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| Photo courtesy of pba.inquirer.net |
Granted, we've been one of the biggest Japeth Aguilar haters/ trollers this side of the Pinoy Hoops Internet kingdom but all in good reason. The newly-minted Barangay Ginebra San Miguel big man has often drawn our ire/ frustration/ disappointment only because we expect so much. The physical tools are undeniable, the desire to play and fearlessness is admirable-- but at this point in Aguilar's now seasoned PBA career, we want more.
We want to see dominance. To hell with rim-rattling dunks if it means that this guy will start averaging 15 points a night and hauling down at the very fukking least TEN rebounds. The guy is near three inches taller than the average PBA center. He out jumps (and quite possibly outruns) every center in the entire index of Filipino big men past and present. Of course we'll troll him for biting on Beau Belga's pump fakes. The guy is a 6"9 athlete jumping to block a shot coming from a 6"6, maximum five inches hang time, "grounded" bruiser. If you think that there's nothing wrong with that scenario, you don't know big man basketball.
So technically, other than Gilas teammates Jimmy Alapag, Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo and Marcus Douthit, Aguilar is one of the Gilas' veterans. This is his nth time suiting up for the National team. He's been riding the national team bench you'd think he's the resident Christian Laettner to every Gilas incarnation's Dream Team.
We don't know how much Aguilar has improved, but it would be hard to imagine that he's become a poor man's Yi Jianlian overnight. They brought Belga in to rough this kid (along with the other Gilas bigs) up going into the FIBA Asia campaign. The time could have been used to ensure that Aguilar learns from the bruiser and know all the dirty tricks of the big man trade.
So what should we all realistically expect from Aguilar going in?
So what should we all realistically expect from Aguilar going in?
Not much. With Douthit and De Ocampo sure to get heavy minutes, not to mention the stronger, beefier Junemar Fajardo, Aguilar will be the token reserve big man used sparingly unless its a game against a team of lesser abilities. Aguilar needs to play defense, use his speed to move around a la the Miami Heat's Chris Bosh, and have more discipline on the court (re: not bite on pump fakes). He also needs to get into either proper rebounding position, or to places where he can score easily (dump passes, lobs or his preferred mid-range jumpshot). Absolutely no dribbling forays please.
How big of an impact do you think Aguilar will have in the FIBA-Asia?
How big of an impact do you think Aguilar will have in the FIBA-Asia?
ReplyDelete0, he will be used sparingly, then he'll start to whine. Big Beau > Japeth all day
Impact-o mode si Japeth.
ReplyDeleteKinginang yan, Chot home boy.
Granted that Marcus, RDO and JuneMar will get most of the minutes, Belg should have been included in the team. I would rather have a banger and a great team mate be our 12th man. Japeth has yet to realize his potential and seems to lack heart and desire to represent the country. I think this was a mistake in Chot's part, if our bigs get into foul trouble early facing a tough China team, I'd rather send in a confident Belga rather than a scared Japeth. I hope he proves me wrong though.
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