Birthday Greetings to Zaldy Latoza ( Dec 11 )

Zaldy Latoza never left the basketball scene. Sure, after he was waived by Tanduay last year, he went back to his hometown, Lubao, Pampanga to hibernate and think things out. But after a while, he got bored. He received word from Army coach Charlie Badion saying that the Jungle Fighters were interested in hiring him for the Philippine Amateur Basketball League. With the Jungle Fighters, Latoza proved his true worth. Army captured the PABL Challenge to Champions title by beating Mama's Love in two games. Latoza was Army's most outstanding player. Fact is, he could have made it as Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Immediately after the tournament, several PBA teams signified their intentions of getting Latoza. But Zaldy wanted to return home. And home was Tanduay. He did just that. In his last season with Tanduay, he played 34 games, averaged 8.61 ppg, had 111 rebounds, 27 assists, 11 steals and 11 blocked shots.