(From Inbound Pass)
HE IS not mentioned in discussions of the greatest centers in Philippine basketball history. However, Edward “Poch” Juinio had a solid, if unspectacular, UAAP career and reached heights other players can only dream of in the professional league. After a long and successful run playing the country’s most popular sport, as Poch calls it a career, let us take a glimpse at his path to grand slam greatness.
Surprisingly, basketball was not an early interest for Poch. He wasn’t that tall early-on, and was far from the big man he became. Studying at La Salle Greenhills (former stomping grounds of UAAP stars Eric Reyes and Joey Guanio, among others) from Prep to High School, Poch only started playing basketball when he was in 2nd year, for the aspirants team under LSGH Coach Cavestany. This was largely because, by that time, he already stood 5’11.
Things started looking up, literally, when Poch entered 3rd year High School – over the summer, he had grown four inches! As a 6’3 junior center for Coach Tatang Mendoza, he started dominating the competition in different leagues like PRADA, MMBL, PAYA, and a host of other “street leagues”, as Poch refers to them. By the time he reached his 4th year, he was 6’4 and shooting over all his competition. He ended his High School career under Coaches Norman dela Cruz and former University of the Philippines back-up center Chris Somera.
The year after, 1991, Poch made his debut for the UP Fighting Maroons. The coach of UP was Rey Madrid, former assistant to legend Joe Lipa, who then was already the head coach for the A&W team in the PBL, where Madrid was an assistant. There was not much fanfare upon the entry of Poch in the Seniors division, but he proved to be quite an addition to the Maroons – a tall, intelligent and agile big man, who played good defense and could hit a mid-range jumper.
Although the Maroons did not perform as well as the UP faithful wanted during the three years Poch was with them (1991-1993), the team was known to be tenacious, with a very high basketball IQ. In fact, many of the former teammates of Poch at UP went on to become coaches at different levels – Ryan Gregorio of Purefoods in the PBA, Bo Perasol of Coca-Cola in the PBA, Lito Vergara, who coached his alma mater from 2003 to 2005 and now coaches Xavier School, with a stint as an assistant at Jose Rizal University of the NCAA, and Patrick Aquino, who also once coached at Xavier School and is the RP women’s youth team mentor. Poch remembers his teammates fondly, and aside from those who became coaches already mentioned, Poch remembers Jasper Javier, Lino Ong, Tata Marata (father of current DLSU swingman Joseph Marata), Alfie Manlulo, Harlan Yu, one-time UAAP Rookie of the Year Paul Du, and his closest “barkadas” on the team, Ian Sanchez and Marvin Panganiban, the son of former Purefoods Team Manager and Department of Agriculture Secretary Ding Panganiban. He considers his UP days as the best of his life, which says a lot, considering his great success after leaving UP.
After his freshman year, Poch got the chance to play for Joe Lipa at A&W in the PBL. He was supposed to play for the RP Youth Team, but unfortunately contracted Hepatitis-A only a week before the team was scheduled to leave for abroad to compete, and had to give up his slot.
Poch had not finished his BS Tourism course at UP when the pro ranks came calling. Alaska Coach Tim Cone himself asked Poch to join the 1994 PBA Draft, where Alaska went on to select him with the fifth pick of the 1st round, just one slot ahead of fellow Alaska-draftee Merwin Castelo of San Sebastian. This marked the beginning of a long and successful career in the PBA, where Poch was a big part of several championship teams, including the 1996 Grand Slam-winning roster of the Milkmen. Throughout his stint with Alaska, Poch played the part of the perfect tip of the triangle offense that Cone ran, being a smart passer and good screen-setter, freeing up shooters like Jojo Lastimosa, Jeffrey Cariaso and former King Tamaraw Johnny Abbarientos. He was a decent rebounder, an above-average shot-blocker and, when needed, could score consistently from the perimeter or inside from drop passes or on put-backs. He was also a good free-throw shooter, a big asset for a center in the PBA.
All in all, Poch was a part of twelve championship teams in the PBA, and was named the Most Improved Player in 1996 and Finals MVP in the 2000 All-Filipino Conference. He played for Alaska from 1994 to 2000, and was traded to Pop Cola (Now Coca-Cola) in 2001. He had a short stint with Talk ‘N Text, before heading back to Alaska, which Poch refers to as his “home team”, staying with them for six more conferences before leaving his pro career behind in 2009.
Poch remembers the big men during his UAAP days, like Dennis Espino of UST, Jun Limpot of De La Salle, and Marlou Aquino and EJ Feihl of Adamson University. He recalls having a difficult time guarding Aquino and Feihl simply because “they were so tall and long”. In the PBA, he considers four-time MVP and former Mapua standout Alvin Patrimonio as the toughest opponent to guard simply because he was so talented, and he remembers difficult matchups against bull-strong Nelson Asaytono and Danny Seigle. His close friends in the pros were all his long-time Alaska teammates, Billy Mamaril, former UST player Gerard Francisco, John Ferriols, and current Alaska big man Reynel Hugnatan.
As for the ongoing championship series in the ‘09-‘10 PBA Philippine Cup between his home team and Purefoods, Poch anticipates a long, grueling series, at least six games. He sees that Hugnatan and Sonny Thoss are great at making the triangle offense work. Thoss, Poch says, has matured immensely and the game of Hugnatan has expanded so much from when Hugnatan started his PBA career.
Poch still occasionally watches the UAAP games, and he says that the training is significantly changed from his era, now that the approach is very scientific and training methods, such as plyometrics, are already used by such young players. He believes that it is much harder to have a basketball career nowadays since there are so many tall, strong, quick players with so much talent and athletic ability, as well as the proper training. He remembers that, in contrast, he learned most of his moves during street pickup games.
As for the impact and effect of being part of the ’96 Grand Slam Alaska team, Poch says that he did not realize the greatness of that team until recently, as his career was winding down. People still remember him as the center of Alaska during that great run, and he is very proud to have been a big part of it.
Nowadays, Poch, 36, dabbles in buy and sell, and takes great pleasure in working with Air Safari, which recently sponsored the 15th Hot Air Balloon Festival in Clark, Pampanga. He has two children, a boy and girl, and enjoys spending time with them, going out of town, especially to the beach. He will always have basketball in his life, and he is very much interested to try his hand at coaching, although he prefers to be an assistant coach as he considers a head coaching job too tough to handle at this point. His brainy manner of play and his declaration of interest to coach will surely get him some offers in the near future.
Such is the basketball story, so far, of Edward G. Juinio – the reluctant player who reached the top of the Philippine basketball world time and again. Bigger and more powerful centers in the UAAP and PBA, there were many. But Poch had a solid college career, emerging as a first round draft pick, was part of some of the greatest teams in pro history, and played his part in the triangle offense to perfection. For him, the team always came first and he was glad to play his part in a quiet, professional manner.
HE IS not mentioned in discussions of the greatest centers in Philippine basketball history. However, Edward “Poch” Juinio had a solid, if unspectacular, UAAP career and reached heights other players can only dream of in the professional league. After a long and successful run playing the country’s most popular sport, as Poch calls it a career, let us take a glimpse at his path to grand slam greatness.
Surprisingly, basketball was not an early interest for Poch. He wasn’t that tall early-on, and was far from the big man he became. Studying at La Salle Greenhills (former stomping grounds of UAAP stars Eric Reyes and Joey Guanio, among others) from Prep to High School, Poch only started playing basketball when he was in 2nd year, for the aspirants team under LSGH Coach Cavestany. This was largely because, by that time, he already stood 5’11.
Things started looking up, literally, when Poch entered 3rd year High School – over the summer, he had grown four inches! As a 6’3 junior center for Coach Tatang Mendoza, he started dominating the competition in different leagues like PRADA, MMBL, PAYA, and a host of other “street leagues”, as Poch refers to them. By the time he reached his 4th year, he was 6’4 and shooting over all his competition. He ended his High School career under Coaches Norman dela Cruz and former University of the Philippines back-up center Chris Somera.
The year after, 1991, Poch made his debut for the UP Fighting Maroons. The coach of UP was Rey Madrid, former assistant to legend Joe Lipa, who then was already the head coach for the A&W team in the PBL, where Madrid was an assistant. There was not much fanfare upon the entry of Poch in the Seniors division, but he proved to be quite an addition to the Maroons – a tall, intelligent and agile big man, who played good defense and could hit a mid-range jumper.
Although the Maroons did not perform as well as the UP faithful wanted during the three years Poch was with them (1991-1993), the team was known to be tenacious, with a very high basketball IQ. In fact, many of the former teammates of Poch at UP went on to become coaches at different levels – Ryan Gregorio of Purefoods in the PBA, Bo Perasol of Coca-Cola in the PBA, Lito Vergara, who coached his alma mater from 2003 to 2005 and now coaches Xavier School, with a stint as an assistant at Jose Rizal University of the NCAA, and Patrick Aquino, who also once coached at Xavier School and is the RP women’s youth team mentor. Poch remembers his teammates fondly, and aside from those who became coaches already mentioned, Poch remembers Jasper Javier, Lino Ong, Tata Marata (father of current DLSU swingman Joseph Marata), Alfie Manlulo, Harlan Yu, one-time UAAP Rookie of the Year Paul Du, and his closest “barkadas” on the team, Ian Sanchez and Marvin Panganiban, the son of former Purefoods Team Manager and Department of Agriculture Secretary Ding Panganiban. He considers his UP days as the best of his life, which says a lot, considering his great success after leaving UP.
After his freshman year, Poch got the chance to play for Joe Lipa at A&W in the PBL. He was supposed to play for the RP Youth Team, but unfortunately contracted Hepatitis-A only a week before the team was scheduled to leave for abroad to compete, and had to give up his slot.
Poch had not finished his BS Tourism course at UP when the pro ranks came calling. Alaska Coach Tim Cone himself asked Poch to join the 1994 PBA Draft, where Alaska went on to select him with the fifth pick of the 1st round, just one slot ahead of fellow Alaska-draftee Merwin Castelo of San Sebastian. This marked the beginning of a long and successful career in the PBA, where Poch was a big part of several championship teams, including the 1996 Grand Slam-winning roster of the Milkmen. Throughout his stint with Alaska, Poch played the part of the perfect tip of the triangle offense that Cone ran, being a smart passer and good screen-setter, freeing up shooters like Jojo Lastimosa, Jeffrey Cariaso and former King Tamaraw Johnny Abbarientos. He was a decent rebounder, an above-average shot-blocker and, when needed, could score consistently from the perimeter or inside from drop passes or on put-backs. He was also a good free-throw shooter, a big asset for a center in the PBA.
All in all, Poch was a part of twelve championship teams in the PBA, and was named the Most Improved Player in 1996 and Finals MVP in the 2000 All-Filipino Conference. He played for Alaska from 1994 to 2000, and was traded to Pop Cola (Now Coca-Cola) in 2001. He had a short stint with Talk ‘N Text, before heading back to Alaska, which Poch refers to as his “home team”, staying with them for six more conferences before leaving his pro career behind in 2009.
Poch remembers the big men during his UAAP days, like Dennis Espino of UST, Jun Limpot of De La Salle, and Marlou Aquino and EJ Feihl of Adamson University. He recalls having a difficult time guarding Aquino and Feihl simply because “they were so tall and long”. In the PBA, he considers four-time MVP and former Mapua standout Alvin Patrimonio as the toughest opponent to guard simply because he was so talented, and he remembers difficult matchups against bull-strong Nelson Asaytono and Danny Seigle. His close friends in the pros were all his long-time Alaska teammates, Billy Mamaril, former UST player Gerard Francisco, John Ferriols, and current Alaska big man Reynel Hugnatan.
As for the ongoing championship series in the ‘09-‘10 PBA Philippine Cup between his home team and Purefoods, Poch anticipates a long, grueling series, at least six games. He sees that Hugnatan and Sonny Thoss are great at making the triangle offense work. Thoss, Poch says, has matured immensely and the game of Hugnatan has expanded so much from when Hugnatan started his PBA career.
Poch still occasionally watches the UAAP games, and he says that the training is significantly changed from his era, now that the approach is very scientific and training methods, such as plyometrics, are already used by such young players. He believes that it is much harder to have a basketball career nowadays since there are so many tall, strong, quick players with so much talent and athletic ability, as well as the proper training. He remembers that, in contrast, he learned most of his moves during street pickup games.
As for the impact and effect of being part of the ’96 Grand Slam Alaska team, Poch says that he did not realize the greatness of that team until recently, as his career was winding down. People still remember him as the center of Alaska during that great run, and he is very proud to have been a big part of it.
Nowadays, Poch, 36, dabbles in buy and sell, and takes great pleasure in working with Air Safari, which recently sponsored the 15th Hot Air Balloon Festival in Clark, Pampanga. He has two children, a boy and girl, and enjoys spending time with them, going out of town, especially to the beach. He will always have basketball in his life, and he is very much interested to try his hand at coaching, although he prefers to be an assistant coach as he considers a head coaching job too tough to handle at this point. His brainy manner of play and his declaration of interest to coach will surely get him some offers in the near future.
Such is the basketball story, so far, of Edward G. Juinio – the reluctant player who reached the top of the Philippine basketball world time and again. Bigger and more powerful centers in the UAAP and PBA, there were many. But Poch had a solid college career, emerging as a first round draft pick, was part of some of the greatest teams in pro history, and played his part in the triangle offense to perfection. For him, the team always came first and he was glad to play his part in a quiet, professional manner.
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