Anthony "Jayjay" Helterbrand (born Lamberto Romero Vicente, Jr. on October 14, 1976) is a Filipino-American basketball player for Biñan Tatak Gel of the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). He previously played with the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Known by many as Helter Skelter, he is also known, along with backcourt tandem Mark Caguioa, as one-half of the so-called, The Fast and the Furious.

Jayjay Helterbrand
Helterbrand (left) with the Barangay Ginebra Kings in 2007
No. 13 – Biñan Tatak Gel
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
LeaguePilipinas Super League
Personal information
Born (1976-10-14) October 14, 1976 (age 47)
Quezon City, Philippine
NationalityFilipino / American
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
CollegeKentucky State
PBA draft2000: Direct hire
Selected by the Barangay Ginebra Kings
Playing career2000–2017; 2019–present
Career history
2000Batangas Blades
2000–2002, 2004–2017Barangay Ginebra Kings / Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
2019–2020Imus Khaleb Shawarma
2022–2023Boracay Islanders
2023Imus SV Squad
2023–presentBiñan Tatak Gel
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Philippines
William Jones Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Taipei Team

Professional career edit

He played one game for the Batangas Blades in the Metropolitan Basketball Association before signing with the Barangay Ginebra Kings in March 2000. He was recruited by Ginebra through coach Ron Jacobs to play back up for Bal David as preparation to supplant him in the starting lineup.

Helterbrand started being noticed when he began coming into the game with eventual 2001 PBA Rookie of the Year Mark Caguioa. Their exciting play led to them being called as the "Bandana Brothers" for the headbands they wear during games. During the 2004 PBA season, the fantastic duo were tagged as "The Fast and The Furious," the moniker has since been used to describe them. His tandem with Mark Caguioa is one of the most popular and arguably the best backcourt tandem in the league history.

In 2003, he went back to the States after his first contract with Ginebra expired and negotiation for a new one fell through. He came back at the start of 2004 and was a major contributor in the team's back-to-back championships that year.

Injury sidelined him for five months at the start of 2005 but has mainly recovered and even won two MVP awards for the year, the Brunei Cup and the 2005 PBA All-Stars. He is considered to be one of the best point guards in the league.

After he returned to Ginebra, he quickly made an impact and was named the Comeback Player of the Year by the PBA Press Corps. He assumed the starting point guard chores after Bal David got injured and was subsequently released. He was also named MVP in Team Pilipinas' victorious run in the Sultan Cup in Brunei.

In 2008, he was again included in the RP Training Pool headed by Coach Yeng Guiao.

In 2009, Helterband was awarded the Best Player of the Fiesta Conference for leading the Kings to the finals, and he eventually won the Season MVP. However, the Team Pilipinas couldn't elevate to a much higher finish as they lost to the Korean national team in the battle for 7th place in the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship. An unusual Helterbrand finished his stint with a 1–11 from the three point area.

On June 8, 2009, he was awarded the 2008–2009 PBA season MVP, his first MVP award as a professional since entering the league in 2000.[1]

In August 2015, Helterbrand announced his retirement from the game of basketball at the end of the 2015–16 PBA season.[2] However, after Ginebra won the 2016 Governors' Cup, he announced that he will play for one more season. After the 2016–17 PBA season concluded, Helterbrand announced his retirement after Ginebra winning the 2017 Governor's Cup championship.

PBA career statistics edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

[3][4]

Season-by-season averages edit

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000 Barangay Ginebra 27 22.9 .399 .313 .750 3.0 1.6 .9 .1 8.9
2001 Barangay Ginebra 52 21.8 .407 .263 .853 2.7 2.2 .7 .0 7.9
2002 Barangay Ginebra 27 19.0 .390 .385 .765 2.5 2.4 .7 .0 4.6
2004–05 Barangay Ginebra 52 30.2 .441 .408 .780 3.6 4.9 1.0 .1 11.6
2005–06 Barangay Ginebra 42 35.6 .426 .338 .741 4.5 5.1 1.1 .1 14.4
2006–07 Barangay Ginebra 30 35.6 .401 .292 .696 4.7 8.5 1.0 .0 13.1
2007–08 Barangay Ginebra 45 35.8 .275 .367 .704 4.7 6.5 .8 .0 18.1
2008–09 Barangay Ginebra 46 36.0 .398 .374 .811 3.8 5.0 .9 .0 17.6
2009–10 Barangay Ginebra 36 28.7 .369 .285 .705 3.3 4.6 .9 .1 8.6
2010–11 Barangay Ginebra 29 19.7 .369 .280 .542 2.2 2.7 .9 .0 5.4
2011–12 Barangay Ginebra 34 24.1 .368 .339 .731 2.2 3.5 .8 .0 7.2
2012–13 Barangay Ginebra 49 20.7 .344 .317 .676 2.7 2.5 .4 .1 6.6
2013–14 Barangay Ginebra 41 15.9 .370 .288 .826 1.9 2.0 .4 .1 5.2
2014–15 Barangay Ginebra 26 12.9 .278 .231 .688 1.6 1.7 .4 .0 2.8
2015–16 Barangay Ginebra 35 7.3 .315 .228 .250 1.1 .6 .3 .0 1.7
2016–17 Barangay Ginebra 19 6.5 .206 .130 .600 .6 1.2 .3 .0 1.1
Career 590 24.5 .375 .329 .741 3.0 3.6 .7 .1 9.1

Personal life edit

Helterbrand is in a relationship to Filipina actress RR Enriquez.

References edit

  1. ^ "Kings' Helterbrand reigns supreme in PBA". GMA News Online.
  2. ^ Badua, Snow (August 7, 2015). "Former MVP Jayjay Helterbrand set to play farewell PBA season with Ginebra". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  3. ^ "Jayjay Helterbrand Player Profile - PBA-Online.net". PBA-Online.net.
  4. ^ "Jayjay Helterbrand Player Profile - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com.

External links edit