Bill Babauta: Doing it on both ends of the floor

69ers center Bill Babauta run away with the most valuable trophy of the 2004 Christmas Basketball Tournament after making his presence felt on offense as well as on defense en route to leading his team to the championship.

For the record, off guard Ernest Duenas led the 69ers in scoring with 11 points per game in the eliminations, followed by swingman Jake Maratita’s 8.0, Babauta’s 7.0, and forward Matt Sablan’s 6.0.

Although, the 6’0” Babauta was just third in scoring for the San Antonio team, the athletic big man contributed in other ways.

Other than for scoring, the short tournament didn’t keep stats for rebounding, blocked shots, and steals, but if they did, the skilled Babauta would surely be among the leaders, if not the top dog, in those statistical departments.

The tournament, which ran from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29, showcased Babauta’s devil-may-care attitude on the floor—in one play during the game against Island Wide Village Youth Basketball League conqueror Garapan Rollers, Babauta sprinted way back from half court to swat a shot of an unsuspecting G-Roller, who thought he had a gimme, and in one sequence in the championship, he rebounded the ball, dribbled it down himself against a phalanx of defenders, and hit a scoop shot.

In the playoffs and finals, Babauta upped his average to 10 points per outing aside from continuing to do the dirty work on defense, further proof that he does deserve the MVP nod.

And his coach, Ray Duenas, couldn’t be prouder of his vital cog.

“Hands down, Bill was the MVP of the tournament. He really showed he could dominate on both ends of the basketball court,” he said.

The diminutive tactician went on to say that Babauta has made the transition rather smoothly from just being one of the wide bodies in the squad to a team leader.

He said the graduation of 2004 IVYBL scoring champ Preston Basa into the 18-and-under ranks, meant that Babauta had to take a bigger responsibility in the team.

Babauta seemed well adjusted to his new leadership role as proven by the 69ers’ perfect run to the championship of the “Holiday Hoops” tournament.

Duenas also added that since Babauta does not dominate the ball as much as Basa, the 69ers became a more balanced scoring team. It meant that opposing teams couldn’t just concentrate on one player—just like what Garapan did in the finals of the 14-and-under league last summer—and everyone was a potential threat.

Even finals losing coach Ryan Nisperos of Saipan Sixers cannot seem to run out of words talking about the great impact Babauta had on the 69ers during the inaugural Yuletide basketball competition.

“He’s just too big and powerful and he has hops. Bill’s just dominated the tournament and nobody was able to match up with him nor with his team,” he said.