Maierhofer leads ROY contenders

MANILA, Philippines - Purefoods’ Rico Maierhofer is the leading contender for the Rookie of the Year award with Sta. Lucia’s Joshua Urbiztondo the surprise No. 2 candidate through the Christmas break of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup.

Maierhofer, the former La Salle stalwart who can now be considered the year’s top draft pick on Japeth Aguilar’s decision to revert back to the amateurs, leads the league neophytes in the stats race with 20.5 statistical points per game.

He’s just outside the top 30 among all players in the overall stats derby.

The 6-foot-6 center-forward, chosen by Purefoods behind Aguilar in the 2009 draft exercise, is living up to expectation, averaging 8.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 1.1 blocks and 0.1 steal.

Urbiztondo, however, is proving to be a big revelation with the undrafted Fil-Am guard norming 8.2 points, 2.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 0.9 steal for second in the ROY race with an average of 17.9 SPs.

The 5-10 playmaker, one of 35 players left unpicked in the 2009 draft, leads all freshmen in assists and is second behind Ogie Menor in scoring.

He’s once a recipient of the Accel-KFC Player of the Week honors.

Jervy Cruz, the No. 3 draft selection by Rain or Shine, is third in the ROY race with 14.1 SPs an outing.

The 6-foot-4 forward out of University of Santo Tomas puts in 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Menor, the sixth pick, is running fourth in the derby, followed by Burger King’s No. 8 choice Ronnie Matias.

Menor averages 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists while Matias norms 6.6 points and 3.8 rebounds.