SWEET-SHOOTING Marcio Lassiter is on target for the esteemed honor of the Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) premier long-range gunner of all time.
The San Miguel Beer (SMB) sniper surged past James Yap as No. 4 in the record books last week and at the rate he’s going, he may well climb all the way to the top before Season 48 ends, if not early next season.
As of last week, Mr. Lassiter has drilled in 1,205 career triples to close in on the Top 3 — retired greats Jimmy Alapag (1,250) and Allan Caidic (1,242) and LA Tenorio (1,218), the only active player right in front.
Mr. Lassiter averages three three-pointers per outing with an astounding 56.9 accuracy in the ongoing Philippine Cup, where the Beermen are undefeated through nine games.
If he keeps up this pace, Mr. Lassiter may move ahead of Mr. Tenorio in his next five matches, Mr. Caidic in 11 and Mr. Alapag in 15.
“Just to be in the same breath of the legends that were before me, even to be in the same platform, these are the guys I’ve played with, some of them you know. I looked up to them when I was in my rookie year and coming up,” said Mr. Lassiter.
He, however, maintained it’s helping SMB win another championship that’s foremost in his mind right now. — Olmin Leyba