It’s been nearly four decades since the San Miguel Beer-backed Pinoy quintet pulled off a shocking upset win over the powerhouse American squad to rule the William Jones Cup tournament, yet Jeff Moore, one of the few naturalized players who beefed up our national team, was still in awe of ‘The Skywalker’ Samboy Lim, a PBA Hall of Famer and one of the league’s all-time greatest players.
The highly-athletic, 6-foot-4 Moore was one among those rim rattlers playing for the Northern Consolidated Cement, whose basketball program helped carry the Philippine team to greatness when it practically dominated Asian basketball, including the PBA, in 1985.
But if Moore is going to name some standouts, Lim was exceptional.
“I tell people around the world, Samboy Lim was incredible,” Moore told Pinoystep during an interview with The Link Podcast. “If you remember the shots he made against the United States national team in the William Jones Cup, he was so unpredictable as a player.”
“I still haven’t seen anybody who flies in the air like he does. When he shoots that fade away shots, he would land sideways. He was a real spectacular player. It was hard to block his shots as the Americans found out.”
The Philippines went on to defeat the US 5, 108-100, in overtime, as Chip Engelland poured in 43 points to lead the Filipinos to victory.
But it was Lim who caught Moore’s fancy with his sheer athleticism and no-let-up attitude and had Filipinos at that time were more open to playing overseas, he would have made a career playing outside of the PBA.
“He would have made a career playing around the world and made a career outside the Philippines,” added Moore. “His playing style is similar to Dr. J (Julius Erving). He’s got big hands. And he was only what, almost 6-foot-2 inches, but Samboy has a lot of talent. I was saddened when he passed away.”
Four decades ago, Lim and the rest of the NCC squad under the national team program went on to win four championships — the William Jones Cup, the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Basketball Confederation gold medals and the PBA Third Conference crown.
That team became the last national squad to win the ABC, now known as FIBA Asia Cup. It was also the first local guets squad to win a title in the PBA.
