial and collegiate leagues took the PABL by storm, packing the Rizal Memorial Coliseum each game both with loyal fans from the South and new fans captivated by its unique brand of basketball.
Boy Cabahug: A champion in basketball, a winner in life
"Para kaming Ginebra noong araw," says Elmer Cabahug, looking back on those days when Mama's Love games meant mostly Bisaya fans lining up along Vito Cruz in Manila for tickets and a chance to see a team they consider their own.
Cabahug was just one of a handful of rising stars who were part of what started as a touring team handpicked from Cebu's top universities and formed initially to promote the products of IPI (International Pharmaceuticals, Inc.).
That Mama's Love team was like a traveling circus touring Visayas and Mindanao playing exhibition games against local teams as part of fiesta celebrations.
"Kapag fiesta sa isang bayan, andun kami," says Cabahug, "Lahat yata ng sulok ng Visayas at Mindanao, napuntahan namin."
The decision to bring the team to the Big City to compete in the 1985 PABL season turned out to be a master stroke, introducing a talented batch of promising players from the South to a whole, new national audience.
Anchoring the team were veterans Larry Villanil, Boy Bayona and Jojo Lastimosa's older brother Danny Lastimosa, all from University of Southern Philippines Foundation. From University of Visayas were guard Jerry Aratan, Jesus Yuson, and Cabahug; from Southwestern University were the late Ricric Marata and Paul Maninang; while from University of San Jose-Recoletos were Zaldy Realubit, Titing Manalili, Paul Abais, and of course Jojo Lastimosa.
Lastimosa's was a different story. The spike-haired guard from Cagayan de Oro had a previous stint in Manila playing for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP under Chito Narvasa but mostly flew under the radar, struggling with his studies and the structured play in the Big City leagues.
Jolas went back to Cebu and enrolled at USJ-R and was talked into playing for Mama's Love when he visited brother Danny in practice. Practicing twice a day with USJ-R and Mama's Love and the challenge of trying to keep up with his veteran teammates brought the best out of Lastimosa.
"When I went back [to Manila with Mama's Love], I was a different player," Lastimosa says. Asked what led to the change, he says, "I just got stronger."
Lastimosa 2.0, blessed with newfound confidence, a more consistent jumper and muscled legs that enabled him to jump out of the building, stood at the forefront of that Mama's Love team that made a splash in its Manila debut.
Mama's Love placed third in that 1985 PABL Invitationals behind Lagerlite (Magnolia) and ESQ Marketing (forerunner of Sta. Lucia) which won the championship under Joe Lipa, but you won't notice that from the hordes of fans who watched the games chanting the names of Lastimosa and Co.
"Until then, di ko alam na ganon pala kadami ang mga Bisaya sa Maynila," Jolas, named the tournament MVP, says laughing.
Like a shooting star, however, Mama's Love's amazing streak proved fleeting. After a runner-up finish to an Army team coached by cage great Charlie Badion in the 1985 PABL Challenge to Champions, the Cebu team's shine faded as its players moved to other teams in the then amateur league.
READ: How Boss Danding revived amateur basketball through the PABL
Cabahug, Realubit, and Marata moved to RFM Swift while Lastimosa transferred to Lhuilier which, he says, offered him a pay of P6,000 a month at the end of his Mama's Love contract that paid P1,200 a month plus food and lodging.
While other Mama's Love holdovers played for coach Jun Noel at the rebranded Casino Rubbing Alcohol, Jolas famously teamed up with Samboy Lim and led the Cebu-based squad to the championship in the 1986 PABL Invitational Cup.
Mama's Love's run was brief, but it's legacy lived on in the careers of the players it helped launch.
Jolas won Rookie of the Year honors (1988), 10 championships including a grand slam with Alaska, became a PBA Finals MVP and a Mythical Team member thrice, and was part of the bronze-winning Philippine teams in the 1986 and 1998 Asian Games.
Cabahug played 10 seasons in the PBA where he distinguished himself as one of the league's best scorers ever; Realubit was the third pick overall in the 1989 PBA draft, played 14 pro seasons and was a member of the Robert Jaworski-led Philippine team that won silver in the 1990 Asiad in Beijing.
Villanil was a first-round pick of Anejo (now Ginebra) in 1990 and played six seasons in the pro league while Marata, like Cabahug and Realubit, was a member of that great 1989 draft class, playing nine seasons in the PBA. He died in 2010.
These Mama's Love players are long retired, but their ties to basketball remain. Jolas is the coach of TNT in the PBA; Realubit served as a top official in the MPBL; Cabahug had a successful run as coach of his alma mater UV; Villanil and Manalili are still active as coaches, and so is Aratan who is now based in Cavite.
But most of all, these players will forever be bound by that short but unforgettable campaign with Mama's Love in the PABL, where, individually they made a name for themselves in the national stage, and collectively they reinforced Cebu's stature as the country's basketball hotbed.
"Thankful kami for the breaks and the memories," Cabahug says. "Di na namin makakalimutan 'yon."
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