Luis Manuel B. Locsin (born October 19, 1971), better known as Noli Locsin, is a Filipino retired professional basketball player.[1][2] Dubbed as "The Tank", He is best known for his playing years with the Ginebra San Miguel franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Noli Locsin
Personal information
Born (1971-10-19) October 19, 1971 (age 53)
Bacolod, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
CollegeDe La Salle
PBA draft1994: 1st round, 1st overall
Selected by the Tondeña 65 Rhum Masters
Playing career1994–2005
PositionPower forward / small forward
Number6
Career history
1994–1999Tondeña 65 Rhum Masters / Ginebra San Miguel / Gordon's Gin Boars / Barangay Ginebra Kings
1999–2000Pop Cola 800s / Sunkist Orange Juicers / Pop Cola Panthers
2001Tanduay Rhum Masters
2002Batang Red Bull Thunder
2003Talk 'N Text Phone Pals
2004–2005Sta. Lucia Realtors
2005Alaska Aces
Career highlights and awards

Playing career

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Locsin played for the RP Youth team in 1990 before suiting up for back-to-back UAAP titlist De La Salle Green Archers. He had a brief stint with Triple-V Foodmasters in the Philippine Basketball League prior to its disbandment and then played for Nikon Electric Fan which completed a cinderella finish in the PBL.

When 6-9 Marlou Aquino, the most sought-after rookie, was out of the picture in the 1994 PBA draft, Ginebra, now renamed Tondeña 65, and the team that will pick first in the amateur draft, went for the next best option in Noli Locsin, a burly 6-3 power forward who can barrel his way into the toughest walls of the defenders.

He showed the Tondeña ballclub that it made the right choice when he emerged as the team's leading scorer and the league's leading local rebounder with his rookie season averages of 18.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists in 34.9 minutes.[3] His stats are not enough through as Tondeña's struggles continued, winning just 12 of their 32 games in the 1994 season.

Playing for player-coach Robert Jaworski's "never-say-die" system, he flourished playing power forward while being undersized at only 6-3 without being able to develop outside shooting. A consistent low post threat, Locsin closed the size gap with his strength and skill although he began to fade out as soon as he parted ways with Jaworski.[4] Before the arrival of Fil-Ams in the PBA, Locsin was considered one of the top bruisers of his time in a time when it was rare for a Filipino player with his bulk to move as quick and leap as he did. Locsin was then traded to Pop Cola in the mid-season in 1999 for Vergel Meneses. He drifted to other PBA teams such as Tanduay and Red Bull before retiring.

PBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

[5]

Season-by-season averages

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Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1994 Tondeña 32 34.9 .532 .222 .617 8.8 2.9 .8 .8 18.5
1995 Ginebra 29 36.3 .499 .111 .684 10.6 2.6 .4 .7 17.6
1996 Ginebra 64 32.5 .530 .222 .636 7.1 2.5 .7 .5 15.5
1997 Gordon's Gin 66 32.5 .504 .188 .682 7.5 2.8 .6 .3 13.1
1998 Gordon's Gin / Ginebra 31 28.1 .514 .167 .634 5.6 2.3 .8 .5 11.4
1999 Barangay Ginebra 39 38.4 .458 .333 .500 7.9 2.8 .4 .6 13.9
Pop Cola
2000 Pop Cola / Sunkist 34 33.2 .446 .222 .532 5.2 2.8 .3 .5 8.5
2001 Tanduay 37 26.0 .473 .000 .519 6.1 1.2 .4 .4 8.1
2002 Red Bull 32 9.6 .437 .000 .500 1.6 .7 .2 .1 2.9
2003 Talk 'N Text 26 8.2 .424 .000 .500 2.0 .6 .1 .0 3.1
2004–05 Sta. Lucia 24 10.5 .350 .316 2.2 .6 .2 .0 2.6
Alaska
Career 413 28.2 .493 .200 .614 6.2 2.1 .5 .4 11.3

References

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  1. ^ Virgil Lopez (August 31, 2010). "Bacolod cager impresses mentors". Sun.Star Cebu. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Navarro, June (January 17, 2002). "Fedex releases Locsin, Hawkins". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  3. ^ Syd Salazar (October 24, 2011). "20 Best Rookie Seasons in the PBA (played in 2003 - present)". Sydrified.org. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  4. ^ Christian Angelo Jacinto (March 21, 2011). "The Preserved Identity: The story of a team of the masses, the story of the Barangay Ginebra Kings". Hoo.ph. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "Noli Locsin Player Profile - PBA-Online.net". PBA-Online.net. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02.
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