A Tall Story: Japeth vs The Legends (2/3)

In part one, we tackled how Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's 7"0 rookie Greg Slaughter would fare against arguably three of the better local names over 6"9 in Philippine basketball history. Now, we're going to take a look at how Slaughter's frontline buddy, the freakishly athletic 6"9 beanpole Japeth Aguilar, would do against Yancy de Ocampo, Marlou Aquino and or Asi Taulava (prime, since he's still playing).

vs De Ocampo
From a perimeter-oriented big man standpoint, de Ocampo and Aguilar are pretty much on the same boat only; de Ocampo has long established himself as an outside bomber while Aguilar's penchant for taking ill-advised threes didn't sit well with his coaches early in his PBA career. In a street ball duel, Aguilar would block the snot out of de Ocampo and just spike any and all attempts to the other court. In a game however, a motivated de Ocampo would make use of all of his little tricks (elbows and all), playing a grounded style. Also, Aguilar's knack for jumping at every shot thrown in his vicinity (thus the x number of times he has bitten on pump fakes) might put him in foul trouble. Then again, Aguilar's strength is his on and off-the-ball activity which negates whatever lack of fundamentally sound technique he has on both ends of the floor. In a team concept, five on five, de Ocampo MIGHT get a slight advantage if only because of his more polished game. But the way things are right now, with Aguilar not even in his prime-- just the way he his eyes out and leg muscles ready to explode at the very sight of a possible shot block/ dunk, de Ocampo doesn't stand a chance.

vs Aquino
This is going to be tough to explain, if only because the author is a big Marlou Aquino fan (good times and bad). When motivated (which happened only when 1) he was playing under Robert Jaworski, Sr. 2) his contract is up or 3) Yeng Guiao pissed him off from the sidelines), Aquino has the nifty foot work and all the kanto "get the ball in the hole" offense you can ask for from a 6"9 big man. However, his lack of speed, explosion and overall drive is going to make him easy pickings for a guy of Aguilar's prowess. Despite his numerous flaws (trust us, Aguilar still has a lot to learn), Aguilar preys on the timid and uninspired a hungry young lion would its unsuspecting prey. Block your weak ass shot well into the rafters? Aguilar. Dunk right over you and give you a Tea bag? Aguilar Knock down game winning threes because you're too lazy to step out to contest? Aguilar.

vs Taulava
So that makes 2/2 with wins over de Ocampo and Aquino, now it's time to face the the kind of player that Aguilar was expected/ bullied into becoming (a center). Against Taulava-prime (circa 2003, Taulava's lone PBA MVP year), it is going to be rough out there for Aguilar. Yes, the young bean pole has changed his game somewhat and is fighting physical defenses by being fearless on offense, but Taulava is Taulava and they don't call him The Rock for nothing. Taulava back in 2003 was strong, quick and immovable in the block. Once Taulava gets into position, there's nothing Aguilar can do but to give up fouls. On the opposite end, Aguilar has an advantage in speed but not by as much as you'd think. Taulava, for a man his size and heft, was pretty quick from end to end and covered a lot of ground with relative ease. Aguilar will win if he can knock down his jumpshots all night long, but Taulava's going to wear him down in a full match and take his lunch money.

Be sure to keep on checking out this page for the third and final installment in our "A Tall Story" series. There, we will discuss how a new-age yet traditional back-to-the-basket big man, Petron Blaze Boosters' 6"10 Junemar Fajardo, would measure up against the PBA Legends.