PBA to honor Dalupan via "final buzzer" tribute

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--A special tribute will be made by the PBA on Sunday for legendary coach Virgilio "Baby" Dalupan, who passed away on Wednesday.

[Related Story: PH basketball loses pillar as Dalupan passes away]

The horn at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City will be honked in between the scheduled doubleheader at the said arena as a "final buzzer" homage to the "Maestro", who won a total of 52 titles in the collegiate and the club ranks.

Commissioner Chito Narvasa, current Mapua coach Atoy Co, current La Salle assistant coach Allan Caidic, and current Star team manager and NU big man coach Alvin Patrimonio are expected to grace the event to represent three generations of Dalupan tutelage.

Narvasa once played for Dalupan with Ateneo, helping their alma mater squad win the 1974 and the 1976 NCAA titles, while Co starred under Dalupan in the Crispa club that won nine PBA titles with the fabled mentor, including the 1976 Grand Slam.

Caidic, who was actually convinced by Dalupan to join UE en route to back-to-back UAAP titles in 1984 and 1985, the last times the school won it all in the said collegiate league, played under the legendary gaffer for Great Taste in his rookie season in 1987, eventually helping the club win the Philippine Cup, then the All-Filipino Cup, plum.

Patrimonio was part of the Purefoods franchise's first PBA championship in the 1990 Third Conference, which happened to be Dalupan's 15th and last title in the league, the second-most number of championships by a coach.

Blackwater collides with Mahindra in the curtain-raiser at 4:30 p.m., while Tim Cone, who would become the PBA's winningest coach title-wise after winning the 16th of his 18 plums in 2014 with the same Star Hotshots squad, looks to bring Ginebra back to its winning ways after a loss to San Miguel last week in its 6:45 p.m. match against Rain Or Shine.

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