MACAU—San Miguel veteran Ronald Tubid has played for six teams in his 16-year career and spent nearly a decade with either the Beermen or Barangay Ginebra—the league’s most famous teams.
It’s no surprise that when the Beermen played in the East Asia Super League: The Terrific 12, Tubid was showered by love by Filipinos here.
Just sitting at the bench prompted rabid cheers from the Filipino fans and head coach Leo Austria obliged, fielding in Tubid late in the Beermen’s 101-92 win over Ryukyu Wednesday.
“He once played in Ginebra and that’s the most popular team in the PBA and he played there for quite a long time,” said Austria of Tubid, who has won nine PBA titles and played in seven All-Star games.
“He’s quite good and in his first year in the pro league he’s one of my players and he’s a very good player that’s why a lot of people chanted his name.”
As of 2019, Macau has a population of 642,551 people and 4.6 percent is Filipino and with most of the nearly 2,000 people who watched the game hailing from the Philippines San Miguel enjoyed a raucous de facto home crowd.
Not to disappoint the supporters, Tubid got into the game in the final minute with the game already decided.
Tubid bricked all four of his shots but he did get two offensive rebounds, both off his own miss.
Austria, though, promised that Tubid will be a regular fixture in the team once he gets into top shape.
“In the next games, he’ll be included in our regular rotation.”