Jay-R Reyes: Alaska's Ace up the sleeve

Reyes: promising big man

For years, the big man position has always been a source of frustration for the Filipino basketball community. Most of the time, homegrown bigs are too short, slow and or even unathletic. They have become such a rarity skills-wise, that our own SMART Gilas men's basketball team was left with no choice but to seek foreign assistance in the form of 6"11 American Marcus Douthit.

Yes, there has been an influx of serviceable Fil-foreigners here and there such as Asi Taulava, Dorian Pena, Eric Menk and Mick Pennisi-- but there's nothing like having a homegrown talent to idolize and serve as an inspiration for other young Filipino bigs-- that's where the Alaska Aces' Jay-R Reyes comes in.

Once frowned upon for his inconsistent play and sluggish approach, Reyes' star now shines brighter as he completes the Aces' young "Twin Towers" combination alongside Fil-Swiss Sonny Thoss.

We've already seen flashes of Reyes' post game abilities which are, daresay, better than that of Thoss' (who is a solid role player at best), now he's able to utilize it while working in the shadows of his more established teammate and also star guards L.A. Tenorio and Cyrus Baguio.

Currently averaging a 10 points and 9 rebounds stat line in just 30 minutes of action, Reyes has the rare combination of size, speed, athleticism and skill/ creativity that we want to see from bigs. Yes, he wanders away from the game plan from time to time to try and hit a jumper and threes, but when needed, Reyes' has enough game to create inside the shaded area without dribbling off his foot.

In hindsight, the Aces' future doesn't really fall on Tenorio or Thoss' shoulders since the country has never had a shortage of quality point guards (maybe not as good as a Tenorio, but solid nonetheless) and we could always get a role player/ rebounder-- but a big man with legit post up skills? That's the key to the Aces' future title hopes and something that Reyes undoubtedly brings to the table.

Ceiling? Kerby Raymundo version 2.0