Birthday Greetings to Melchor Teves ( Jan 06 )

Toying Teves may appear reed-thin at 175 pounds packed in a 6-1 1/2 frame but don't let his looks fool you. He is a powerful rebounder. And, in fact, during his collegiate days he could dunk the ball with considerable ease. "Kaya ko pa namang mag-dunk kung papraktisin ko pa iyon. Pero iba na ang concentration ko ngayon," said Toying. Truth is, to many basketball observers Toying is some sort of a clone of former Yco star Alberto Gutierrez, who slithers inside the shaded area, wiggles free and gets a lot of easy shots through sheer graceful movements. Toying's still hopeful that he'll make it to the PBA despite being placed on hold by Swift Mighty Meaty Hotdogs which picked him on the fourth round of the 1992 amateur draft. "Baka hindi ko pa panahon. "timing lang naman iyan," he said.  Toying turned 25 years last January 6. He is the eighth of nine kids (Evangeline, g Eduardo II, Eduardo III, Angeline, Salvador, Alex, Amor, Toying and Yogi) of Col. Angeles Teves and Fely Nicolas, an underwriter of Manila Bankers Life. He started playing basketball as a fifth grader of La Salle Lipa and went on to be part of the junior team of that school for four years under coach Danilo Silva. A nephew of then San Sebastian coach Francis Rodriguez, Andy Rodriguez, encouraged him to try his luck with the Stags. He made it to the SSC fold and played five seasons in the NCAA while finishing a course in Tourism. While still with the Stags, he dribbled with the AFPSLAI quintet in various tournaments. From there, he played for Shakey's Baguio in a PBL Regional tournament. Then he went to RFM-Swift where he was taken in by coach Turo Valenzona. He was reunited with Rodriguez at Sta. Lucia Realty last year. "Sa depensa magaling si coach Rodriguez. Marami akong natutuhan sa kanya like positioning inside the shaded area, pagkuha ng rebounds, pagbantay sa mas matatangkad na players. I'm really grateful to him," said Toying. Of course, Toying is one of the major C reasons for the sudden surge of the Reala tors. And who knows, Sta. Lucia may still retain its Philippine Cup crown.