De Guzman bags finals MVP

What a way to end the drought.

After eight years of playing on the hardwood floors and cement courts of Saipan, Jorge Gamboa De Guzman finally bagged his very first Most Valuable Player plum in the recent Mobil Oil Invitational Co-ed Basketball Tournament.

And if that wasn’t enough, the 6-foot-1 Toyota center/forward also went home with the Finals MVP award after steering the automakers to a 117-100 upset of defending champion Tan Holdings Corp. in the final.

De Guzman bagged the regular season MVP on the strength of Toyota’s 5-2 record after the elimination round, where the Lingayen, Pangasinan native averaged a shade under 32 points per game on top of 11 rebounds and 3 swats.

“I never expected to win the regular season MVP in the first place. So winning the Finals MVP was an even bigger surprise. I owe all my success in the tournament to my coach, Abner Venus, and my teammates, who were with me all the way,” he said.

Before the Mobil tournament started, De Guzman did not even get a Mythical Team nod from the other leagues he played in.

“This really means a lot to me. But all of this happened because of hard work and a little bit of luck,” he said.

Even opposing players were in awe of De Guzman’s performance in the title-clinching win, which saw the lithe forward explode for a team-high 36 points, a majority of which came on fade-away jumpers.

“Jorge [De Guzman] was simply unstoppable in the game. We tried everything to stop him but he just kept on hitting the key baskets,” gushed Tan Holdings guard Ariel Jinang.

Tan Holdings coach Ambet Flores heaped more praises when he said that De Guzman showed them a different look in the game.

“Usually Jorge would kill you from the inside with his pivot moves, but in the final he massacred us from the outside. It seemed he could not miss on his fall-away jumpers.”

But reserving the biggest praise of all was coach Venus. “What can I say? Jorge is a workhorse and I said it all along, he’s one of the most talented if not the most talented big man on island.”

Born in June 16, 1973 to parents Juan and Esmer De Guzman, the veteran commercial league cager first picked up the spheroid when he was just 11 years old and has been hooked on it ever since.

Playing basketball with childhood friends, De Guzman grew up idolizing Purefoods Hotdog All-Star power forward Alvin Patrimonio in the Philippine Basketball Association.
After finishing his schooling in the Northern Luzon province, De Guzman went to Saipan in 1994 and soon afterwards became involved in the many basketball leagues on island.

Aside from Toyota, De Guzman has suited up for a number of teams namely Kent, Keeraku, Samahang Ilokano at Pangasinense-Verizon and Jollibee in the commercial leagues on Saipan.