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Avelino "Samboy" Lim,
Jr.
| Alias |
"The Skywalker, The Dragon" |
| Jersey No. |
9 |
| Position |
Shooting Guard |
| Current Team |
Retired |
|
Personal Info |
| Country |
 Philippines |
| Birth |
April 1, 1962 (1962-04-01) (age 47)
{{{birthplace}}} |
| Height |
6 ft. 0 in. |
| Weight |
185 lbs. |
| College |
Colegio de San Juan de
Letran |
|
Career Highlights |
| Draft |
{{{draftyear}}} {{{draftrank}}}
by {{{motherteam}}} |
| Pro Career |
1988 – 1997 |
| Also played for |
San
Miguel Beermen (1988-1997) |
| Awards Received |
- Sportsmanship Award (1993)
- PBA Mr. Quality
Minutes (1992)
- PBA Mythical Second
Team (1990)
- PBA Mythical Second
Team (1993)
- PBA All-Star Game MVP
(he scored 42 points) (1990)
- PBA Hall
of Fame Class of 2009
|
Avelino B. Lim, Jr. (born April 1, 1962),
better known as Samboy Lim, is a former basketball player of the
Philippine Basketball
Association. As a shooting guard, the iconic Lim distinguished
himself with Magic
Johnson-like ball handling skills and Julius "Dr. J" Erving leaping and dunking
abilities, he is best remembered as a player who would leap towards
the basket, switch the ball from one hand to the other while in
mid-air, and finish off with a dunk.
Career
Amateur
career
In the early 80s, he played college basketball in Letran in the NCAA and helped the Knights win three
straight NCAA seniors championships from 1982 to 1984.
In the amateur league during 1986, Lim played for Lhuillier in
the Philippine Basketball
League, then known as the Philippine Amateur Basketball League.
With Lhuillier, Lim teamed up with another future PBA star, Jojo Lastimosa
and they led their team to the PABL championship.
Professional
career
In his professional career, Samboy Lim was a star player for San Miguel
Beer's Grand Slam title in 1989 under coach Norman Black, though
he usually came off the bench to spark the team's offensive
attack.
In 1990, Samboy scored a record setting 42 points on his way to
winning the Most Valuable Player award in the PBA All-Star
Game.
In the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, the Philippines sent an
all-star pro team, coached by Robert Jaworski, to regain the
country's basketball supremacy in the Asian Games. The national team was headed by 1990 PBA Most
Valuable Player Allan
Caidic, Alvin Patrimonio, Ramon
Fernandez, Hector
Calma, and Samboy Lim. Samboy was named into the Asian Games Basketball
Mythical Five selection. The team did a great job winning all games
with a large margin but lost in the finals against China and
settled for the silver medal.
Samboy is known to have knee-high socks and sported jersey no.
9, his testament and tribute to his idol Julius "Dr. J" Erving even though Lim
stood six-feet-one.
In 1993, Samboy was the player who got the first ever
sportsmanship award for his exemplary behavior inside the playing
field. Lim is also a member of the Mythical Second Team Selection
twice (1990 and 1993). Having spent half of his career on the
injury list because of his high-flying moves that often led to bad
landings on the hard court, he never won an MVP award. Basketball
aficionados regarded Lim as the most successful player who never
won an MVP award. It was even believed that the sportsmanship award
was given because they knew that he can't complete full season to
qualify for that MVP.
Samboy is an impact player who can dominate the game by
penetrating to any stonewall defense. He uses his speed and
hangtime to create impossible shots. With his dare-devil high
flying drives to the basket, sharp outside shooting and all out
hustle, Samboy electrified the crowd for decades. He earned the
moniker "The Skywalker" and "The Dragon."
Samboy was unstoppable in his time. He had heart, and for some
time, he was the most popular player in the PBA after Robert
Jaworski. Samboy is best remembered as the only player getting
a standing ovation and applause from the crowd (even of the
opposing team) every time he walks up to the officials table to
enter the game. He was not only popular but was also respected and
well loved. He even appeared in BATIBOT, a popular kiddie show
during the 80s.
Samboy was so unstoppable that isolating him, during the time
that isolation plays were allowed in the PBA, would mean an
automatic two points or an "and one" situation. He could break down
defenses like bowling pins even if he is matched-up with an import.
In fact Norman
Black once draw a play where everybody switch to the other side
so that Samboy can isolate his defender for that easy two
points.
Samboy could also throw threes and has a mean long tom added to
his arsenal. In one of the invitationals where foreign teams were
pitted against PBA teams, Samboy Lim saved the face of the
Philippines when he single-handedly took over in the IBA-PBA
challenge in 1987 where the import was a then obscure Bobby Parks. In one of
the championship game against Shell, then-commentator and now PBL
commissioner Chino Trinidad said during half time that Shell is
having a headache because Samboy's killing Shell almost
single-handedly.
There was a time that Samboy Lim commanded P790,000 per month in
salaries, which at that time was unprecedented in the history of
the PBA.
Later career and
retirement
In 1998, he joined the Philippine Basketball
League to play for Welcoat Paints and
retiring that year becoming its team manager. In 2000, he was named
into the PBA's 25 Greatest Players. In his entire
career in the professional league, Samboy played for only one
ball-club, San Miguel Beer, in which he is now serving
as the current team manager.
In 2005, the PBA fans had another chance to see Samboy put his
intensity and high-wire forays back on the court as he suited up
for the PBA Greats Team. The PBA Greatest Game was held in the
Araneta Coliseum as thousands of fans watched their favorite
legends and great players of all time play. Samboy scored 29 points
that game.
Career PBA
Highlights
- Member, PBA's 25 Greatest Players
- Member, 1989 San Miguel Grand Slam Team
- 2-time Mythical Second Team Selection (1990 and 1993)
- First ever recipient of the Sportsmanship Award (1993)
- 4-time PBA All-Star
- 1990 PBA All-Star Game MVP
Other
Highlights
- NCAA MVP (Letran Knights)
- Member, 1990 Asian Games (Silver Medal)
- Member, Mythical Five (1990 Asian Games)
Winning Championships:
- NCAA Seniors Grandslam Team Letran, 1982, 1983, and 1984
- 1984 FIBA Asian Club Basketball Cup Champion NCC/San Miguel
Philippines, 1984
- 1985 South East Asian Games Champion NCC/San Miguel
Philippines, 1985
- PBA Reinforced Conference Champion (Amateur Guest Team) NCC,
1985
- William Jones Cup International Basketball Champion NCC/San
Miguel Philippines, 1985
- FIBA Asia Champion NCC/San Miguel Philippines, 1986
- PABL Champions Mama's Love, 1986
- PBA Grandslam Team San Miguel Beer, 1989 Open Conference, 1989
All-Filipino Conference, 1989 Reinforced Conference
- PBA All-Filipino Champion San Miguel Beer, 1992
- PBA Governor's Cup Champion San Miguel Beer, 1993
- PBA All-Filipino Cup Champion San Miguel Beer, 1994
Memorable
Moments
- 37 points against Banco di Roma of Italy in the 1985 FIBA World
Club Championships in Girona, Spain
- 27 points in San Miguel Beer's prestige-laden win over the IBA
All-Stars
- 42 points to help the Veterans team clobber the combined RSJ
team 146-118 (June 3, 1990 PBA All-Star Game)
- In the 1994 All-Filipino Finals Cup, Samboy made a memorable
halfcourt shot at the buzzer against Coney Island. The shot
made a huge impact to the game and to the series as they won the
title.
- Samboy Lim pioneered the cross-over head shoulder fake. He uses
this to fake and by-pass his defender.
- He was a weird free-throw habit. Samboy messes up his hair
before taking a shot in the free-throw lane and he doesn't bend his
knees.
- Samboy Lim took over the PBA Top Ten Plays of the Week. His
skywalking, driving, and passing moves was usually on the top spot
every week.
- Aside from an All-Star MVP award in the PBA, Samboy won an MVP
award in the NCAA as he propelled the Letran Knights to a grandslam
feat during the early 1980s.
- Due to the style of his high-wire game, Samboy never completed
a season in the PBA due to injuries. One of his tragic injuries was
a heated game with Purefoods. Regaining momentum in the last
quarter after trailing most of the game, Samboy drove past several
defenders and was inadvertedly clotheslined by Jojo Lastimosa in
the air. This caused Samboy's body to lose control and went flying
upside down hitting his head first then shoulder on the hardwood
floor. Blood spilled and he was taken out in a stretcher. He had a
cut in his forehead that needed 18 stitches outside and 8 stitches
inside to close up. Jojo, a close friend of Samboy visited him at
Makati Medical Center. According
to Jojo, the first thing that Samboy mentioned is "Who won the
game?" This was the attitude of a true sportsman and a friend. Also
during that game, the collision sent Samboy in a somersault and his
foot hit the board. This is one of the most tragic injury witnessed
by everyone in a basketball game.
- In 1993, the Sports Committee of the PBA created this award for
Samboy because he was a true sportsman of the game. Also according
to the media, the committee wanted to give this special award to
Samboy in honor of his impact to the game and that he just couldn't
complete a season because of injuries. For the many, this award for
Samboy was almost considered an MVP award.
- Also in 1993, Samboy Lim and Hector Calma volunteered to have their
salary cut in order to acquire their good friend, Allan Caidic (who was
a free agent from the disbanded Presto Ice Cream). This deal
resulted in multiple championships. Back then, San Miguel was an
All-Star studded team composed of great players like Ramon Fernandez
and Ato
Agustin.
- Samboy wore the number 9 since his collegiate days up to the
international games and in his entire career in the PBA.
- Samboy is the only player known to get applauses and standing
ovation from fans (even fans from the opposing team) as he walks to
the scoring table to enter the game. He also gets a thundering roar
from the crowd whenever he touches the ball.
- There are many famous basketball players who idolizes him. Most
of them are self-confessed Samboy Lim fan themselves. Among them
are Vergel
Meneses, Paul Alvarez, James Yap, Danny Ildefonso, Mark Cardona and many
others. Vergel Meneses "The Aerial Voyager" learned some nifty
moves from Samboy that he applied to his slashing game. Paul
Alvarez even mentioned in an interview that during his teenage
years he runs home to watch the games of the Skywalker in the Ninoy
Aquino Stadium. Samboy was even the great coach Big J Robert
Jaworski's favorite player to field in in international games or in
All-Star exhibitions. In the 1990 All-Star Game, Samboy played most
of the entire game under coach Jaworksi. The only time the
Skywalker got a breather was when the Big J entered the game
substituting him.
- In an Asian Journal, an author from China went to the
Philippines to get a perspective of the Basketball Scene. After the
visit, the author wrote that Samboy Lim is the Michael Jordan of
the PBA. It was also mentioned in an article that Ron Jacobs, the famous
coach of NCC/San Miguel in the International Arena, sent Samboy to
the States for an operation. Ron Jacobs said to the doctor, "Please
fix Samboy. He is my Michael Jordan."
- The heart and competitiveness of the Dragon Skywalker Avelino
"Samboy" Lim was evident especially on international competitions.
In 1985, the Philippine Team competed in the World Club Basketball
Championship in Girona, Spain. The Philippine team, wearing the San
Miguel jersey, were loved by the European audiences due to the fact
they were the smallest team competing on the tournament which
included the national teams of Yugoslavia and Italy (Drazen Petrovic that time was guarding Hector Calma). He led
the team with his patented open court and acrobatic shots scoring
his 37 points performance against Banco di Roma of Italy. Because
of the intensity and competitiveness, during the game Samboy
suffered extreme exhaustion and fatigue. After the game, he had to
be carried out in a stretcher with an oxygen tank. His dedication
and courage made him an instant folk hero. Then it happened again
in their game against the US Team in the 1985 William Jones Cup
where they won the game and became champions.
- Samboy played his entire 9 year career in the PBA with San
Miguel Beer. He retired in 1997. He is one of only two players -
the other being Alvin Patrimonio (Purefoods Tender Juicy
Giants) who played for 1 team in his whole PBA career.
External
links
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