Pinoy Basketball Legend Tribute - Eddie Decena

EDDIE DECENA: RP’s Basketball’s “Mr. Nice Guy”

For Eddie Decena, it was the shortest playing career in big-time basketball after a freak accident on the hardcourt, forcing him to retire after an unsuccessful comeback two years later. Decena, Philippine Basketball’s ‘Mr. Nice Guy,’ had as briefest stint in the bigtime; 60 days. He made it to the London Olympics in August, 1948. The accident, two months later, October, to be precise, ended it all. back but the cod a stage a come, forcing him to retire at the young age of 24. Had the accident not happened, he could have made the 1951 Asian Games team easily. Eddie began his studies at La Salle Taft in 1933 and finished his elementary education in 1936. He started playing basketball only during his freshman year at La Salle High in 1937 at the young, age of 11, He was in his senior year when the war broke out in 1941.

During the Japanese Occupation is was basketball, basketball, basketball for the energetic Eddie. He had not yet reached the full height of five feet 11 and a half inches but he was so good as a guard and easily qualified for the Mohicans, a team formed in Pa-say with the first qualification that he must be a resident of the place. His teammates included Andy de la Cruz and Ramoncito Campos whom he never expected he would team up seven years later in the London Olympics; Peaches Prat, Tony Castillejos and Edward Dee. At first there was no science in Decena's game. It was just shoot, Manzan, another La Salite, san Decena's capabilities and gave him valuable lessons in positioning, timing and back-breaking sessions Without Adi's patience, he would not have learned the fundamentals of the game which are very im Deants coach in to chit, Can’t him the finer points of basketball. Patriotism overcame him and his gang that included Licerio Casten of San Beda, Tony Castille-jo of Lacson Colleges, Ben Azanza of UST, Andy de la Cruz and Prat. They joined the guerilla movement with the East Central Luzon Guerilla Area under the command of American Major Edwin Ram-sey. He got his honorable discharge on October 19, 1945 in Po-rac. He resumed his studies as a senior in 1946 and used the GI Bill of Rights to pursue his college education, also at La Salle.

He donned the La Salle colors in the 1947 NCAA season. The Green Archers did not win the crown but Decena played exceptionally well to be named to the national team ahead of such good players like the great Charlie Borek of 1936 Berlin fame and Peaches Prat. After placing 12th in London, the national team toured the United States on the way back home and got the assurance of the Oakland Bittners, then San Francisco's leading team, to play in Manila October. Every available space in the Rizal Coliseum was filled on the night of October 22, 1948. Scalpers had a good catch that night. The star of the Bittners five was US Olympian Don Barksdale, a six-foot-five, 200-pound giant who was fast and deadly. National coach Chito Calvo assigned Decena to guard Barks-dale and he stuck to the American Negro like a leech. Near the end of the second quarter, Barks-dale had scored only four points, thanks to Decena's tight guarding. Then it happened. Barksdale received a pass and immediately drove for the basket. Decena cut in, interlocking his bony left leg with Barksdale in midair. Both landed on the hardcourt with Barksdale on top. Decena felt a crunching sound as flesh touched wood. The fans gave him a rousing ovation as he was carried off the court. There was no indication how serious the accident was until Decena went to Dr. Ambresio Tang-co, a bone specialist, for a year Decena saw Dr. Tangco piece his knee together. 

In 1950, Decena rejoined the La Salle Green Archers, but the old sting was gone. He went back to Dr. Tangco. 'Only you can tell whether to continue playing or not,' was all the doctor could say. In the middle of the NCAA tournament, Deena, then only 24night tired then," he now recalls. 'But the fear of re-injury, plus the psychological factor that was not the same, greatly helped me to quit.' It was the height of Letran's Murder Inc, squad with Ll Presidente Lauro "The Fox' Mumar. The Knights easily bagged the NCAA senior crown that year. Eight days after the Barksdale accident, Decena eloped with Rosario Aragon, daughter of Fran-cisco, half of the pre-war great tennis combination with brother Guillermo. went to the Sacred Heart Parish Church in Kamuning, Quezon City for the secret marriage, After the 'I do's, they returned to their respective homes. 'We were able to keep the secret for three days,' Deena now says, but whispers and talks sub. Sequently reached our parents. And that was it.' working his retire at San Miguel Corporation while finishing his studies for a commerce degree in 1974. He was hospitalized for double pneumonia. He overcame the ailment but subsequent tests showed he was also suffering from an abscessed right lung, heart ailment and diabetes. It was double pneumonia that quadrupled

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Writing the life story of Eduardo de la Paz Decena is a scriptwriter's dream. It has drama (his struggles whether to quit basketball-adventure a freak accident studying), suspense (he was a guerilla under major Edwin Ramsey; and romance he married his sweetheart secretly, then went back to their separate homes after their wedding night).