With his stocky frame, Pasay Voyagers guard Elvin Chan always felt there were doubts on whether or not he deserves to be playing in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.
The jokes, Chan said, went as far as suggesting that he should be playing in a “chubby league” a recreational tournament for players with a height limit and weight restriction.
That only served as motivation for the former Laguna Heroes player, who shed a few pounds during the off-season before getting a fresh start with Pasay under coach Marlon Martin.
“To those people who are saying that I should be in the chubby league, they are my motivation to show what kind of player I am,” said Chan in Fiipino.
Only in his second game for the Voyagers, Chan came up big down the stretch, scoring seven of his 11 points in overtime as Pasay prevailed over Muntinlupa, 76-75, last Saturday night at Muntinlupa Sports Complex.
Jan Jamon finished with 15 points and Dhon Reverente chipped in 10 as the Voyagers improved to 2-0, while sending the Cagers to their second straight defeat.
Earlier, Harold Arboleda notched the 22nd double-double of his MPBL career to power Zamboanga past the debuting Sta. Lucia Pasig Realtors, 82-69.
Arboleda, a hard-nosed swingman who also had a brief PBA career, tallied 11 points and 16 rebounds, while Robin Roño chipped in 16, including four three-pointers, for Zamboanga, which evened its record to 1-1.
The loss spoiled the MPBL debut of former PBA first round pick Jeric Teng, who picked up 17 points for the Realtors.
Teng played a couple of seasons with Rain or Shine in the PBA and, despite glittering collegiate credentials with the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, never found his place in Asia’s pioneering cage league.
Teng came close to winning a UAAP title in his last year as a Tiger, only to lose to La Salle.