MANILA, 27 December 2002 — It’s Miller time, indeed.
Willie Miller, the flashy point guard of Red Bull, won the coveted 2002 Most Valuable Player (MVP) trophy in what could well be a major surprise in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) annual awards.
Known for his acrobatic plays and unpredictability, Miller became the first guard in six years to win the league’s highest individual award following the footsteps of Johnny Abarrientos who first did the trick in 1996.
Four other guards who won the MVP honors were Robert Jaworski in 1978, Atoy Co in 1979, Ricky Brown in 1985 and Ato Agustin in 1992.
Interestingly, the 5-foot-10 Miller became only the fifth first pick to win the award. The first four were Venancio Paras in 1989 and 1999, Allan Caidic in 1990, Vergel Meneses in 1995 and Danny Ildefonso in 2000 and 2001.
Miller also earned the distinction as the second fastest player to win the award following Paras who was both MVP and Rookie of the Year in 1989.
Aptly called “Thriller” in the PBA, Miller won the award at the expense of a dominating Fil-American teammate and the sentimental choice of players who wanted the trophy to go to a homegrown talent.
Miller amassed the needed votes to beat teammate Davonn Harp, the leader in the statistical race.
“I’m not expecting this award,” said the sophomore playmaker who led the Thunder to a successful title-retention bid in the Commissioner’s Cup and a fourth-place finish in the All-Filipino Cup.
“I would also like to share this award to my co-players, especially my teammates, Red Bull team management, the PBA fans and my lucky charms , my wife Kate and daughter Alex,” said the flamboyant 25-year-old cager.
Of course, the outcome came as a big surprise to many who thought that Harp already had the lock on the award.
It would have been the pinnacle in a progression of achievements for Harp who bagged Rookie of the Year honors in 2000 and then made the Mythical First Five last year.
He beat Harp mainly due to an overwhelming media vote (38) that earned him 4,956 points as and more than compensated for the mere six votes from PBA players.
The 6-foot-9 Fil-Am Harp wound up with 3,149 points anchored on 1,206 SPs.
Talk N’ Text’s Victor Pablo got 17 players to vote for him for an equivalent of 1,493 points but could only wind up third in the derby with 2,497.
Miller also garnered three of the four votes (good for 1,500 points) of the special four-man panel composed of representatives of broadcast franchise holder Viva Sports, the Philippine Sportswriters Association, the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines and the PBA Press Photographers Association. This more than compensated for the mere six votes from PBA players.
Harp, who was the leader in statistical points – 1,206 to Miller’s 1,017, received only five votes from sportswriters and although he received 9 player votes compared to the six of Miller and the 15 of Pablo, he was routed in the end by his teammate who had a total of 8,000 points as against 3,149.
Yet many believe that Miller’s superlative performance in the losing cause of Red Bull in Game 3 of the semifinal series of the All-Filipino Cup against Alaska in a game where he brought fans to their feet by his eye-popping moves to the basket may have actually earned him his MVP plum.
Likewise, Miller became the first player to not have averaged in double figures (9.8 ppg) in his MVP season. He also had the fewest starts, having started in just 14 of Red Bull’s 46 games this year.
Curiously, too, Miller won the MVP without winning a best-player-of-the-conference honors in the season.
His average playing time of 26.13 minutes and production of 9.8 points in the season are both lowest by any MVP winner. He also averaged 3.6 points, 3.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.2 block. He started for Red Bull in only 14 games.
The award also turned out to be a vindication of sort for Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao, whose decision to make the son of a US serviceman from Olongapo City the top pick of the 2001 rookie draft was met with derision, especially after Miller struggled in his rookie season.
That changed, though, as soon as Miller settled down in Red Bull’s system and became a vital cog in the team’s two championships while endearing himself to fans with his flamboyant moves and exciting game.
A product of Letran, Miller was the No. 1 pick in the rookie draft last year and he immediately created an impact by helping the Thunder capture their first-ever title.
But unfortunately Miller lost the Rookie of the Year honors to Barangay Ginebra’s Fil-American Mark Caguioa because the former came from the other professional league, the now defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, playing for the Nueva Ecija Patriots under coach Joe Lipa.
He could have joined the PBA outright in 1999 when Tanduay Rhum was accepted as a member of the pro league.
A mainstay of the Rhummasters in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL), Tanduay had hoped to include him among one of six players who would be elevated directly to the PBA. But Miller went to Nueva Ecija instead much to the dismay of then Tanduay Rhum coach Alfrancis Chua.
Actually, not a few thought he should have been a good choice for the Philippine team in the recent Busan Asian Games.
Joining Miller in the Mythical First Team are Harp, Jeffrey Cariaso of Coca-Cola, Don Allado of Alaska Milk, and Pablo.
Making up the Second Team are Paul Asi Taulava and Gilbert Demape of Talk ‘N’Text, Rey Evangelista and Kerby Raymundo of Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs and Nic Belasco of San Miguel. Ren-ren Ritualo was named Rookie of the Year beating FedEx teammate Yancy de Ocampo, Coca-Cola’s Leonides Avenido and Shell Velocity’s Edwin Bacani. Ritualo was the lowest picked player to win the Rookie of the Year plum since Gerry Esplana won the same award in 1990.
Ritualo was No. 8 pick of FedEx and Esplana No. 9 of Sta. Lucia.
Rob Duat won the Most Improved Player honors and Paolo Mendoza, the top pick of the 2000 Draft, gained the Sportsmanship Award.
Duat, who was acquired by Alaska Milk from San Miguel at the start of the Commissioner’s Cup, became the fifth Alaska player to win the Most Improved award. The first was Ricky Relosa in 1986, Yoyoy Villamin in 1987, Bong Hawkins in 1994 and Poch Juinio in 1996.
Chris Jackson, a perennial defensive player awardee, led the year’s All-Defensive Team which included Harp, Rudy Hatfield, Jeffrey Cariaso and Rey Evangelista.
Jackson made it to the team for the fifth straight season and seventh in all, tying the feats of Yoyoy Villamin and Chito Loyzaga at third place behind Jerry Codiñera (nine) and Glen Capacio (eight).
Earlier, Cariaso was voted runaway Best Player of the All-Filipino Cup.
Media votes were a big factor in Cariaso winning over the likes of Harp and Miller, Ildefonso and San Miguel teammate Dorian Pena, Peek, Taulava and teammate Rudy Hatfield.
Cariaso, who was only third in statistical points, garnered 1180 points from 50 media votes for a grand total of 2,721 points.
The 1995 Rookie of the Year also got 627 points from players, 600 points from a four-man committee made up of representatives from the television coveror, SCOOP, PSA and PBA photographers, not to mention his 314 statistical points.
Harp, who was named best player in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup, wound up second with 691 points. Taulava was third, only eight points behind the Red Bull center.
Cariaso, 30, was voted into the league’s Second Mythical Team in 1996 and 2000 and was in the First Mythical Selection in 1999.
He boosted his stock by norming averages of 19.2 points, second only to Taulava’s 21.3, shot 39.2 percent from beyond the arc, had 3.3 rebounds and as many assists, and also had a steal a game.
