Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Alvin Vergara Patrimonio

Alvin Vergara Patrimonio (born November 17, 1966) was nicknamed "The Captain" and was a professional basketball player from the Philippines.

He played for the Mapúa Institute of Technology Cardinals in the NCAA from 1983 to 1986. He entered the PBA in 1988 as part of the illustrious quartet alongside 1988 Rookie of the Year Jojo Lastimosa, many-time Mythical Team and Best Defensive Team Member Jerry Codiñera and perennial Best Defensive Team Member Glenn Capacio.

He first played for Hope in the PABL (now known as the PBL). then he transferred to YCO and again to Swift wherein he give the franchise a championship before going to the pros but Swift delayed his pro debut because of some conflicts.

He played his entire career with the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs and won several championships, mostly in the PBA All Filipino Cup; he also played for the Philippine national team including the 1998 Philippine Centennial team.

Patrimonio holds several PBA records including most consecutive games played (596) and most PBA Most Valuable Player awards (4 tied with Ramon Fernandez). He was also the second player after Bogs Adornado to win back-to-back MVP awards in 1993-1994 and also the second player to win three Best Player of the Conference award after Vergel Meneses. He also shares the distinction of having played the most Asian Games (4) with 1990 PBA MVP Allan Caidic.

During his playing years in the PBA, Alvin found time to do movies. He first appeared as guest in the Mars Ravelo classic Bondying which starred Jimmy Santos. Then he was launched together with Jerry Codinera and Bong Alvarez in the film Last Two Minutes in 1990. The movie was a top-grosser at the box-office and spawned a sitcom of the same title aired over PTV-4. The Captain was also paired with Maricel Soriano in the remake of the Robert Jaworski/Nora Aunor film Dobol Dribol in 1992 and did Tasya Fantasya opposite Kris Aquino in 1994.

In 2004, 16 years after playing in the pro league, Patrimonio announced his retirement to concentrate more on his duties as the current team manager of the Purefoods franchise in the PBA. The best power forward in the annals of the PBA, he redefined the meaning of power forward as a prolific and phenomenal scorer ending his career as the league’s No. 3 scorer with 15,091 just behind all-time greats Ramon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben with 18,996 and 15,775, respectively.

On November 26, 2005, he played in the Legends 3-Point Shootout during the PBA All-Star in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. The game saw Patrimonio sink the very last money ball to prop the Legends, also composed of Ronnie Magsanoc and Frankie Lim, to a 41-39 win over the young Turks of Jimmy Alapag, Ren-Ren Ritualo and Dondon Hontiveros.

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