Bust-a-move

Author's note: Happy new year!

Hype is a terrible thing; it can build you up just as fast as it can bring you down. The PBA and its fans have seen its fair share of “hyped” rookies, baptized as “franchise saviors” who ended up being role players on a different team at best.

Here is our short list of “hyped” players who did not exactly live up to expectations:

Moala Tautuaa, TnT 2015 1st pick
We are still waiting for the “Junemar-stopper.” And while we are at it, for Tautuaa to develop anything close to a post-up game.

Matt Ganuelas Rosser, TnT 2014 3rd pick
He got locked in Jong Uichico’s doghouse, but now that he’s freed by Coach Nash Racela, we’re still not seeing anything stellar out of this former Gilas player as he continues to play like a skinny, long-haired Jon Ordonio.

PBA 2012 Draft: More busts than stars?

Is "The Muscle" too small to dominate the PBA?

While this year's PBA Draft will go down in history as the Year of the Fajardo/Abueva (depending on which camp you happen to be cheering for), it should be noted that of the 39 players selected (in an eye-popping 6 round draft thanks to Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's binge shopping for point guards), only a handful are still in the league and about five to six of them to actually be relevant.

On top are Petron's Junemar Fajardo, the first overall pick, inconsistent but very mobile and impressive for a guy his size and Alaska's Calvin Abueva, a sure lock for the year's top Rookie prize given his impact on his team and how he is able to carry his "beastly" game over to the pros with relative ease (and how he's managed to get in the heads of a lot of veterans when it's supposed to be the other way around).

After those guys, it's really a toss up on who else is going to be a star or at the very least-- "useful" for his team in the long run.