There was something in common in the country's third place finish in the 1954 World Basketball championship, its four consecutive gold medals in the Asian Games from 1951 to 1962, and its good performance in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and 1960 Rome Olympics. The common thing was Carlos Loyzaga, who was ironically dubbed as the "Big Difference" of Philippine basketball.
A two-time Olympian, Loyzaga, the team captain, was responsible for steering the fabled Philippine team to third place finish in the World Basketball Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 5, 1954. He was named to the Mythical Selection for his sterling performance because he was the third best individual scorer in the world event. The Philippines beat Uruguay, 67-63 to win the third place. The title was won by the United States against Brazil.
Loyzaga was the first basketball player to be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame.
Hall of Famers
As of 2002, there are 22 basketball players enshrined into the Hall of Fame. Aside from Loyzaga, other basketball players who have been named to the National Basketball Hall of Fame since 1999 include Kurt Bachmann, Carlos Badion, Narciso Bernardo, Charlie Borck, Ramoncito Campos, Loreto Carbonell, Jacinto Ciria-Cruz, Geronimo Cruz, Fely and Gabby Fajardo, Tony Genato, Rafael Hechanova, Eddie Lim, Alfonso (Boy) Marquez, Antonio and Primitivo Martinez, Lauro Mumar, Ed Ocampo, Ambrosio Padilla, Mariano Tolentino, and Francisco Vestil.
All-Time Mythical Five
In January 1998, the Philippine Basketball Association has recognized the All-Time Mythical Five of Philippine Basketball: Carlos Loyzaga, Narciso Bernardo, Robert Jaworski, Hector Calma and Alvin Patrimonio representing five decades of Philippine basketball. Loyzaga was cited for his exploits in the 1950s, Bernardo in the 1960s, Jaworski in the 1970s, Calma in the 1980s and Patrimonio in the 1990s.
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