Casio makes incomplete debut

Casio's ceiling: Alaska's LA Tenorio
minus the crossover and stepback 3s

As expected, this year's top draft pick Jayvee Casio finally made his much anticipated debut for the Powerade Tigers against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in yesterday's out of town game in Victorias City, Negros Occidental after recovering from injuries suffered in his FIBA tour of duty.

Little was expected of Casio however, since apart from coming back from the injured list, the Tigers were enjoying a respectable 2-1 win loss card thanks to a more balanced roster that is spearheaded by the league's leading scorer Gary David and arguably the best second option today, rookie Marcio Lassiter.

And while we wait for Casio to be at a 100%, it's quite obvious that he'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to play big minutes for the Tigers. If you thought that Dylan Ababou had it tough with the Barako Bulls playing behind a bunch of small forwards in Danny Seigle, Allein Maliksi, Sunday Salvacion, etc., then Casio's arguably the 3rd best PG in head coach Bo Perasol's rotation.

Celino Cruz (who had an impressive game yesterday but showed a lack of end game poise that ultimately cost his team the win-- he should've held to the ball longer in the dying minutes) will always be ranked as the Tigers' lead guard. Then there's Rudy Lingganay, a rookie-clone of Cruz. Behind Casio will be UE's James Martinez (who, like Casio, is also an undersized shooting guard) and Ateneo's Jai Reyes (who wouldn't even be in the PBA if not for his surname and Alma Mater).

As I've said before, Casio's strength will always be his shooting in any part of the game. He'll be a valuable 2nd option in clutch situations, because I doubt that Perasol will call any end game plays for him over their main man David.

What I fear is that, Casio's patented land-forward three pointers (watch him closely, he'll take off at the three point line and land a foot inside it, opposite of what Alaska's L.A. Tenorio's stepback threes) won't work in the pros once he's scouted because taller guards would simply block his shot or force him to jump into them which will result in an offensive foul.

Also, Casio needs an X's and O's coach to be effective at PG in the PBA where free-wheeling offense reigns. The difference between our guards and those in Asia is simply: ours can adjust on the fly because they are highly skilled dribblers and experienced enough to see cracks in any defense (Jimmy Alapag, Tenorio, Alex Cabagnot). In case you haven't been paying much attention and has been lost with all the SMART Gilas hype and love, Casio either calls his own number by asking for a double pick up top OR passes to a guy who's open-- not that there's anything wrong with it. But more open because of circumstance rather than a set offensive play.

Casio would thrive in pick-and-roll situations but the Tigers don't have a solid enough center to pose as a threat (maybe Doug Kramer?). I don't belittle Perasol's coaching abilities, but you'd be lying to yourself if you think he's a great coach-- the man let his ASSISTANT Alex Compton design a play in the DYING seconds for crying out loud while playing the role of cheerleader/ wide-eyed observer. WTF.

In reality, Casio would've been a better fit with B-Meg where he could be a Tenorio clone under Tim Cone. With Powerade, he's too raw as a PG and will be exposed by the league's premier guards and too small to play SG with the best of them. I don't question his heart, I question his game when matched against others.

To sum it up, Casio is:

Shorter/ smaller than: Denok Miranda, Mike Cortez, Alex Cabagnot, Paul Artadi, Wyne Arboleda, Paul Lee, Ryan Reyes, Jayson Castro, Willie Miller

Slower than: Castro, Cabagnot, Artadi, Rob Labagala, Jimmy Alapag,

For his sake, I do hope that Casio carves a solid PBA career where I honestly don't see him becoming a star. We've seen former amateur MVPs and stars fail in the PBA before (Al Magpayo, Ken Bono, Cris Cantojos hell, even Mike Cortez to name a few), I just wish that things turn out different for him.

P.S.

And now we could honestly say that if the league held a do-over in the draft, it would be Lee, Lassiter and Chris Lutz at the top 3. Para tuloy nung taong dapat Williams-Santos-Espinas ung top pero panggulo si Joseph Yeo who was drafted by, well, surprise! The Tigers.