Yves Arones Dignadice (born December 18, 1964) is a Filipino former professional basketball player who spent fourteen seasons in 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 ...
, mostly with the
San Miguel Beermen
The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with the Magnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra ...
.
Early life and career
Yves was born and raised in
Jaro, Iloilo City
Jaro (; ) is a district of Iloilo City in the Philippine province of Iloilo on Panay Island in the Western Visayas region. It is the largest in terms of area and population of Iloilo City's seven districts, with 130,700 people in the 2020 census ...
. A pick-up from the Visayan cage recruit. His first taste of competitive basketball was when he participated in a community tournament. After doing time with a Chinese high school, the 6-4 slotman transferred to the
West Negros College
STI West Negros University, also referred to by its acronym STI WNU or colloquially as West Neg, is a private university located in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines established in 1948.
The university is accredited by the Philippine Associ ...
in
Bacolod
Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; hil, Dakbanwa/Syudad sang Bacolod; fil, Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western Visayas, Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidenta ...
. Even though he was only in High School, Yves showed a brand of play good enough to earn him a slot with the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association selection (Region VI) that participated in the 1983 Palarong Pambansa held in
Tacloban, Leyte
Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The c ...
.
It was playing against the De La Salle team that coach Pilo Pumaren and "Boss Henry" Cojuangco spotted him and marked him down as a possible De La Salle recruit. In May of that same year, Yves was transported to the mainland to take part in the first-ever PABL tournament as a Taft-based Green Archer. A month later, he joined the training camp of
Ron Jacobs with the aspirations of making it with the RP squad to be sent to Hong Kong ABC. Unfortunately, coach Jacobs felt that Yves was still too raw to meet the demands of a tough tournament and was cut from the final selection.
In early 1984, when the call for national team aspirants to the Asian Youth tournament was announced, Yves pounced on the opportunity to sharpen his skills. He passed the requirements and underwent rigid preparations for the biennial competitions. Together with Negrense buddy, Naning Valenciano, they helped steer the RP squad to a third-place finish in Seoul, Korea. By that time, the Northern Consolidated contingent of Ron Jacobs was already showing a lot of muscle in the PBA.
Professional career
With his good looks, Dignadice became an instant darling amongst female basketball fans. But on the court, this basketball adonis was an exceptional defensive player. With his long arms and quick feet, Dignadice could guard all five positions and was a terror when it came to protecting the paint, always forcing his opponents to take awkward shots. His defensive capabilities gave him three All-Star invites and, more importantly, inclusion in the first ever national basketball team composed of PBA players in
1990 Asian Games
The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...
, purportedly as coach
Robert Jaworski
Robert Vincent Salazar Jaworski Sr. (; born March 8, 1946) is a Filipino former professional basketball player, head coach and politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1998 to 2004. He played 23 seasons in the Philippine Bas ...
's personal choice. He was also an integral part of the San Miguel franchise’s Grand Slam run in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
.
His stock fell off the grid as the 90s came because of various injuries. Unlike contemporary
Jerry Codiñera
Jerry Herman Codiñera (born November 14, 1966) is a Filipino coach and retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. He is nicknamed the "Defense Minister" for his prowess at the defensive end. He is the curr ...
, he never really had a firm grasp on the starting PF/C spot, and it didn't help him that he had the more illustrious
Ramon Fernandez
Ramon Sadaya Fernandez (; born October 3, 1953) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission. Fernandez won four PBA Most Valuable Player awards and a record 19 PBA titles. F ...
as his teammate and the team's main man. He was the last part of the Grand Slam squad to leave the Beermen when he was assigned to Ginebra a year before his eventual retirement.
After his retirement, he left the Philippines and is currently residing in the US.
National team career
Dignadice was a member of two Philippine national teams: the first one was with the
NCC-backed national team that won the gold medal during the
1985 ABC Championship
The 1985 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was held from December 28, 1985, to January 5, 1986, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Preliminary round
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Final round
Classifica ...
(now FIBA Asia) in Kuala Lumpur, and second with the all-pro Philippine squad that won silver during the
1990 Asian Games
The 1990 Asian Games also known as the XI Asiad and the 11th Asian Games ( zh, c=第十一届亚洲运动会, p=Dì shíyī jiè yàzhōu yùndònghuì), were held from September 22 to October 7, 1990, in Beijing, China. This was the first Asian Ga ...
in Beijing.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dignadice, Yves
1963 births
Living people
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Asian Games silver medalists for the Philippines
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel players
Basketball players at the 1990 Asian Games
Basketball players from Iloilo
Centers (basketball)
Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games
Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars
Philippine Basketball Association players with retired numbers
Philippines men's national basketball team players
Filipino men's basketball players
Power forwards (basketball)
San Miguel Beermen players
Sportspeople from Iloilo City
De La Salle Green Archers basketball players