Jojo Lastimosa recalled his first taste of national team glory when he played for the Philippines in the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, South Korea and the 1987 Asian Basketball Confederation [ABC] Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, in the fifth episode of the An Eternity of Basketball podcast.
Lastimosa, who was already making waves with the powerhouse Mama's Love amateur basketball club in the PABL, was asked to join the tryouts conducted by head coach Joe Lipa of UP.
The tryouts were attended by hundreds of the best collegiate players in the country. This was a time when professionals were still barred by FIBA from participating in international competition.
"All the best amateur players were there. It wasn't like the lineup was already formed. It was really a tryout of the best collegiate players, since they were all there. So you're talking about Jerry (Codiñera), Allan (Caidic), (Elmer) Reyes, who were already famous in their own right in Manila," said Lastimosa.
It was there that he first met one of his future Purefoods teammates, Alvin Patrimonio, who was then still dominating for the Mapua Cardinals.
Unlike today, things were much more different for the collegiate stars. There were no sponsorships, and no free shoes. In fact, most of them owned only one pair for the whole year.
Lastimosa remembered that Patrimonio was already standing tall amongst the competition. Also creating noise were Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, and Ronnie Magsanoc, stars of Letran, UE, and UP, respectively.
Back then, Lastimosa recalled, the process of finding out who made the latest cut and who didn't was nerve-wracking for the aspirants
"We had to go to newspapers everyday and see who were left. Every morning, before sunrise, you had to look for a newspaper because you wanted to see if you were still there. I wanted to be there. I was kind of scared that I would be cut."
Luckily for Jolas, he made Lipa's team. He joined Eric Altamirano, Caidic, Glenn Capacio, Harmon and Jerry Codiñera, Lim, Patrimonio, Dindo Pumaren, Reyes, and Jack Tanuan.
Joe Lipa, opined Lastimosa, was the best amateur coach in the country at the time. It was also in that year when he led the UP Fighting Maroons to their first UAAP men's basketball title behind Finals MVP Altamirano, Magsanoc, and Benjie Paras.
Lipa, whom Jolas likened to the legendary Indiana University tactician Bobby Knight, said that he was the perfect mentor for that squad.
"We knew who Bobby Knight was, it was my way or the highway, and coach Joe was like that. But he really had good concepts during that time because I remember we had a game in Bangkok, I think it was ABC (Asian Basketball Conference, forerunner of FIBA-Asia). He had some really good game plans."
Lastimosa brought out one good example of Lipa's tactics, used against the huge Chinese in the semifinals of the tournament.
"We kind of made it into a zone or a match-up zone that would find a man to defend. So he had a definite defensive game plan back in the day." Lipa's game plan kept the Philippines close for almost the whole game. But Magsanoc missed a triple in the dying seconds, allowing China to escape with a tight 97-94 win.
That 1987 team finished fourth, the last time an all-amateur squad made the top four in the ABC.
The year before that, the country barged to the 1986 Asiad boasting one of the best collegiate lineups that the country had ever produced.
On Sept. 28, 1986, the Philippines faced the host South Koreans. The Filipinos sported a 2-2 record in comparison to the 5-1 host squad.
In the final moments of the game, the country had a chance to upset the opponents after the Filipinos picked off a long Korean pass in transition.
"I remember that play because I was watching on the bench. It was exciting. It was the most fun that I had so far during that time. The play was, I think we were down 1. And we were on defense," Lastimosa said.
"There was a two-against-one. And Allan (Caidic) was in transition on the right side or the left side. Allan had the ball on the wing. And guess who was on the other side? Samboy (Lim) was on the other side. All that Allan needed to do was to flick it to Samboy on the other side. I don't care if there was a seven-footer in front of him."
Caidic decided to call his own number and drove to the hoop. As Caidic recollected, he made a sidestep move but was called for charging.
The call would prove to be the costliest as it robbed the Philippines of the win, 103-102. South Korea would win silver, losing to China, 77-74, while the Philippines escaped Jordan, 83-81, in the bronze medal match.
That would be the last time the Philippines would send an all-amateur men's basketball team to the Asian Games. But the 1986 team certainly made its mark.