Thoughts on the PBA Leo Awards 2014

The first of many.
Ladies and gentlemen,
your undisputed PBA MVP

They finally got it right.

After a year (or two, or three) of head scratching awardees that left a lot of room for debate, the Philippine Basketball Association finally got it right (in terms of current public perception anyway) with this year’s Leo Awardees.

Here, we take a look at the winners and some names that were left off contention if only to reward or acknowledge that certain player/s efforts. In case people forget, this season had that “rushed” feeling in terms of games being played on a daily basis, conferences being tweaked and shortened all for the FIBA cause.

Now, before you argue that the players are generously paid for the services they render, please be mindful that they are human beings who push their bodies to a level that the everyday Twitter hater could only dream of. That being said, nothing beats a full day’s rest (or more) so we pretty much owe it to the guy to thank them even if it’s only by way of this small market blog.

Sportsmanship Award: Willie MillerFormer two-time PBA Most Valuable Player Willie Miller is what Filipino basketball is all about: competitive and bruising yet stylish and fun. While his body no longer allows him to post the same numbers that has helped him become “The Thriller,” it’s refreshing to know that he still plays the game with gusto and joy and passing it to the next generation.


Most Improved Player: Junemar FajardoWe’re a little split on this vote since Fajardo didn’t really improve as much from his rookie season. No, more like he spent a bulk of the season injured on the sidelines and when he did play he wasn’t at a full 100% capacity. It’s a little early really, to be giving a sophomore an award for “improving.” If anything, the Air21 Express’ Joseph Yeo deserves a nod after moving from scorer to all around playmaker and leading his team to “darkhorse” territory. The Alaska Aces’ Gabby Espinas, our KKS christened “The Prototype” also deserves some love for basically telling his buddy Abueva that hey, “I’m the NCAA Beast BEFORE The Beast. Not impressed? Talk to my ROY-MVP trophies at home.” Another one, GlobalPort’s Jay Washington just showed everyone that with no redundancy of talent (Arwind Santos) around, he’s still good for 20 and 10 a night.

Rookie of the Year: Greg Slaughter For all things Ian Sangalang of the San Mig Coffee Mixers, Slaughter basically had lady luck on his side. He came into a team that didn’t have a legit center or a coach who has no qualms of benching a 30-point scorer if the latter doesn’t commit to playing “the right way.” Had Sangalang been signed by Ginebra, he’d be pretty darn dominant right from the start despite giving up several inches to Slaughter. Then again, 7”0 guys who are willing to learn, run and get hit like Slaughter are generational talents that don’t come very often. Just think of it as Fajardo-Abueva 2.0, one guy was ready to take on the PBA right away, the other was slowly showing/ proving to be the future of the league.

Mythical 2nd Team: Paul Lee, PJ Simon, Greg Slaughter, Marc Pingris, Sonny ThossOther than the omission of PJ Simon from the Mythical first team, this five is about as darn impressive as you can get this season. To nitpick, Sonny Thoss also had a so-so season. Where the hell is GlobalPort’s Jay “I’m not dead yet!” Washington? That guy was posting 20 and 10s before getting hurt. How’d Thoss jump him on this list? Japeth Aguilar, prior to losing his mojo in the 2nd and 3rd conferences, was a borderline star for Ginebra wasn’t he?

Mythical 1st Team: Jayson Castro, Mark Barroca, JuneMar Fajardo, Ranidel De Ocampo, Asi Taulava
Can someone finally admit to himself that Jayson Castro, hailed as FIBA Asia’s Best Point Guard, is NOT a point guard? At all. His mentor Jimmy Alapag is still running the show over at Talk’n’Text (and much better we might add). And this list only supports that argument with Barroca sneaking in at the Mythical Backcourt selection. These are the best five guys to lace them up this season, playing with pride, passion and consistency all year long. Asi Taulava pretty much broke in there with an inspiring season (a year removed from his ASEAN Basketball League MVP award).

All-Defensive Team: Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood, JuneMar Fajardo, Mark Barroca, Jireh IbanesWithout question, this team can stop any five PBA All Star selection in a heartbeat. Now, though this may come as a surprise being that we are big Rain or Shine fans, but how does Jireh Ibanes win over accomplished defenders Ryan Reyes, Nonoy Baclao, Dondon Hontiveros and oh, we don't know, a bunch of other guys who actually play more than 20 minutes a game to stop someone?

Most Valuable Player: Junemar FajardoThe future of the PBA. The franchise of San Miguel Beer. There's no one in the PBA who has the strength, mobility, footwork and smarts. His chief rival, Slaughter, plays a more team-oriented game which is always nice. But Fajardo is already an accomplished low to high post scorer who can win games on his own. Championships however, he'll need to brush up on his kick out passes and maybe know how to pace himself. Taulava had an inspiring run, Slaughter was right up there, Castro and de Ocampo were winning games as well as the Mixers lot of Pingris, Simon and Barroca who were winning titles left and right. But this season, it was pretty clear that teams had to alter their game plans completely for Fajardo which is something that you can't say for Slaughter- not yet, at this point.