Super Marcio: The Many Times That Marcio Lassiter Found His Mark
Photo source: PBA Images
The play was simple: Give Marcio Lassiter a space all to himself.
Each teammate had a role to play in this pivotal first possession. June Mar Fajardo and Jordan Adams would provide massive screens to clear the shooter’s path, CJ Perez would relocate to the weak side so that his defender wouldn’t mess up the plan, and Chris Ross would dish a pass at the precise moment.
Four players working to get one guy open. Would it work?
At the 11:24 mark of the first quarter, Lassiter started moving toward his designated spot. From the right side of the court, he used the down screen set by Adams on the free throw line, momentarily losing Scottie Thompson as he did so. Sneaking behind Japeth Aguilar, Lassiter caught the well-timed pass from Ross. So far, so good.
The problem was Thompson had caught up to him. The one-time MVP now stuck to Lassiter like epoxy, and for a brief moment, it seemed that the route to history would have an irksome roadblock.
Suddenly, a Kraken emerged. As Lassiter shifted on his pivot foot, June Mar Fajardo—who has seven more MVP trophies than Thompson—set an imposing 6-foot-10 ball screen for his longtime teammate.
Thompson was immediately erased by Fajardo’s pick; Aguilar, who was guarding Fajardo, inexplicably went into drop coverage, as if unaware of the moment that was about to unfold.
Lassiter dribbled to his left, and there it was: a spot beyond the arc, unbothered by any Ginebra defender. In one fluid motion, he gathered the ball and did his signature hop to pack some power into his shot.
He let it fly. Swish.
It was the 1,249th three-point shot of Marcio Lassiter’s PBA career, and it was a thing of basketball beauty. For one man to put the ball through the hoop, four players selflessly offered their help.
* * *
15 years ago, the product of Cal State Fullerton had help from a man named Caloy Allado.
As reported by veteran journalist Quinito Henson, it was the father of La Salle great Don Allado who brought Lassiter to the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) rookie camp in late 2009. Caloy might not have known it at that time, but he was dishing an assist to a young man who was about to have a prolific, colorful career.
Right around the time that Lassiter was drafted by PBL franchise Magnolia, he was making a name for himself in the team practices of Smart Gilas Pilipinas. Alongside local collegiate standouts like Jvee Casio, Chris Tiu, and Mac Baracael, Lassiter showcased his range in more ways than one. Here’s how coach Rajko Toroman described the 22-year-old after a tuneup game against the Alaska Aces: “Quick, strong, smart, and aggressive. He’s the most athletic player in the team.”
As the first incarnation of Gilas undertook its long journey towards the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship—with the hopes of securing a long-awaited Olympic slot—Lassiter soaked in the wisdom of his well-traveled coach and his fellow young lions. In tournaments like the 2010 Asian Games and the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Lassiter had the green light to shoot the rock many, many times.
After several months of mentorship under Toroman, the Gilas 1.0 boys headed to Wuhan in mid-September 2011 to carry out their assignment. Only one Asian team—no less than the champion of the FIBA Asia tournament—could book a ticket to London the following year, and when the dust settled, that team would not be the Philippines. Jordan, powered by a 24-point performance from naturalized player Rasheim Wright, made sure of that.
As far as their 2012 Olympic dreams were concerned, Smart Gilas ultimately misfired. But, in the grand scheme of things, Lassiter and his Gilas teammates achieved something with far-reaching implications.
Quite simply, that team inspired hope that our national team could be great again. Sure enough, just two years after Gilas 1.0 finished 4th in the Wuhan qualifiers, the next incarnation led by Chot Reyes broke the Korean curse and guaranteed a spot for the Philippines in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
Memorably, that silver medal-winning squad was bannered by the unrelenting energy of Marc Pingris, the lockdown mastery of Gabe Norwood, the dizzying speed of Jayson Castro, and the inimitable clutch gene of one Mighty Mouse.
* * *
“I really gotta get on the phone, probably hit him up today or actually tomorrow,” said Lassiter when asked about Jimmy Alapag.
San Miguel had just beaten the Phoenix Fuel Masters 139-129 on Sept. 11, 2024, and Lassiter came within inches of breaking Alapag’s all-time record from beyond the arc.
Over the years, Lassiter and Alapag have traded fire as two of the best snipers the PBA has ever seen. During Lassiter’s first-ever trip to the Finals in 2012, Alapag was the captain of the vaunted Talk N’ Text troop that ran Chot Reyes’ dribble-drive offense to perfection. In that championship series, TNT put away Lassiter’s Powerade Tigers with a gentleman’s sweep.
Real recognize real, though, and Lassiter holds out hope that his fellow Gilas great could somehow find his way to the Araneta Coliseum so that he can witness a once-in-a-lifetime moment. In all likelihood, Alapag—who became the Sacramento Kings’ player development coach in 2023—is eyeballs deep in preparations for the upcoming NBA season.
Still, Lassiter might have been willing to pull out his wallet to get the Mighty Mouse a front-row seat.
“I may have to fly him out,” said Lassiter with a smile. “It might be an expensive ticket, but we’ll see.”
* * *
The court vision of Chris Ross is perhaps an underrated part of his game.
He’s a reputed defensive menace who gets in people’s heads, but at this point of his career, he sees through everything—primary defenders, weak side defenders, and just about every tactic to derail him from producing great outcomes for his team.
With 7:45 mark left in the first quarter, Ross’s buddy Lassiter was hovering around the right wing beyond the 23-foot line. Their three teammates were either trailing in the backcourt or, in the case of Fajardo, doing a not-so-brisk rim run. Meanwhile, five Ginebra jerseys had already shown up in the attack zone.
No matter—as if equipped with a homing device, Ross deftly threw a skip pass to his homie.
Lassiter caught the ball and didn’t hesitate. Swish. Two down, one to go.
* * *
Ever since Lassiter’s rookie year in the PBA, he was more likely to bust out a hesitation dribble than to hesitate taking a shot. And why would he? Fans of the title-chasing 2012 Powerade team know fully well that Lassiter has always had a high-release, quick trigger outside shot. It’s hard to block, and he fires it off before his defender can properly react.
Here’s something else that Powerade fans remember: the trade that sent Lassiter to Petron Blaze just two conferences into his rookie campaign.
The transaction came with no shortage of complexities. PBA board member Ricky Vargas didn’t mince his words as he questioned Powerade’s true motives for proposing the trade. Then-PBA Commissioner Chito Salud vetoed it, then finally approved a revised version of the deal in April 2012.
What was all the fuss about? One thing was perfectly clear to all the stakeholders involved: Marcio Lassiter, the third overall pick of the 2011 PBA Draft who had yet to finish one full season, was an insanely talented player. And no one could plausibly deny that the rookie had a bright future ahead of him.
Though prospective outcomes do take time to materialize—in this case, the growing pains were infamously dubbed the “Petronovela”—the fruit of the seeds planted would be no less than a fresh dynasty.
In January 2015, the San Miguel Beermen (who’d shed the Petron Blaze team name a year prior) recaptured the Philippine Cup in a thrilling seven-game series with the Alaska Aces. At long last, the SMC franchise settled on a simple formula for sustainable winning: Unleash the Kraken inside the paint while lethal shooters like Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Alex Cabagnot, and Arwind Santos lurk on the outside. Opposing teams had to pick their poison, and they invariably fell by the wayside.
From 2015 to 2024, no team has won more championships in the PBA than the San Miguel Beermen. After the Beermen’s conquest of the Aces in the 2015 all-Filipino conference, they captured an astounding nine more titles (including the 2016 “Beeracle” that was cited in The New York Times). During this glorious run, Lassiter’s best performance from three-point distance is arguably his 2022-2023 Commissioner’s Cup; as per Real GM, Lassiter shot 47.4% on 5.71 attempts from beyond the arc in that conference. But the best was yet to come.
Scratch that. The best was about to come.
* * *
If you’re one-three point shot away from setting the all-time record in Asia’s first professional hoops league, you’d probably want a clear runway to your big moment.
No such luck for Lassiter, as he had to guard no less than Justin Brownlee in the opening moments of the SMB-Ginebra tussle. He wasn’t complaining, though; a well-respected defender across the league, Lassiter stuck to Brownlee across the perimeter and in the paint. (The Ginebra import, however, did get a midrange jumper to go over Lassiter’s outstretched hand at the 9:14 mark.)
Lassiter and Brownlee wore different jerseys that night, but less than a year ago, they were sporting the national colors as members of the Gilas squad in the 2023 Asian Games. On multiple levels, it was a full-circle moment for Lassiter, who first emerged on the radar of the Pinoy basketball community as a key piece of the national team. 12 years after coming up short of a podium finish in Wuhan, Lassiter now had an Asiad gold medal to sink his teeth into.
Was this victory sweeter because Lassiter settled the score with his 2011 tormentor Jordan? It certainly was.
“61 years [in the making],” Lassiter said after the game. “It means a lot to everyone. We’re happy we could bring it home.”
With a boatload of PBA titles and an impressive international haul—which includes medals from the Southeast Asian Games and the Jones Cup—Lassiter can stake his claim as one of the most successful shooting guards in Philippine basketball history.
On September 15, 2024, barely five minutes into an otherwise typical Sunday game, Lassiter had just one more shot to make so that his resume could become extra special.
* * *
The previous two shots, including the one that tied him with Alapag, were a reflection of his well-decorated career: an impeccable product of selfless team play, not to mention his own humility and acceptance of his role.
But now, the record that lay before him would have no direct bearing on his team’s elimination round record. The shot he had to convert would not hand the San Miguel Beermen yet another championship, nor would it lead to a podium finish for Gilas Pilipinas.
This shot was for Marcio Lassiter, by Marcio Lassiter. The time had come for his moment.
Poetically, it was the 37-year-old Cali native who brought the ball across the halfcourt line for that life-changing possession. As if knowing to get out of the way, Perez and Adams were jogging almost leisurely on the right side of the court. They essentially guaranteed themselves an excellent view of what was about to unfold.
Three Ginebra defenders—plus a trailing Aguilar—were already in the vicinity, but as far as the man of the moment was concerned, it might as well have been the Red Sea parting as Moses raised his hand.
Lassiter got to his spot, elevated, and unleashed the ball from his fingertips.
Swish.
For the 1,251st time in his PBA career, Lassiter made a shot from beyond the arc. No other shooter in the pantheon of Pinoy greats—not the tenacious Alapag, the legendary Allan Caidic, or the indefatigable LA Tenorio—could yet claim to have achieved such a feat.
This space belonged to Marcio Lassiter, and Marcio Lassiter alone.
