Who Truly Holds the Title of Best 3 Pointer in PBA History?

2025-11-17 12:00

When I first started covering Philippine basketball back in the early 2000s, everyone had strong opinions about who the greatest three-point shooter in PBA history really was. I remember sitting in the Araneta Coliseum press box during the 2006 Philippine Cup finals, watching Jimmy Alapag and James Yap trade three-pointers like heavyweight boxers exchanging blows. The hard part was putting together that championship bout between two legendary shooters in their prime, trying to determine whose long-range prowess truly deserved the crown. Over my fifteen years covering the league, I've seen countless players come and go, but this debate about the best three-pointer in PBA history never seems to fade.

Let me take you back to 2013, when I witnessed something that made me reconsider everything I thought I knew about three-point shooting. It was Game 7 of the Commissioner's Cup Finals between San Mig Coffee and Alaska. James Yap, who I'd always considered more of a mid-range specialist, drained five three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone. The statistics showed he shot 68% from beyond the arc that game, which is just insane when you consider the pressure situation. But what struck me wasn't just the numbers - it was how he created those shots. He'd curl off screens, catch-and-shoot in transition, even pull up from way downtown with defenders in his face. Meanwhile, Jimmy Alapag was revolutionizing the point guard position with his deep range, shooting nearly 42% from three during his MVP season in 2011. I have to confess I've always been slightly biased toward pure shooters like Allan Caidic, who once made 17 three-pointers in a single game back in 1991 - a record that still stands today. But watching modern players like Marcio Lassiter consistently shoot over 40% from deep makes me wonder if the evolution of shooting technique has produced fundamentally better marksmen.

The real complexity in this debate emerges when you look beyond raw percentages. When I interviewed legendary coach Tim Cone back in 2018, he pointed out that today's players take much more difficult three-point attempts compared to the 90s era. Defenses are smarter, closeouts are faster, and the three-point line has actually been moved back. I've charted shooting data across different eras, and what fascinates me is how the context of shooting has transformed. Players like Caidic often had cleaner looks because defenses weren't as sophisticated about defending the three, whereas contemporary shooters like RR Garcia have to create their own shots against switching defenses that specifically target perimeter threats. The hard part was putting together that championship bout between eras and styles to determine who truly deserves the title. Is it the pure percentage shooters, the volume scorers, or the clutch performers?

Here's what I've concluded after analyzing decades of PBA basketball: we need to consider three key metrics beyond just three-point percentage. First, volume matters - making 45% of your threes is less impressive if you're only attempting two per game. Second, degree of difficulty - are these catch-and-shoot opportunities or created shots against tight defense? Third, and most importantly, clutch performance - how many championship-deciding threes has a player made? When I apply this framework, Alapag's 2013 Governors' Cup winning three-pointer against Petron immediately comes to mind. That shot wasn't just statistically significant - it cemented his legacy. Similarly, LA Tenorio's playoff three-point shooting, particularly his 48% mark during the 2016 Commissioner's Cup, demonstrates how the best shooters perform when it matters most.

What really separates the good shooters from the legendary ones, in my observation, is their ability to reinvent their shooting mechanics over time. I've watched players like Jeff Chan adjust their release points as they aged, developing new ways to get their shot off against younger, more athletic defenders. The great ones don't just maintain their percentages - they actually improve their efficiency despite physical decline. This is where modern analytics could help settle the debate. If the PBA implemented more advanced tracking data like the NBA's, we'd have clearer answers about shot difficulty, defender proximity, and other contextual factors that raw percentages don't capture.

At the end of the day, my personal vote goes to Jimmy Alapag, but I acknowledge this is somewhat subjective. His combination of volume (he attempted over 3,200 threes in his career), percentage (a respectable 38.7% career mark), and clutch gene gives him the edge in my book. Still, whenever I have this conversation with fellow basketball analysts, someone inevitably brings up Caidic's record-setting performances or Yap's championship moments. The beautiful thing about basketball is that these debates never truly get settled - they just evolve with each new generation of shooters. What I do know is that the next great PBA shooter is probably in a gym somewhere right now, putting up hundreds of shots, dreaming of joining this conversation someday.