Release the Kraken! Aguilar flourishes in 2011 debut

In only his second PBA game (the first being a cameo with Burger King two years ago), Japeth Aguilar showed uncanny athleticism never before seen from a Filipino player of his size on the basketball court. To say that Aguilar is already a force to be reckoned with in the PBA could and should be a fair assessment of the 6"9 jumping jack's abilities.

For the record, Aguilar tallied 27 points on 9/13 shooting with 8 rebounds, 1 block, 2 steals and 2 turnovers in 32 minutes for Talk 'n' Text.

Breaking down Aguilar's game, he scored mostly on drives to the basket which showed great dribbling ability for his size and footspeed. In the PBA brand of play where defenses are not as disciplined as the international scene and one-on-one forays are encouraged, Aguilar will definitely be in a class of his own. It also didn't help that the guys who were asked to defend him were either 1) too raw, 2) too slow, 3) not very good defenders.

Aguilar, to his credit, has added a considerable amount of weight to keep opponents from beating him up whenever he cuts to the basket and is now a pretty bankable jumpshooter from 15 to 17 feet.

The only comparison I can make here is the one with Danny Seigle back in 1999. While Seigle is nowhere near Aguilar's athletic ability, he dominated the league because he was the tallest at his position at the time and had legit skills (small forward). Ditto with Aguilar, who should be considered more as a flex small forward rather than what his height deems him to be (power forward or center).

Is Aguilar the best small forward in the PBA? No, that belongs to Arwind Santos. Power forward? I don't see him overtaking Joe DeVance who is bound to breakout under Tim Cone at B-Meg. Center? Perhaps, but I doubt that Chot Reyes would even ask or expect Aguilar to camp in the shaded area for more than five minutes.

Right now, Aguilar has legit pick-up basketball skills. He runs the floor like a gazelle and is ultra athletic. He can dribble, has a pretty reliable jumper and is always on the lookout for weakside blocks.

What Aguilar still hasn't shown (or probably learned to do) is play with his back to the basket. Even China's Yi Jian Lian knows a move or two in the paint (post-up fade away) so there's no excuse for Aguilar to not have one. This, in my opinion, is what will keep Aguilar from realizing his true potential as the best Filipino big man to ever play the game.

I want to see Aguilar take on Beau Belga, Reynel Hugnatan, Kelly Williams, Sonny Thoss, Eric Menk and even Arwind Santos to see how far he's gone. If he wants to be a dominant big, then he'll need to go through the greats or survive B-Meg's freakishly tall, "sampayan brigade." If he wants to continue with this hybrid forward role he's playing for Talk 'n' Text, then Santos is the one guy he needs to outshine.

Also, grabbing EIGHT rebounds for a 6"9 jumping jack with unparalleled athleticism is a bit too low on my mark. In the PBA, Aguilar should be good for 20-12 on a daily basis. Good thing here is that, he seems to be the kind of guy who just plays basketball at every possession.

Lastly, someone please remind Aguilar that he's taller than his opponents and could easily outjump them without even trying so why is he still jumping out of his shoes and biting on fakes?