Celino Salazar Cruz (born July 22, 1977) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. A deadly left-handed shooter, he is best known for his clutch plays. Cruz played eight seasons in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA). After playing for the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private research non-sectarian university in Manila, Philippines. Created by the merger of Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and ...

(FEU)

Tamaraw The tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (''Bubalus mindorensis'') is a small buffalo belonging to the family Bovidae. It is endemic to the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, and is the only endemic Philippine bovine. It is believed, however, ...

in college, Cruz was drafted by the

Talk 'N Text Phone Pals Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct * ...

nineteenth overall in the

2002 PBA draft The 2002 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) rookie draft was an event at which teams drafted players from the amateur ranks. It was held on January 13, 2002, at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 R ...

. He started his professional career as a rookie with the

Shell Turbo Chargers The Shell Turbo Chargers were a Philippine Basketball Association team from 1985 to 2005. It won four PBA championships, two from 1998 to 1999. Shell sold its franchise to PBL team Welcoat Dragons, Welcoat Paints in February 2006. Aside from be ...

in the

2004–05 PBA season The 2004–05 PBA season was the 30th season of the Philippine Basketball Association. Instead of the usual calendar year of February–December, the league changed its schedule to the current October–July format, while limiting the number of ...

, and later played for the

Red Bull Barako Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

before being traded to the Burger King Whoopers and then the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants.

College

As a freshman, the 1999–2000 season, Cruz was already a starter on a relatively unheralded team. The

FEU Tamaraws The FEU Tamaraws and Lady Tamaraws are the varsity teams of Far Eastern University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). The university's high school varsity teams are called the ''FEU-D Baby Tamaraws, Baby Tamaraws'' ...

came into the season and predicted to finish not higher than sixth. But, the Tamaraws won an unexpected

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

Championship. Cruz' sophomore season was his breakout year. He led the Tamaraws to their second consecutive UAAP Championship where he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The 2001–2002 season saw Cruz establish himself as one of the top amateur players in the nation. He was the leader of the team and was considered a "coach on the floor." He also received Player of the Year and the Silver Basketball award, and was named to the Mythical Second Team. Cruz then decided to leave college early after his junior year to play in the PBA.

PBA career

Ginebra

Barangay Ginebra traded

Paul Artadi Paul Anthony Dy Artadi (born May 5, 1981) is a Filipino politician, basketball coach, and former professional player. On his eleven-year career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), he played the point guard position and was a three-ti ...

, Rafi Reavis, and the rights to

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

8th pick overall Chris Timberlake for

Enrico Villanueva Jose Enrico Pascual Villanueva (born June 23, 1980) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Amateur career Villanueva first played for the ...

Rich Alvarez Richard Alvarez (born October 30, 1980) is a Japanese-born Filipino professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Basilan Starhorse of the MPBL. He played his whole career in the Philippine Basketball Associ ...

, Celino Cruz, and Paolo Bugia of Purefoods. Burger King acted as the conduit team, trading

Pocholo Villanueva Pocholo "Cholo" Iñigo Villanueva (born November 24, 1982) is a Filipino former professional basketball player. He currently serves as the head coach for the Tanduay Rum Masters. He previously served as the assistant coach for the Bay Area Drag ...

to Ginebra and acquiring the rights to 2009 Rookie draft eighteenth pick Orlando Daroya and future picks.

Powerade

At the end of the 2009-10 PBA season, he was released by the

Barangay Ginebra Kings The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the precolonial polities of the same name, modern barangays are political subdivisio ...

. Days after, he was signed by the

Powerade Tigers The Powerade Tigers were a professional basketball team that played in the Philippine Basketball Association from 2002 to 2012. The franchise was owned by Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) when the company acquired Cosmos Bottling Cor ...

as a free agent. He played a key role on his first year as its starting point guard. Together with

Gary David Gary Ocampo David (born July 13, 1978) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Pampanga Giant Lanterns of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is a five-time All-Star and co-holds the longest stre ...

, they became a one-two punch for their offense.

PBA career statistics

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left, , align=left,

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, 46 , , 13.9 , , .388 , , .357 , , .700 , , 1.6 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.1 , - , align=left, , align=left,

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

, 58 , , 20.9 , , .417 , , .384 , , .744 , , 3.2 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - , align=left, , align=left,

, 55 , , 20.1 , , .454 , , .379 , , .750 , , 2.5, , 2.1 , , .6 , , .0 , , 6.2 , - , align=left, , align=left,

, 46 , , 22.2 , , .376 , , .355 , , .705 , , 3.3 , , 2.6 , , .8 , , .0 , , 8.0 , - , align=left rowspan=3, , align=left,

, rowspan=3, 36 , , rowspan=3, 17.0 , , rowspan=3, .376 , , rowspan=3, .360 , , rowspan=3, .772 , , rowspan=3, 2.8 , , rowspan=3, 1.9 , , rowspan=3, .6 , , rowspan=3, .1 , , rowspan=3, 5.5 , - , align=left, Air21 / Burger King , - , align=left, Purefoods , - , align=left, , align=left, Barangay Ginebra , 38 , , 18.1 , , .395 , , .355 , , .692 , , 1.9 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .0 , , 4.3 , - , align=left, , align=left,

Powerade Powerade is a sports drink created in 1988 and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. Its primary competitor is Gatorade, which is owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Powerade was created by the Coca-Cola Company and first released in 1988. Th ...

, 21 , , 21.0 , , .349 , , .339 , , .750 , , 2.2 , , 2.9 , , .7 , , .1 , , 4.8 , - , align=left, , align=left,

, 44 , , 16.6 , , .377 , , .456 , , .652 , , 2.2 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.1 , - , align=left, , align=left, Barako Bull , 19 , , 14.5 , , .231 , , .159 , , .882 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.1 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 363 , , 18.5 , , .389 , , .361 , , .734 , , 2.4 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .0 , , 5.0

References

External links

Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Celino 1977 births Filipino men's basketball players FEU Tamaraws basketball players Living people Basketball players from Manila Magnolia Hotshots players Point guards Shell Turbo Chargers players Barako Bull Energy Boosters players Barako Bull Energy players Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players Powerade Tigers players Philippines men's national basketball team players SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games TNT Tropang 5G draft picks