Antonio Martínez (basketball)
Antonio Martínez (born 20 June 1926) is a Filipino former basketball player who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics and the 1952 Summer Olympics.[1]
'Pocholo' Martinez usually plays guard and was an outstanding hoopster who had seen action in the first Asian Games in New Delhi in 1951 and two World Olympics - 1948 London and 1952 Helsinki. [2] He played for De La Salle before the last war. It was during the war years that he took up the game. after liberation, Pocholo played for the San Beda junior team under coach Arturo Rius from whom he learned the fundamentals of basketball. There was no NCAA at that time so he played against American teams which belonged to the liberation forces.
He then transferred to University of Santo Tomas to take up commerce. In 1949, he played for PRATRA in the MICAA along with playing coach Gabby Fajardo and among others, Ning and Emy Ramos, Pong Bautista and Peping Tuason. In 1954, Martinez played for Philippine Air Lines, [3] and then stayed longer with the YCO Painters from 1955-1968 and by the time he retired, Pocholo figured in at least five championships.
References
- ↑ "Olympics". sports-reference. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ↑ 'Spar' bats for Asian basketball, Philippine Daily Inquirer
- ↑ Loyzaga, Hechanova in PSA basketball lineup, bitoball.wordpress.com