His name may tell one to be careful when dealing with him, but Luke Atacador is as harmless and gentle as they come. Atacador, which in English means "attacker," is a Filipino-Australian and was in town recently not to do harm but to try out for the Gilas Pilipinas U-16 team.
Those who conducted the tryouts were impressed. He could easily be a member of the team with his talent. But it did not happen. The young man was overaged by three months and is officially 17 years old.
But Atacador may still be part of the national team, this time with the 18-under squad, that is if he decides to return in December and try out again.
The young Aussie, whose mother and father are Filipinos, definitely earned a lot of notice with his 5-11 height and strong fundamentals when he was here. One of those who showed interest was Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin, who, SPIN.ph sources say, invited Luke to practice for a week with the Blue Eagles.
Another interested person was Dioceldo Sy, owner of the Blackwater team in the PBA, who watched Atcador's workout in the company of Bossing coaches Jeff Cariaso and Aris Dimaunahan.
Another positive factor going for Atacador was a report that he was able to obtain a Philippine passport before he turned 16, which would make him eligible as a local in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments and other international competitions.
The family is based in Melbourne where he’s studying under the Victoria State program.
Luke's parents have expressed a desire to see their son play in the Philippines and enrol in a local college. But it appears many Australian colleges and teams also want him to play in his adopted country.
After watching Atacador, Sy said he thinks the young man will be bigger than Jimmy Alapag, who once played for the Blackwater team owner when he brought in the Blu Fil-Am team that played in the 1997 PBL VizMin Cup.
Saying Atacador could be the next Alapag might be pushing it too far as the Fil-Aussie has yet to play a single serious game in the country. But being one who could be trusted to distinguish a good player from bad, Sy could be right.
But only time can tell.
MPBL lease on life for Cabaggie career?
CONVERGE announced on Monday the retirement of veteran point guard Alex Cabagnot.
Though there are conflicting reports about why he retired, what is undeniable is that Converge no longer has a spot for the veteran player who, at age 42, may not fit in the FiberXers' plan to have a team of young, fast and aggressive players.
But it's not the end of basketball for Cabagnot, who is bringing his years of experience to the Univeristy of the East where he is expeected to join the coaching staff of his good friend Chris Gavina, recently appointed head coach of the Red Warriors.
But then again, there is also talk that Cabagnot does not want to retire and may see action with a new team in another league.
SPIN.ph sources say that a couple of teams in the MPBL are interested in hiring Cabagnot and one team has already started negotiating with the veteran player's representative.
After all, Cabagnot is not your ordinary player. He is a nine-time PBA champion with San Miguel and his experience plus his expected mentorship of a team's young players will be a big plus for an MPBL team.
Last word on McCullough
CHRIS McCullough had a rejoinder to last week’s ‘Sources Say’ item about him being baffled on why he never got a call from SMB to play as import in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The import disputed the story in the comment section, asking who’s ‘the sources’ and then stating why would ‘I be baffled?’
“This isn’t true news.’
Well, we respect the opinion of Mr. McCullough if he says so.
But we’re also standing pat on our story which we got from our source who’s been one of the most reliable in the sports industry through the years. We talked to the person again following the import’s comment, and he reaffirmed SPIN.ph's report.
It’s been six years since McCullough played for San Miguel, which he led to the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup championship by upsetting the heavily favored TNT Tropang Giga whwich was reinforced by his fellow former NBA player Terrence Jones.
Despite him being a major factor in winning the championship, San Miguel somehow mysteriously never asked the American to play for the team again. Whether it's because SMB is worried about McCullough's past ACL injury or some unknown things about his recent past, no one knows and it's because the team has never commented about the player.
The 30-year-old McCullough came to the Philippines twice since leaving San Miguel. Both times when he was brought in by Strong Group Athletics (SGA) to play in last year’s Jones Cup and in the 34th Dubai Invitational basketball tournament last month.
People are not only wondering why McCullough was not rehired by San Miguel, they are also asking why no PBA team has expressed interest in him despite his sterling credentials and also considering that he has become a free agent.
Isn’t that baffling?
No Mo-re
MO Tounkara's days at the University of Santo Tomas are numbered.
Sources close to the situation bared that the Growling Tigers’ brass are dissatisfied with the Malian center's attitude and the team is seriously considering other options moving forward.
One reason UST is no longer hot on its student import is that Tounkara has not showed up in UST since the turn of the new year. He reportedly recently tried out for the Malian national team for the February window of the 2025 Fiba Afrobasket qualifiers but did not make the cut.
Top bosses from the Growling Tigers have been unhappy with Tounkara’s sometimes 'unreasonable requests' which the school didn't specify. Losing the Malian, however, will be a big deal. The 6-foot-8 banger posted quality numbers in UST's Final Four drive in UAAP Season 87, where he averaged 13.4 points and 10.7 rebounds.
COLUMN: Mo Tounkara still part of UST Tigers' plans for next season?
Luckily for UST, there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Peter Osang is still practicing with the team, although the skills of the 6-foot-7 Nigerian are entirely different as he is more of an athletic winger compared to Tounkara’s more traditional big man game.
Insiders added that the Growling Tigers are also looking at other foreign student-athletes who could take care of the paint. At the same time, coach Pido Jarencio wants to give a fitting farewell to his graduating leaders Nic Cabanero and Forthsky Padrigao come UAAP Season 88 and he could only do this if his team is solid and has a reliable center and rim protector.
Can he get his wish on time?
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