Rookies shine in PBA

There were 44 players chosen in the PBA rookie draft last month and so far, 22 have seen action in the Philippine Cup with Barangay Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter clearly the standout of the freshman class.

Slaughter, 25, is the only rookie ranked in the league’s top 10 standings in scoring, field goal percentage, rebounding, blocked shots and minutes played. There isn’t a more dominant first-year player than the 6-11 5/8 center from the University of the Visayas and Ateneo. Slaughter is averaging 15.2 points and 10.3 rebounds with five double-doubles to his credit. More importantly, Slaughter has figured prominently in Ginebra’s surge to an 8-1 record. In the Barangay’s 97-83 win over Petron last Christmas Day, Slaughter compiled 17 points on 8-of-16 field goals, 1-of-1 from the line, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in 35 minutes.

The highest-drafted player who still has to report for duty in the PBA is J. P. Erram who was selected in the second round by Alaska. Erram, who stands 6-7 3/8, never played in the D-League but his ceiling certainly had a lot to do in convincing the Aces to take a chance on him in the draft. The former Ateneo center was chosen over Air 21’s Eric Camson, Talk ‘N’ Text’s Robby Celiz and eight others who’ve already played this conference. The lowest-drafted player who has seen action is San Mig Coffee’s J. R. Cawaling who was picked last in the third round.

Every PBA team has played a rookie even as the Texters, Petron, Meralco, Barako Bull and Air 21 had no first round pick in the draft. Here are the rookies who’ve played in at least a game so far – Slaughter and James Forrester for Ginebra, Ian Sangalang, Justin Melton, Isaac Holstein and Cawaling for San Mig Coffee, Anjo Caram for Meralco, Eliud (Eloy) Poligrates and Celiz for Talk ‘N’ Text, Jeric Teng, Alex Nuyles and Raymond Almazan for Rain Or Shine, Ryan Buenafe and Chris (Ping) Exciminiano for Alaska, Jeric Fortuna and Carlo Lastimosa for Barako Bull, Camson for Air 21, Sam Marata for Petron and Terrence Romeo, R. R. Garcia, Nico Salva and Justin Chua for Globalport.

Still waiting for a call to play are Globalport’s L. A. Revilla of La Salle and MLQU’s Jopher Custodio. Revilla was a late entry to the draft and opted to renounce his last year of UAAP eligibility to turn pro. He was picked on the third round by the Batang Pier franchise ahead of Marata, Caram, Poligrates and Cawaling. Custodio, 26, was Globalport’s first pick in the third round, two slots over Revilla. He’s a 6-1 5/8 shooting guard from Pangasinan with experience in the D-League.

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The surprise in the draft is Camson, a burly power forward from Adamson and the only rookie in the Express lineup. In his last four outings, Camson averaged 7.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, playing alongside Asi Taulava in the frontline. Camson, 23, checked in at 6-3 3/8 with a 77-inch wingspan during the official sizing supervised by the PBA. Another surprise is Poligrates who took Best Player honors in his PBA debut where he hit 15 points in fueling the Texters’ 89-80 win over Meralco last Nov. 17. Since the eruption, Poligrates hasn’t contributed much to the Tropa’s offense, scoring only 18 in his next seven games for an overall clip of 4.1 points.

Aside from Slaughter, the rookie who’s making big waves is Romeo, the former FEU spitfire who exploded for 34 points in 32 minutes in Globalport’s 114-100 demolition of Air 21 last Nov. 23. Consistency is an issue with Romeo who notched only a point in a win over Rain Or Shine and two in a loss to San Mig Coffee. Still, Romeo is averaging 14.9 points, next only to Slaughter among the top rookie scorers. His backcourt teammate Garcia is norming 9.6 points with a high of 20 scored in a loss to Ginebra.

Of San Mig Coffee’s four rookies, Sangalang has shown tremendous progress and is ranked among the top 10 in offensive rebounding. The 6-5 5/8 power forward from San Sebastian College is averaging 11.8 points with a high of 15 and a slow of seven, indicating a rare consistency for a rookie.

Three rookies who have been a disappointment are Forrester, Holstein and Melton. Forrester was the fourth overall draft pick and is averaging only 1.6 points. Holstein was the seventh overall choice and is averaging 1.4 points. Holstein is a 6-7 1/4 forward with an 83 1/2 inch wingspan. Somehow, he hasn’t been able to make his mark in the Mixers frontline which is loaded with Sangalang, Marc Pingris, Rafi Reavis, Joe DeVance and Yancy de Ocampo. Melton hit five points in his San Mig Coffee debut and hasn’t played since the loss to Ginebra last Nov. 17.

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Other rookies who’ve enjoyed their moments of brilliance are Exciminiano (16 points against Air 21), Cawaling (15 against Petron), Lastimosa (15 against Air 21), Chua (12 against Rain Or Shine, 11 against Talk ‘N’ Text and San Mig Coffee), Caram (6 against Air 21), Salva (9 against Air 21) and Teng (10 against Barako Bull). The only rookie who has yet to score a point is Marata who went scoreless in his PBA debut against Barako Bull last Dec. 4.  

Teng said recently he’s lucky to be playing with co-freshmen Nuyles and Almazan. “Alex is very athletic and a tough defender,” said the 22-year-old Teng. “If the defense relaxes, he’ll score. Raymond is proving why he’s a top three draft pick, he can score inside and outside and he’s a dominating rebounder. I feel blessed that I’m with our team. Before the draft, I practiced with Globalport, Barako and San Mig Coffee so I was surprised when Rain Or Shine picked me. I’m very happy with Rain Or Shine. The Chinese management (owners Terry Que and Raymund Yu) is very supportive. My teammates are all helping me to improve, like Jervy (Cruz) who’s from UST like me, Chris (Tiu) and T. Y. (Teng) who are also from Xavier like me and Ryan (Arana) and Paul (Lee) whom I shoot with and play 1-on-1 after practice. They’re all giving me advice, also Gabe (Norwood) on what I should do in certain situations. We’re all very close, we have good team rapport and communication.”

Against Barako Bull last Dec. 1, Teng said he had fits defending Willie Miller. “Kuya Willie is so experienced and so deadly in many ways,” he said. “When he posts up, it’s hard to stop him from scoring. I also defended Mark Macapagal and Jonas Villanueva. I’m slowly adjusting and taking it one game at a time.” The Elasto Painters won, 91-83, with Teng contributing 10 points.                                           

   Teng said his aim is to improve game after game. “I want to do better than my previous game,” he said. “Not just in terms of points but in defense and distributing the ball. My focus is to keep improving.”