Beau Michael Vincent Esparrago Belga (born November 30, 1986) is a Filipino professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Rain or Shine Elasto Painters The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association owned by Asian Coatings Philippines, Inc. It debuted in the league in the 2006–07 PBA season after acquiring the franchise righ ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

. He is also an assistant coach for the

UST Growling Tigers The UST Growling Tigers are the college athletic teams representing the University of Santo Tomas in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. They hold the most UAAP Overall Championships with 44 Seniors' Overall Championships ( ...

of the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univers ...

(UAAP).

Early life

Belga was born and raised in

Gubat, Sorsogon Gubat, officially the Municipality of Gubat ( Gubatnon: ''Bungto san Gubat''; war, Bungto han Gubat, tl, Bayan ng Gubat), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

and is the eldest among the three siblings. His father was a family driver while his mother was a housewife. At a young age, he helped his grandmother sell balut, penoy, and other goods. He finished his high school education in

Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon (Bikol language, Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray language, Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sorsogon), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines locat ...

. As a kid, he was very thin and was often bullied; as a way of escape, he focused his attention on basketball.

College career

He decided to go to Manila and study at

Philippine Christian University The Philippine Christian University (PCU) is a private, Protestant coeducational basic and higher education institution located in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1946 through the initiatives of the laymen of the Evangelical Assoc ...

. He was recruited to play for the PCU Dolphins by the school's swimming coach while he was playing billiards with his friends. While at PCU, he, along with future PBA stars

Gabby Espinas Gabriel Espinas (born January 3, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Batang Kankaloo – Caloocan of the Pilipinas Super League. A 6'4" forward, he was drafted fifth overall by the Beermen in the 2006 PBA draft. He made ...

and

Jayson Castro Jayson Castro William (born June 30, 1986) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the TNT Tropang Giga of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). His moniker is "The Blur" for his speed. He played for the Philippine Christian Un ...

, helped the team win its first ever NCAA title against host school University of Perpetual Help Altas in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Professional career

He was the seventh overall draft pick by Purefoods in 2008 before being traded to Burger King. He found his niche as a basketball player while playing for coach

Yeng Guiao Joseller "Yeng" Medina Guiao (born March 19, 1959) is a Filipino professional basketball head coach, politician, commentator and sports commissioner. He is currently the head coach of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketba ...

, where he was known as one of the league's toughest players. While with Rain or Shine, he also became teammates with J.R. Quiñahan, and together they formed a duo in the low block, called the Extra Rice, Inc., owing to their weight and huge appetite.

PBA career statistics

''As of the end of 2021 season''

Season-by-season averages

, - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left , Purefoods , rowspan=2, 40 , , rowspan=2, 15.9 , , rowspan=2, .537 , , rowspan=2, .258 , , rowspan=2, .535 , , rowspan=2, 4.0 , , rowspan=2, .8 , , rowspan=2, .5 , , rowspan=2, .1 , , rowspan=2, 5.9 , - , align=left ,

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

, - , align=left , , align=left , Burger King / Air21 , 38 , , 22.8 , , .426 , , .231 , , .702 , , 6.3 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .6 , , 7.9 , - , align=left rowspan=2, , align=left ,

Meralco The Manila Electric Company (), also known as Meralco (, ), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 22 cities and 89 munic ...

, rowspan=2, 41 , , rowspan=2, 20.1 , , rowspan=2, .460 , , rowspan=2, .290 , , rowspan=2, .680 , , rowspan=2, 5.1 , , rowspan=2, 1.3 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, .3 , , rowspan=2, 6.7 , - , align=left , Rain or Shine , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 53 , , 22.0 , , .423 , , .247 , , .648 , , 5.1 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , .5 , , 6.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 57 , , 22.3 , , .361 , , .247 , , .619 , , 5.9 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .3 , , 6.8 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 59 , , 22.4 , , .439 , , .295 , , .627 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , , .6 , , .5 , , 8.6 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 53 , , 19.9 , , .378 , , .231 , , .597 , , 4.5 , , 2.3 , , .6 , , .4 , , 6.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 54 , , 20.4 , , .445 , , .289 , , .664 , , 5.2 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 8.1 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 38 , , 21.9 , , .404 , , .333 , , .657 , , 5.8 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , .3 , , 8.5 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 37 , , 22.1 , , .390 , , .321 , , .695 , , 5.4 , , 2.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 8.7 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 48 , , 24.8 , , .396 , , .249 , , .627 , , 5.3 , , 3.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , 8.2 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 12 , , 26.1 , , .432 , , .319 , , .737 , , 5.8 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .7 , , 10.9 , - , align=left , , align=left , Rain or Shine , 23 , , 24.6 , , .385 , , .280 , , .611 , , 5.7 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , .3 , , 9.9 , -class=sortbottom , align=center colspan=2 , Career , 553 , , 21.6 , , .416 , , .274 , , .640 , , 5.3 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.7

National team career

In 2013, Belga was added to the

Gilas Pilipinas The Philippines men's national basketball team ( fil, Pambansang koponan ng basketbol ng Pilipinas), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipi ...

training pool that competed in the

2013 FIBA Asia Championship The 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that served as the qualifying tournament for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain. The tournament was held from August 1–1 ...

, and was considered the "13th man", since he was the last man cut from the 12-man national team roster. In 2014, he was included in the Gilas roster that played for the

2014 FIBA Asia Cup 2014 FIBA Asia Cup was the 5th FIBA Asia Cup, a top-level international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia. The tournament was held in Wuhan, Hubei, China from 11–19 July 2014. Iran won the tournament by defeating Chinese Taipei 89–79 in the f ...

Wuhan, China Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city and ...

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

in Spain, and

2014 Asian Games The 2014 Asian Games ( ko, 2014년 아시아 경기대회/2014년 아시안 게임, Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sip-sa nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 17th Asian Games ( ko, 제17회 아시아 경기대회/제17회 ...

Incheon, South Korea Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

. In 2018, he will represent the Rain or Shine-backed Gilas Pilipinas in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

in Jakarta, Indonesia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belga, Beau 1986 births Living people Barako Bull Energy players Basketball players from Sorsogon Centers (basketball) Magnolia Hotshots players Meralco Bolts players PCU Dolphins basketball players Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players People from Sorsogon Power forwards (basketball) Rain or Shine Elasto Painters players Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Southeast Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 2018 Asian Games Competitors at the 2007 Southeast Asian Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Filipino men's basketball coaches Magnolia Hotshots draft picks UST Growling Tigers basketball coaches