Ronald Lozada Pascual (born June 23, 1988) is a Filipino professional basketball player who last played for the Pampanga Delta of the
NBL–Philippines. He was drafted third overall by the
Barako Bull Energy
The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express.
From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fiesta C ...
in the
2014 PBA draft.
Early life
Pascual started playing basketball at age 11, but he was a varsity volleyball player until he was in his second year of high school. It was this experience that taught him the proper way to use his legs when jumping.
He was discovered by former NU Women's basketball coach Benjie Navarro, who brought him to
Adamson University
Adamson University (; AdU or ADU) is a private Catholic university operated by the Congregation of the Mission located in Manila, Philippines. The university has academic programs in graduate school, law, the liberal arts, sciences, engineerin ...
.
College career
After spending one year as an aspirant, head coach Jimwell Gican, elevated him to the UAAP juniors team entering his final year in high school. Unfortunately for him, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee during summer practice, thus forcing him to sit out an entire year.
He spent a year in Adamson's Team B during his first year in college and recalls that experience as one of the hardest times in his life. Because of this, he returned to the comforts of home in an effort to rediscover his confidence by playing in inter-barangay leagues. Back in Pampanga, he received a call from none other than the lead assistant coach of San Sebastian, Alan Trinidad who asked him to participate in the basketball camp of then Mayor
Dennis Pineda in
Lubao, Pampanga
Lubao, officially the Municipality of Lubao (; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 173,502 people.
The tow ...
. Pineda then took him in his stable, along with
Calvin Abueva and
Ian Sangalang
Ian Paul Mendoza Sangalang (born December 20, 1991) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He was drafted 2nd overall by the San Mig Super Coffee ...
, and together, they formed an alliance in San Sebastian called "Pinatubo Trio". They won their only NCAA championship together in 2009 under head coach and fellow Kapampangan,
Ato Agustin. Two years later, the same triumvirate won the first PBA D-League Championship in 2011.
Professional career
Pascual was supposed to apply for the
2012 PBA draft, but he pulled out at the last minute due to nagging injuries. Instead, he decided to play for the
NLEX Road Warriors
The NLEX Road Warriors is a professional basketball team owned by Manila North Tollways Corporation, NLEX Corporation, a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) since the 2014 ...
in the
D-League where he was one of the members of this star-studded team that dominated the D-League and went to the finals for 7 straight conferences in four seasons, winning 6 of them. Finally, he decided to join the
2014 PBA draft in a last-minute decision upon the advice of his longtime patron Dennis Pineda.
He was eventually drafted by
San Miguel as no. 3 overall, in a team fully loaded with
swingmen
A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport.
Basketball
In basketball, the term "swingman" (a.k.a. "wing" or "guard-forward") denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forward (3) positi ...
in its rotation.
On September 28, 2015, Pascual, together with
Jake Pascual, was among the six players who was traded in a four-team deal that sent them to the
Star Hotshots
The Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots, or simply known as the Magnolia Hotshots, are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association. The team is owned by San Miguel Food and Beverage, San Miguel Food and Beverage, I ...
. In early 2016, Pascual did not report to the team's practices for a month and has not been seen since December 2015. However, just one day after an article was published in
Spin.ph about his missing, it was reported that he came back to the Hotshots' practice, with Star team governor Rene Pardo citing that Pascual had a recurring fever and was unable to communicate with the team officials after his two cell phones were stolen in his car.
PBA career statistics
''Correct as of September 29, 2016''
Player Profile
at PBA-Online!
Season-by-season averages
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , San Miguel
, 23 , , 12.1 , , .394 , , .340 , , .250 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.2
, -
, align=left ,
, align=left , Star
A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
, 8 , , 7.1 , , .250 , , .429 , , .800 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.6
, -class=sortbottom
, align=center colspan=2 , Career
, 31 , , 10.8 , , .373 , , .352 , , .556 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.8
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascual, Ronald
1988 births
Living people
Alaska Aces (PBA) players
Basketball players from Pampanga
Blackwater Bossing players
NorthPort Batang Pier players
Kapampangan people
Magnolia Hotshots players
San Sebastian Stags basketball players
Philippines men's national basketball team players
Filipino men's basketball players
San Miguel Beermen players
Small forwards
SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines
SEA Games medalists in basketball
Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games
Barako Bull Energy draft picks
Shooting guards
21st-century Filipino sportsmen