2018 COM. CUP: Breakout Candidates of Ginebra, Kia, Blackwater. NLEX



In the 2018 Philippine Cup, we all saw how Kiefer Ravena played like a veteran, instead of a rookie. We also witnessed the rise of JP Erram into manhood. And of course, Kelly Nabong suddenly became a reliable starting Center.

In the 2018 Commissioner's Cup, these are the players of each team that have the capacity and opportunity to follow their paths.

Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel - PRINCE CAPERAL
The story here is the forever injury of Greg Slaughter. And in the 2018 Philippine Cup Finals, we saw his replacement wrecked havoc against the pack-and-loaded San Miguel Beermen. Caperal looks comfortable in the way coach Tim Cone is using him.

Size wise, Caperal may have a problem this conference. He will need to fight against the bigger and stronger bodies of the incoming reinforcements. Fortunately, he has some good post moves in his arsenal. The thing that he may need to improve is his rebounding.

Kia Picanto - JERRAMY KING
I am cheating in a way. In his very first game with the Columbian Dyp, King showcased the arsenal of a king in the court. King poured 30 points, 5/11 3FG, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Yes, he is a nasty player.

With his good nose for the ball and his outside shooting, a new king may have arrived in town. The crucial part of his game is his outside shooting. The form is good but let us see if he can maintain the efficiency, once their opponents start to focus on him, the whole game.

Blackwater Elite - MAC BELO
One guy that was under the radar last conference was Belo. He averaged 15.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 40.5% FG per ga,e. With the arrival of their import, the offensive burden of Belo will be reduced and he will be off-the-ball, more of the time.

That should help him in pushing back up his efficiency numbers. Belo is great in spotting up for long bombs. If he can hit a good percentage of it, Belo should be more impactful than last conference. It will be hard to improve his numbers in the last Philippine Cup, but that can happen if he can be more efficient.

NLEX Road Warriors - ALEX MALLARI
Kevin Alas will not be able to play in this conference. That will open additional minutes for Mallari and more opportunity to make plays. And in terms of creating shots for his teammates, Mallari is way better than Kevin Alas. 

In their last two games against Magnolia in the semifinals, he averaged 28.5 minutes and produced 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. We can expect him to continue to fill-up the stat-sheets but if he can hit more three-pointers, Mallari will be more important for NLEX compare to last Conference.

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