NBA veteran to ignite Petron’s chances in PBA
Thursday, 02 February 2012 00:00
NICK Fazekas had a successful basketball career that earned for him the distinction of being named to the 50 best collegiate players in his time. Having a Hungarian freedom fighter as a grandfather, the now 26-year-old, 6-11 of a giant center-forward has dreams of becoming a Hungarian citizen and play for Hungary's national team following a rather forgettable NBA pro-career. Born in Arvada, Colorado where he earned the moniker "Mr. Basketball-Colorado" while playing for Ralston Valley High School," Fazekas instead found himself flying to Manila as Petron's reinforcement in the coming Commissioner's Cup of the PBA 37th season.
And if the Blaze Boosters team manager Hector Calma and coach Ato Agustin are to be believed, Fazekas, who played for three NBA teams before trying his luck in Europe, has what it takes to lead the team bounce back from a bitter campaign in the just-concluded Philippine Cup. "We have yet to see his full potential, but so far, maganda naman ang ikinikilos," Calma, a former San Miguel Corp. franchise mainstay himself said in an interview during the Boosters' practice at the Acropolis gym Monday.
"For one, he can ably fill in the vacuum left by the injured Jay (Washington) and Dondon Hontiveros, because Fazekas is a natural shooter," Calma said, drawing concurrence from Agustin. "We are trying to recover from our embarrassing failure to make it to the finals, which we had hoped after leading 3-1 in the semifinal series against TnT (eventual Philippine Cup champion Talk 'N Text) and we really have to have a good import to succeed," Calma, a graduate of Adamson University, said.
Calma, one of the awardees in sports in the celebration of Adamson's 80th founding anniversary, assured that Rabeh Al Husseini, who did not see action last season due to injury will definitely play in the Com- missioner's Cup opening day. Agustin, who like Calma is one of the PBA's 25 greatest players and one of the main cogs in San Miguel Beer's Grand Slam title romp in 1989, agreed with Calma in his team's bid to come back from that semifinal round meltdown.
"Masakit talaga ang nang- yari sa amin (It really painful for us) considering the pride we carry as the oldest existing franchise sa pro-league," he said.
"Breaks ang tumalo sa amin. Hindi napunta sa amin ang breaks (Breaks defeated us. We did not get the break). But that already under the bridge. The task now is to rebuild and go to the next con- ference stronger. Reason why after a brief rest, we went back to the gym to resume prepara- tions," he said. "With Rabeh healthy at last, mas competitive kami ngayon (we are more competitive now) although we will still miss the services of Jay and Dondon, who are expected to rejoin the team probably in May."
Besides earning the "Mr. Basketball-Colorado" accolade, Fazekas was also a two-time AAAA Player of the Year honoree in 2001 to 2003, Three- time WAC Player of the Year (2004, 20055, 2006), Third AP Team All American (2005-06), Second AP Team All-American (2006-07) and First ESPN All- American (2006-07).
Fazekas wore the University of Nevada uniform from 2003 and led the Wolf Pack to four straight NCAA tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet 16 as a freshman. He was the School's all-time leading scorer in 2006 when he surpassed the eight-year record of 1,877 points by Edgar Jones.
Fazekas, who will be wearing uniform number 22, the same number he has been wearing in his entire basketball career, earned his third straight WAC Player of the Year honor in the 2006-07 season a feat matched only by UTAH's Keith Van Horn, for whom, Fazekas, incidentally waived to make a room for Jason Kidd in the Dallas Mavericks lineup.
Fazekas was part of the Mavericks summer league team in 2006 but was released two years later to facilitate Kidd's entry from New Jersey. He was signed by the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets where he was again waived, opening the door for him to see action for the Boston Celtics summer league, leading the team in scoring.
He was taken by the Belgian-based Base Oostende for the 2008-09 season before joining the French Pro A Club Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne. After his stint with the Celtics, Fazekas returned to the French Pro A in 2009.
Fazekas' grandfather Albert was a freedom fighter in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution who migrated with his wife and children to the U.S. after escaping from the Soviet-operated Hungarian prison.
His father Joe, who stood 6-10, briefly played pro-basket- ball in Argentina following a college career in Wyoming and Idaho. PNA
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