Ayo's Way

Photo: Rappler.com

In only his first season as a PBA head coach, Converge FiberXers' Aldin Ayo has made it clear that it's his show by making an example of both his Commissioner's Cup and Governor's Cup imports-- tournament standings/ seedings be damned.

If memory serves us right, the 6"10 Quincy Miller who was averaging nearly 31 points a game while leading the team to an 8-2 start was benched in a match against NorthPort due to disciplinary measures. This led to the team bowing out of the conference, as they couldn't recover or regroup from that loss.

Recently, in the ongoing season-ending Governor's Cup, it's the high-scoring Jamaal Franklin's turn to be sent home. This, following a series of 30-40+ point games which really brought more fans to the games. After a 50+ point output, it was said that Ayo told his import to share the basketball some more. Which, well, the import followed to the letter in a crucial match against Barangay Ginebra. Things got so bad, that Franklin simply refused to shoot and just kept passing the ball even when he was wide open for easy bunnies.

The Maverick

Photo: Manila Bulletin

This writer has to be honest with you, as a former Rain or Shine Elastopainters fan during head coach Yeng Guiao's initial run, I was not too thrilled when the team opted to draft one Maverick Ahanmisi over the NCAA triple-double machine Scottie Thompson in the 2015-2016 PBA Draft.

Sure, he was a legitimate US NCAA Division 1 talent for the University of Minnesota, but he averaged a little under 3 points and 1 rebound a game for his entire career. Though we were already in the age of social media, there was simply little to no talk of his game-- which was telling at the time, considering every Fil-foreigner looking for a PBA run had a (self-made) video montage on YouTube already (re: Julius Pasculado.

Additionally, this was during RoS' Paul Lee's final year with the team. So there was pressure from fans and management to find someone suitable to carry the team post-Lee. That being said, Lee left (after winning a title mid-season), Guiao left, and Ahanmisi averaged a little under 10 points and 3 assists in 25-26 minutes of play.

2017 PBA Mock Draft 2.0

Number 2? Or Number 1?
(Photo credit: Inquirer.net)

12. TNT - Louie Vigil, SF, 6"3
A bit under-rated, Vigil is a legitimate PBA 3 who can play both ends of the court. In college, he has shown that he can fill in the gaps when asked to defer to his superstar seniors AND also step up to plate as team alpha. TNT just hasn't been the same since they dealt Larry Fonacier and blindly expected Matt Ganuelas Rosser to fill in that void (they traded him for point man RR Garcia which was brilliant). This move also saves Troy Rosario from looking stupid trying to learn the small forward spot on the fly when he's a natural stretch 4.

11. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel - Julien Sergent, SF, 6"3
Sergent has all the tools that coach Tim Cone just loves to work with; Ginebra doesn't need him to contribute right away, so he can be used as a practice player to help him develop into either a stopper (which he showed flashes of for DLSU) or a finisher around the rim. That small forward practice battle with Aljon Mariano, Kevin Ferrer AND Art dela Cruz should be crazy fun.

10. TNT - Jett Manuel, 6"0
Ryan Reyes is old. UP is Team MVP's latest project. Everything just fits. TNT needs to reload shooter-wise and adding a scorer like Manuel gives them just that.

2017 PBA Mock Draft

Dragonfire. (Photo credit: Inquirer.net)

The names are in. Let's go with version 1.

12. Ginebra - Louie Vigil, SF, 6"3
Because you know... Ginebra's building their own UST team with Aljon Mariano and Kevin Ferrer already in the fold. Seriously though, Vigil is a smart and efficient player to have as a backup for Ferrer and Mariano at the 3 spot. He has good PBA size and the tv-friendly looks. There are other guys like Onuwobre that we'd want to go higher, but based on need... Ginebra doesn't really have much room for another big man while Jamil Sherrif, arguably this draft's best natural PG, is a bit too short with no range for the PBA style IMHO.

11. San Miguel Beermen - Julien Sergent, SF, 6"3

Sergent had spurts for DLSU wherein he really did look like a solid, defensive ace. However, he wasn't being used as much which we always found odd. The Beermen are currently stacked on all fronts, with the one opening being at the 3 spot with Arwind Santos on a bit of a decline (age) and Matt Rosser still trying to fit in. Sergent won't take MGR's spot right away, but if he sticks to his strengths (defense, speed, mobility) he could crack the roster as a serviceable role player.

10. TNT - Rey Nambatac, SG, 5"10
They have a plethora of bigs. What they need is a shot creator who can take the load off Jayson Castro. Sure, Nambatac's name doesn't really hit you like a Jeron Teng or Kiefer Ravena would, but if there's one thing about the former Letran Knight-- he doesn't shy away from taking the big shots. What's nice about Nambatac is he also crashes the boards and plays sturdy defense which makes him a possible candidate to one day succeed Ryan Reyes.


9. Star Hotshots - Lervin Flores, PF, 6"4 
Let's face it. To this day, Marc Pingris and Rafi Reavis are still the team's best big men. Which means, Ian Sangalang hasn't exactly lived up to what was expected (following his bouts with different injuries), while Kyle Pascual, Rodney Brondial and Aldrech Ramos are more stretch bigs than guys who can manufacture their own shots in the post. Flores is another mobile big, though based on what we've seen he is a bit more competent down low.