Jervy Cruz left quite a mark in the Philippines' basketball landscape during the late 2000s until the mid-2010s.
A monster in the UAAP, the former UST Growling Tiger won numerous awards, including a championship and an MVP plum. In the PBA, he wasn’t bad at all, as he ended up winning four chips.
Unfortunately, aside from being remembered as a reliable big, Cruz also became famous for being on the receiving end of one of coach Yeng Guiao’s more visceral verbal assaults.
It happened in the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup when Cruz and Guiao were with the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. During a timeout against the Talk 'N Text Elasto Painters, the former King Tiger can be seen moving around, hiding behind his teammates, knowing what’s about to come.
“Sino ‘yung isa? Jervy, t**ga ka eh! Tao mo dapat, ‘t@#g i%a ka,” shouted the feisty Guiao after spotting Cruz.
On the PBA Motoclub YouTube channel, Cruz finally spilled the beans on the infamous incident, which was caught on camera during the game coverage.
“Parang wala pang viral dati, nag-viral na ako noon kay Coach Yeng,” the 6-foot-4 forward quipped on the vlog, which was uploaded last Saturday. “May play kasi kami, so, parang hindi kami nagkaintindihan ni Raymond (Almazan)."
Despite the embarrassing tongue-lashing, the three-time UAAP Mythical Five member still considers Guiao as his favorite mentor.
“Si Coach Yeng (ang favorite coach ko). After ng game, sobrang bait niya. Siguro nagkakamali ‘yung mga tao (ng tingin sa kanya) dahil ganun siya sa game. Pero as a person, grabe, sobrang bait,” said Cruz, who played 13 years in the PBA and is now with the GenSan Warriors in the MPBL.
He also loved the equal-opportunity approach that Guiao is known for.
“Kung sa practice magpapakita ka ng maganda, gagamitin ka. Next game, hindi mo alam, ‘yung five minutes mo, magiging 10 minutes,” Cruz revealed.
“Basta pagdating sa game, ready ka lang. Mumurahin ka, ‘pag mahina ‘yung loob mo, hindi ka puwede sa kanya. ‘Yun ‘yung maganda kay Coach Yeng,” he stressed.
Cruz last played in the PBA in 2022 for the NorthPort Batang Pier.
(PM)