Looking for the right fit

Six games into the conferences and we've more or less established which teams have meshed well with their respective imports and those who have not.

Leading the pack are returnees Adam Parada of Alaska and Earl Barron of Meralco, followed by Marcus Douthit of Air21, Denzel Bowles of B-Meg, Rodney White of Barako Bull, Jackson Vroman of Ginebra, Nick Fazekas of Petron, Dwayne Jones of Powerade, Duke Crews of Rain or Shine and Donnel Harvey of Talk 'n' Text.

KKS Big Daddy Douthit
unstoppable on the block

Marcus Douthit, Air 21
A finesse big man who is pretty much the most versatile of the lot. He can run, score, rebound and intimidate-- all at 7 feet. He's not a locker room cancer or barks orders to his young teammates, and has the international pedigree to command double teams and know what to do in different scenarios. While the acquisition of champion-level guys like Bitoy Omolon and Mark Isip have helped the Express a lot this conference, it's Douthit who is leading the way with his steadying presence.


Dwayne Jones, Powerade
SMART Gilas Pilipinas option 2, yep, you read it right. Jones was one of the original reinforcements being eyed for naturalization before we were blessed with a certain Marcus Douthit. As a player, Jones doesn't have the same skill set as Douthit but thrives as a low post banger and rebounder-- something that perfectly compliments the Tigers' main man Gary David's game. Think Kobe and Shaq, minus the drama and theatricals.

Parada: calculating and methodical

Adam Parada, Alaska
He's not the 30 points, 20 rebounds kind of import but in a team built like the Aces, Parada is a good fit. Not only does his presence allows local bigs Sonny Thoss (rebounder) and JayR Reyes (scorer) slide to the 4 spot where they enjoy an obvious height advantage, but it creates all sorts of scoring and passing options for L.A. Tenorio. And though the Aces have dropped the triangle in favor of a more fastbreaking attack, Parada serves as the invaluable anchor in the whole gameplan.

Nick Fazekas, Petron
He's been here quite a bit, and his team has been winning, but the Boosters could've done better than to get a 7"0 shooting guard in the mold of a Dirk Nowitzki. Yes, he scores (a lot), but he doesn't strike fear into the hearts of opponents. His rebounding numbers are solid, but anytime your big import is being out-rebounded by a local, then you probably need other players to start filling in gaps on offense and defense.

Denzel Bowles, B-Meg
Yet another Sean Chambers-like find for coach Tim Cone. More blue collar than flashy, Bowles is an effective center for the Llamados and playing within the triangle offense. He has range, can dribble and pass the basketball to the open man. He never forces it inside, and is willing to take a backseat for star James Yap.

Jackson Vroman, Ginebra

Vroman: fiery and vocal, but not
what Ginebra needs

Wow. Just wow. What an amazing basketball talent who is both relentless and polished offensively. Did the Kings make the right decision by letting 7"0 Chris Alexander go? No. They were being too greedy. Vroman is a great import and is arguably the best in the league skills-wise, but the Kings were doing well with Alexander who was concentrating more on playing defense and rebounding given the amount of scoring talent he had around him. Ginebra wanted a 20-20 import even if they would and could've dominated the competition with a 15-20 one in Alexander. Now they're paying the price, with an import that is having a hard time playing defense versus bigger opponents (as shown in last night's game versus B-Meg's Bowles).

Barron: NBA champion. Played behind
Shaq, Zo and Doleac for the Miami Heat in 2006

Earl Barron, Meralco
In case you haven't seen Barron in action owing to the hatred you have for his teammate MacMac Cardona, then think of him as a slightly younger version of Air21's Marcus Douthit-- minus the defense. Offensively, Barron brings so much firepower to the Bolts' table that it's a wonder how Chris Ross isn't averaging more than 10 assists a game-- oh wait, they're playing with MacMac Cardona AND Sol Mercado. Okay. Makes sense. Anyway, all Barron really needs at this point is to be paired with a rebounder- Gabby Espinas has always shown promise on that end, but they need someone bigger and heftier to do the dirty work while Barron picks his spots on the floor.

Duke Crews, Rain or Shine
One on one, other than Ginebra's Jackson Vroman, there's no other import in the league who combines offensive skills with tenacity as the undersized Crews. But that's just it-- he's undersized. You know you're in a bad situation if your opponent is able to rest their import and have a bruising local guard yours. Crews is relentless as he is explosive on the floor- problem is, he tends to become a "black hole" all to himself whenever he has the ball. He takes too much time to make his move, and kills/ stagnates the RoS' offense.

Donnell Harvey, Talk 'n' Text and Rodney White, Barako Bull
Haven't seen these two play for more than two games so the jury's still out on them. BB is a joke for getting a wingman in Dermarr Johnson when their obvious need was as the center position (Mick Penissi is not a center). TNT? Well, you can't always win them all I guess.

Which import, in your honest opinion, do you think is the best/bad fit for his team?