Happy Birthday, Quirino “Rino” Salazar ( Mar 30 )

Happy Birthday, Quirino “Rino” Salazar

Source : Assorted Magazines/SWM 1982 (PBA Archives Collections)

7-season PBA veteran
1992 PBA First Conference champion as head coach
5x PBA champion as player

For a ballplayer who had to sit out a great part of the last PBA All-Filipino with a busted left hand and who, even when he got back, warmed the bench more often than not, Toyota's Quirino (Rino) Salazar could not have gotten a more demanding, pressure-filled assignment than that which he got at a crucial point in Game 4 of the Toyota-Filmanbank pennant playoffs. "It was like being told to walk a high wire without a net," the dusky, 26-year old former YCO Redshirt said. The assignment was to stop Larry Mumar, the streak-shooting small fox of the Bankers who had caught fire midway in the third quarter and who, if not contained, was threatening to light up the spark that could send Filmanbank all the way to a series-tying fourth game win against the Tamaraws in the playoffs. Earlier, Francis Arnaiz had taken on Mumar, but had proved himself ineffective. It was the same thing with Jess Sta. Maria. Now, it was Rino Salazar's tur to put the cuffs on Mumar. The gambit caught many observers by surprise, among them coach-turnedbasketball analyst Tito Eduque, who wondered out loud how Salazar, who is not as fast as Arnaiz and Sta. Maria, could succeed where Arnaiz and Sta. Maria failed. "Sure, I know I'm not as fast as Francis or Jess," he said, "but I figured that against Larry, I won't be needing too much speed, but a lot of pressure; a lot of pabunggobunggo. It turned out Coach (Dante Silverio) had the same thing in mind and it was what he asked me to do against Larry."  And a lot of pressure, a lot of jostling was what Rino applied on Larry all throughout that stretch of the game when he was in five minutes in the third quarter and six in the fourth and for which, he was hit with four fouls. But the gambit worked, and when on top of that fine defensive effort of muzzling and nettling Mumar, Salazar also pumped in three key field goals, it was a frenzied applause which he got from the Toyota stands following his exit from the game. At the joy-filled Toyota locker room after the Tams had wrapped up their second straight PBA title since the third conference bauble last December, Rino got about the same amount of backpats that the team's big heroes in its successful pennant campaign Jaworski, Fernandez and Florencio got.