2014 PBA Rookie Draft - 1st Round Reactions

Easy, ladies. Easy.
Photo courtesy of Philippine Star SUPREME

It's been a few days now since the 2014 PBA Rookie Draft and while just about every other sports writer has offered his two cents' worth of "grading PBA teams" in general, we'd like to take a different route and chip in a few words on the players.

Here we try to discuss the players selected in the 1st round, their possible strengths and weaknesses (based on what we've seen of them and some online statistics) and where they fit in their newfound PBA teams.

And just for kicks, we'll also throw in some grades to the PBA teams: A, B, C or D with A being the best/ wise decision and D the WTF?!? grade.

12. Blackwater Elite - Juami Tiongson, PG
With their rumored original pick Jericho Cruz going early, the Elite went for a projected starting point guard and possible "face" in the Atenean. While there were other, more potent players left in the pool, Tiongson is considered as a proven commodity in most circles owing to his championship pedigree which doesn't come easy. Skills wise, Tiongson has room to improve specially with his outside shooting which is a must for under-sized PBA guards. How he fares against the league's bigger, explosive guards is going to be an issue on defense though. A possible Tiongson-Alex Nuyles would be fun to watch, with the team's "backcourt tandem of the future" being quite easy on the eyes for the ladies as well.

Player comparison right now: No stop and pop TY Tang
Grade: B, a safe pick for the Elite