The YCO Painters were the multi-titled Filipino basketball team of the YCO Athletic Club that was active from the late 1940s to 1981 in the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA). YCO Athletic Club was founded by businessman and sportsman Manuel “Manolo” Elizalde and owned under his company Elizalde & Co., Inc., manufacturers of YCO floor wax and paints.
The Painters were known as the first basketball dynasty in the Philippines, having dominated MICAA and
BAP
BAP or bap may refer to:
Food
* Bap (bread), a bread roll
* Bap (rice dish), of Korea
People
* Bap Kennedy (1962–2016), Northern Irish singer-songwriter
* Bronze Age Pervert, Romanian-American right-wing writer and podcaster
Music
* BAP (Germa ...
tournaments during the 1950s to early 1960s. The team's most famous player was
Carlos Loyzaga
Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga y Matute (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player, coach and politician. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino ba ...
, considered as the greatest Filipino basketball player of his time. It made basketball history by winning seven consecutive National Open championships (1954–1960), seven MICAA titles and the first grandslam in Philippine basketball (1954), when the Painters wrapped the National Open, MICAA and Challenge to Champions diadems, including winning 95 out of 109 games.
When Elizalde & Co., Inc. became one of nine companies that formed the professional
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) in 1975, the YCO franchise was retained in the amateur ranks and elevated most of its YCO players to their professional PBA franchise, named Tanduay.
The YCO franchise ended with the closure of the MICAA in 1982.
Rivalry with Ysmael Steel Admirals
The Painters were best remembered for its rivalry with the
Ysmael Steel Admirals
The Ysmael Steel Admirals were a basketball team that became active in the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) from 1958 to 1968. It was best known for its rivalry with the YCO Painters. It won numerous titles in the Na ...
from 1958 to 1967. The Painters and the Admirals would split the MICAA championships in the first four years of the 1960s playing against each other, The Painters won in 1960 and 1963 and the Admirals in 1961–1962.
During the 1961 MICAA finals, with the best-of-three series tied at 1-1, YCO defaulted the game for refusing to play in the final game at the
Araneta Coliseum
The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose arena, sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Quezon City#Cubao, Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. ...
and the Admirals were declared champions.
The Admirals disbanded after winning the 1967 MICAA crown.
Legacy
From 1986 to 1987, a new YCO franchise briefly emerged to play in the Phililippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL), called the YCO Shine Masters. The franchise was short-lived due to the financial difficulties faced by its parent, Elizalde & Co., Inc.
Kurt Bachmann
Kurt Bachmann (July 18, 1936 – August 29, 2014) was a Filipino basketball player who competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics. Bachmann was born in Iloilo City.
Bachmann led the De La Salle Green Archers to a juniors' National Collegiate Athletic ...
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Carlos Badion
Carlos Velasco Badion (August 16, 1935 – June 20, 2002) was a Filipino basketball player. Although born in Lubao, Pampanga, he grew up in Tondo, Manila where he started his checkered career playing in sandlot tournaments and for Abad Santos ...
*Raymundo "Chuck" Barreiro
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*Jess Bito
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* Ramon Campos, Jr.
*Rene Canent
* Ely Capacio
*
Loreto Carbonell
Loreto "Bonnie" Dilema Carbonell (1933 – 23 September 2017) was a Philippines, Filipino basketball player who competed in the Basketball at the 1956 Summer Olympics, 1956 Summer Olympics.
Career Playing career
Sometime during his early years, F ...
Danny Florencio
Danilo Zoleta Florencio (September 5, 1947 – February 25, 2018) was a Filipino professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league ...
Robert Jaworski
Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946), also known by his nicknames Sonny, Big J, and Jawo (), is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines fro ...
*Bonifacio de Jesus
*Henry Kappert
*Jose Laganson
*
Carlos Loyzaga
Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga y Matute (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player, coach and politician. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino ba ...
Edgardo Ocampo
Edgardo Luciano Ocampo (October 5, 1938 – July 29, 1992) was a Filipino basketball player and coach.
Early life and education
Ocampo was born in Pampanga, Philippines, on October 5 1938. He was one of four children of architects Fernando ...
Mariano Tolentino
Mariano Tolentino (June 22, 1928 – 1998) was a Filipino basketball player who played for the national team competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Ol ...
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Martin Urra
Martin Urra (8 February 1931 - 11 September 2002) was a Filipino basketball player who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics.
He died in Pasay
Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, hig ...
Freddie Webb
Freddie Nelle Webb (born November 24, 1942) is a Filipino retired basketball player and coach, former politician, and television and radio personality.
Education
He completed his elementary education at San Beda College and his degree in Bach ...