Something to prove

A kid fresh out of college will try to upstage the veteran imports in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) First Conference starting Oct. 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Purefoods Chunkee Giants coach Ryan Gregorio is taking a risk on 6-4, 200-pound Marquin Theo Jimmy Chandler but seems to like the odds.

Chandler, 23, is Gregorio’s choice as the Giants’ reinforcement in the season-opening conference with a height limit of 6-6 for imports. Attempts to bring back Marcus Melvin or Lenny Cooke didn’t work out, leaving Gregorio the option of hiring Chandler who might just be a blessing in disguise.

Throughout Chandler’s varsity career, he begged for the opportunity to show his wares. As a freshman at George Washington University in 2000-01, he played sparingly and averaged only two points. The next season, Chandler sat out 11 games on a league-imposed penalty then came back to score 6.1 points an outing. He had some bright moments but they were few and far between.

Looking for a fresh start, Chandler transferred to San Jose State where he redshirted for a year before suiting up as a junior in 2003-04. Chandler wound up averaging 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds. An eye-popping stat was his 51 percent marksmanship from three-point distance in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play.

More of a wing forward than a power player, Chandler slowly made his presence felt in the Spartans rotation. He earned 11 starts in 29 games in his first year at San Jose State.

This past season, Chandler blossomed into a full-fledged superstar. He averaged 19.1 points and 8.3 rebounds in 29 outings. Chandler shot .475 from the field, .353 from three-point range and .774 from the line. The showing earned for Chandler a slot on the All-WAC second mythical team. He was only the third Spartan to be named either to the first or second squad since the varsity joined the WAC nine years ago. The other two were former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Tariq Abdul-Wahad who made it to the first team in 1996-97 and Michael Quinney who was on the second team in 1998-99.

Despite the breakout performance, Chandler was ignored in the NBA draft last June. He managed to play for the Sacramento Kings tryout team at the Las Vegas Summer League last August but was hardly used. Chandler averaged 2.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 7.5 minutes for the Kings.

In his overseas debut, Chandler is determined to make an impact as the Giants import. He’ll be up against PBA comebacking imports like Alaska’s Artemus McClary, Sta. Lucia Realty’s Cooke and Talk ‘N’ Text’s Damien Cantrell but he’s not about to lose sleep thinking about the coming matchups.

Chandler likes the challenge of proving himself. He’s been doing it all his life.

Gregorio says he’s still in the process of finalizing the Giants roster. So far, he’s cut Tony Boy Espinosa and Dennis Madrid. Returning to the lineup from Shell is Roger Yap. With James Yap in the Purefoods cast, it looks like a case of two Yaps are better than one. The draft brought in Jondan Salvador who was impressive in the Jones Cup this year.

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