Saturday night action in the ACB produced three adrenaline-pumping roof-raising finishes (BallinEurope will post video clips momentarily) but the only Guinness record-shattering performance took place before hundreds in Barcelona, where no game was played.
Streetballer Rubén Alcaraz, a.k.a. “Filipy”, managed to keep a basketball spinning on a single fingertip (okay, thumb tip, to be specific) for a muscle- and concentration-straining 10 minutes 33 seconds, a mark that destroyed the previous record of under two minutes. Indeed, Filipy’s record bettered the old standard by an incredible 555%.
Per Guinness Book requirements regarding official witnesses, named to this task were Manresa players Román Montañez and Alex Llorca, while another 500 were on hand at Barcelona’s Pavelló Nord de Sabadell to watch Filipy.
(By matter of actual fact, Filipy easily topped two minutes while publicizing his attempt on Spanish radio – and no, BiE has no clue as to why a trick-shot artist would perform on radio – and claims to have topped 11 minutes at home, but hey, no official witnesses means no official Guinness record.)
For Spanish speakers, ACB.com writer Roc Massaguer turned in a surprisingly compelling piece on Filipy’s effort. Massaguer notes that Filipy panicked just a bit at the five-minute goal line he had set for himself, wondering “What if it never stops?” (Un pinchazo de pánico ha debido cruzar su mente cuando ha pensado: “¿Y si no acaba nunca?”). Fatigue and pain set in at eight minutes and when gravity finally won out, Filipy was “exhausted.”
Said Llorca: “I know I couldn’t do 10 minutes!”
As for Filipy, he claims he won’t be making any serious attempt to break his own record any time soon, if at all. Surely he’ll nevertheless have lots of time to enjoy holding this Guinness Book distinction.
