Remembering Reynaldo "Epoy" Alcantara (+) on his birthday ( Oct 20 )

Remembering Reynaldo "Epoy" Alcantara (+) on his birthday ( Oct 20 )
Eternal repose grant unto Reynaldo "Epoy" Alcantara, o Lord.

PBA pioneer
University of the East Red Warriors guard
4x UAAP champion
5-PBA season veteran
Mariwasa-Honda guard

Source : Assorted Magazines (PBA Archives Collections)

To the basketball fan enamoured by the likes of say, 'Bogs' Adornado or Bernard Fabiosa or 'Sonny' Jaworski, this fellow is 'not so fantastic." Simply because he doesn't sport that 'star' tag and his demeanor is surprisingly, and refreshingly, most unassuming. Inside the court or off. He just works inordinately hard, constantly on the look-out for those rebounds (offensive and defensive), providing his man one of the toughest 'walls to crash through for a lay-up, and his defensive skills show, thus limiting the scoring potential of his opponent. He might not stick like a leach to his opponent but when he does his sentinel duties, one thing is sure: his flailing arms overhead and his stance, alert and fast and brisk, couldn't in any way fail to deliver the unwritten message: 'I'm here, so watch out!' The fellow is Reynaldo 'Epoy' Alcantara, center-guard for the Noritake squad of Emerson Coseteng, and one of the finest defensive players in the land these days. Fely Fajardo speaks highly of the lithe-andalert player thus: 'He is okay, he is one of the best guards... Another player from a different team remarked: 'Alcantara might not have the 'star' tag attached on him. But he sure is one of the better players I've seen. He can shoot, he guards and prevents his man from making for that basket. Oh, yes, he does take a foul now and then. But who is the player who hasn't been slapped a foul? Alcantara, in the past together with five others from the Crispa Redmanizers' quintet got it in the neck, so to speak, when they got involved in a scandal that blew the top off a point-shaving deal. (To this date, their fans do not pin the blame on the players, and they say, wrily, 'yong sindikato siguro ang may kasalanan!') In his younger days, Alcantara used to dribble and pivot in the courts of Caloocan (where the likes of Larry Mumar, Joy and Benjie Cleofas, Marte Samson, and others also started learning their fundamentals) and when he graduated from back-yard-and-town-plaza basketball, he began shooting for those baskets at the University of the East. Alcantara had his taste of international basketball when he played for the RP quintet who went to the Pesta Sukan in Singapore in 1972. He was also there in 1971, with other players like Rogelio Melencio, Estoy Estrada, Dave Regullano, Fortunato Acuna, Rodolfo Soriano, George Lizares, Valerio de los Santos, Renato Reyes, Rolando Marcelo, Reynaldo Franco and Ramon Lucindo. Their coach then: Baby Dalupan. Let's take a look at Alcantara's game: In the last game which Noritake played against the Carriers, where the Noritake players almost won the match, Alcantara played against Lucindo of the Carriers. If he was unable to stop the other player from converting certain baskets, it was simply because the Carrier cog was shooting from quarter-court and sometimes hitting beautifully! But Alcantara was still able. to minimize the sting of regular conversions. In the game played against the Toyota Comets Saturday, Sept. 13, Alcantara was utilized by the coach as one of the first five. The rest: Filipinas, Rodriguez, Robinson and Dacula. With five minutes to go in the first quarter, 'Epoy', hustling and working hard, nearly blocked a ball intended by a Comet for Snake Jones. And later on, Alcantara superbly blocked a Jaworski ball as the guy tried to lay-up which resulted in a simultaneous howl from the audience and shouts of 'supalpal' from some! His assists were equally very helpful and timely: there was one when he rushed towards the goal apparently ready to lay-up but foiled his opponent who stuck to him when he backpassed to Hubert Filipinas which the latter neatly flipped in for another twinner! Alcantara also passed to Papa and 'Jun' Papa executed a long tom and upped the Noritake score to 40. Such assists and passing helped immensely the Noritake-cause that night! Needless to state, the Noritake boys won convincingly.There was another instance when Adriano Papa was about to shoot but finding it difficult passed to 'Epoy' and the latter did a reverse lay-up so brisk it eluded the eye of two of the Comets waiting to squelch his attempt nearby! The applause for Alcantara was long and warm. There was another instance when he jumped from quarter court and that spheroid beautifully swished through the nets making the score $50 for Noritake while their 'enemies' trailed miserably behind. Several times, the ball was I passed to him and Alcantara marvelously hit rarely missing! He is fleet-footed in his own right, lithe and seemingly loose-jointed like he's very light on his feet. His hair straight and framing a thin, rather elongated face, Alcantara off and on that hardcourt manifests some kind of inscrutability so typical of some Oriental miens. Fact is, his Ichinky eyes, his lack of loquacity and seeming gift of gab is occasionally being mistaken for standoffishness by some. But actually, Alcantara is a quiet, warm and friendly person. He works at the advertising department of a news daily and when he's not at the Rizal ballcourts or at the Araneta Coliseum he tries to head straight for home. But he does pal around with friends Rudolf 'Boy' Kutch, Larry Mumar, Rodolfo Soriano, Rey Franco, Jesse Caimol and others. Now and then, with friends he either goes out disco-ing or simply batting the breeze with them.