Published on January 27, 2012
Gary David of Powerade was amply rewarded for his rise in the 2011-12 PBA Philippine Cup, beating
Arwind Santos of Petron Blaze in a close fight for the Best Player of the Conference honors.
The scoring machine prevailed over Mr. Double-Double, becoming the first Tiger in eight years to win
the coveted award.
Jeffrey Cariaso emerged as BPC in the 2002 All-Filipino Cup while Rudy Hatfield won the same award
as a (Coca-Cola) Tiger in the 2003 Reinforced Conference.
David, the scoring champ in the last two seasons and in four of the last five conferences including
the current one, gained BPC honors on the strength of the PBA Commissioner’s Office and the media
votes.
Santos contended in the derby by topping the stats race and gaining the nod of the majority of his
fellow players.
The Powerade main man amassed 1268 value points as against the Petron stalwart’s 1159. Alex
Cabagnot came in third with 569 then James Yap with 464 and Marcio Lassiter with 454.
It’s the second individual award for David after his inclusion in the Mythical Five Selection in
the 2006-07 season as an Air21 Express, the same year he was awarded Comeback Player of the Year by
the PBA Press Corps.
The former Lyceum star was drafted No. 10 overall by Coca-Cola in 2004. He was traded to Air21 the
following year before moving back to his original team in 2009.
The 6-foot-2 gunner has become a legitimate star, carving his niche as he carried Powerade to the
Philippine Cup finals versus Talk n Text with his steady prolific showing.
Going to Game Four of the Philippine Cup finals, David averaged 25 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists
and 1.0 steal.
He scored at least 30 points in nine of 12 games in the playoffs and 12 times overall this
conference – the most explosive performance by a local player in the league in years. (SB)
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