Crispa legend Fortunato “Atoy” Co believes that they are better shooters and that the Redmanizers can compete against the current powerhouse teams in the Philippine Basketball Association.
“I’m a firm believer that we’re better shooters than the present great players,” Co said. “We’re more consistent than them. Before, when you are expected to score 20 points a game, you’re sure that you’ll get 20 every game and a lot of times more than the average. If ever our score would drop down below the average, it will only be two or three points less.”
“Now, players would score 20 points in one game and the next game they would score six points. We’re better shooters than them,” said Co, PBA’s Most Valuable Player in 1975 and the first player to reach 5,000 and 10,000 points.
Co, who graced Episode 2 of Daily Tribune’s Down to the Wire podcast alongside Ramon Cruz, said their ’83 grand slam squad can go head-to-head against the current powerhouse teams.
Cruz went far as saying they can come out on top.
“If same age level, we’re confident that we can even beat them. We have a very deep bench. Our first five, plus off-the-bench players like Yoyoy Villamin, Padim Israel, Bai Cristobal, myself, Romy Mamaril, Itoy Esguerra, (Tito) Varela, we have a very deep bench. Anybody can produce. Perhaps they can beat us in a series, but at the end of the game, we can beat them.”
That ‘83 grand slam team posted a 74 percent winning percentage and a 46-16 win-loss record, which is slightly lower than the 47-15 it posted in the 1976 season, the first time the franchise established its first triple crown in a season.
The Redmanizers own the 21-game winning streak record that remains untouched for 40 years.
