Survey shows 7 rookie shoo-ins

MANILA, Philippines - A survey of coaches from the PBA’s 10 different clubs revealed seven unanimous choices as first round picks in the 34-man draft at Robinson’s Place Manila this afternoon. The Magnificent 7 are Jvee Casio of La Salle, Paul Lee of UE, Marcio Lassiter of California State at Fullerton, Chris Lutz of Marshall University, Mac Baracael of FEU, Mark Barroca of FEU and Dylan Ababou of UST. They made it to the top 10 lists of the 10 PBA coaches who all declined to be identified.

Casio, 24, topped the lists of the 10 coaches who submitted their picks to The Star the other day. Lee, 22, was second in six lineups while Lassiter, 24, took the same spot in four. Casio, Lee and Lassiter were the only players considered for the top two choices. Baracael, 26, was selected third by three coaches. Also picked third were Lassiter by five and Lee by two. Taking fourth place votes were Baracael with five, Lutz with three, Lassiter with one and Lee with one. Barroca, 25, led the balloting for fifth spot with four votes. Lutz, 26, had three, Baracael two and Lee one.

Ababou, 24, had six eighth place votes. He was named twice with the sixth pick and twice with the seventh.

Aside from the seven consensus first round shoo-ins, others who drew votes were Allein Maliksi of UST, Jason Ballesteros of San Sebastian, Reil Cervantes of FEU, Eric Salamat of Ateneo, Magi Sison of UP, Ariel Mepana of the University of the Visayas, John Raymundo of San Sebastian and Ken Acibar of UE. In all, only 15 of 34 draft applicants were chosen in the survey of first round prospects.

It’s no surprise that six of the Magnificent 7 came from coach Rajko Toroman’s Smart Gilas program. The only exception is Lee. Asked to list his own top 10 prospective first-rounders, Toroman named, in order, Casio, Lassiter, Lutz, Baracael, Barroca, Ababou, Ballesteros, Lee, Maliksi and Cervantes.

Maliksi, 23, and Ballesteros, 25, were named in nine of the 10 lists in the survey. Cervantes, 25, was picked in five and Salamat, 23, in three. Selected by one PBA coach each were Mepana, 27, Raymundo, 22, Sison, 23, and Acibar, 21.

Maliksi played in only two UAAP seasons, averaging 7.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 12.8 minutes. But he shone brightly in the inaugural PBA D-League season, capturing MVP honors. Cervantes had a year left in his UAAP eligibility but opted to skip his final season with FEU to join the draft. He averaged 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 20.9 minutes in his varsity career.

The 6-3 1/4, 210-pound Mepana went the rounds of the PBL, Liga and D-League. Raymundo, a point guard, shot 18-of-25 in the around-the-world shooting drill at the rookie camp and has played in the PBL and D-League. Sison is the tallest in the draft, standing 6-6 3/4 and registered the highest two-step vertical leap of 11-1 in the rookie skills test. There are only four applicants over 6-5 – Sison, 6-6 1/4 Ballesteros, 6-5 1/2 Cervantes and 6-5 1/4 Ezer Resopa of UE.

Two US-born applicants were scratched from the draft eligibles as their papers were not completed in time. Fil-foreigners are required to submit documents from the Bureau of Immigration and Department of Justice affirming their dual citizenship before they are cleared to enter the draft. Struck out were Raymond Montaniel and Christopher Pestano, both born in Toronto. Montaniel, 28, is a 5-10 3/4 guard while Pestano, 26, is a 6-3 forward who played for UST in 2004-05.

Salamat, a 5-11 1/2 guard, was the seventh overall pick by two coaches and the 10th choice of another. He is one of several crack point guards trying their luck in the draft. Casio, Lee, Raymundo and Barroca are cut in the same mold. UE’s James Martinez is also a point guard applying for the draft. In the UAAP last season, Martinez averaged 12.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 25.9 minutes.

A surprise entry in the survey was Acibar, a 6-3 1/4, 175-pounder who made it to the UAAP Mythical Five selection last season. He played for Adamson high school and UE in the seniors. Acibar posted a one-step vertical leap of 11-1 in the rookie skills test.