(c) PBA Media Bureau
With the injury of Junemar Fajardo, it is now a lock that the Best Player of the Conference in this 2018 Governors' Cup will be secured by someone else.
So, who are the top candidates to get the award? Here is the list.
#5 Marcio Lassiter
Fajardo is out of the line-up, so someone has to takeover as the main guy. Chris Ross and Alex Cabagnot will not be affected that much because they still need to quarterback for the team. Lassiter though will be asked to shoot more.
In the Commissioner's Cup, he averaged 13.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 34% 3FG. Lassiter's ability to breakdown the defense is underrated. If they will run more plays for him, we could be getting another version.
#4 Terrence Romeo
Romeo is a man on a mission. In his first conference with TNT Ka Tropa, he manufactured 11.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 35% FG and 26% 3FG. That is underwhelming for a guy that we are used to averaging more than 20 points.
The 2018 Governors' Cup is another story. He is producing 20.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 43% FG. The biggest difference was the 9 minutes increase in his playing time. It seems like coach Nash Racela has provided more opportunity for him to make isolation plays.
If the trend continues, we could see the same production that he made in Globalport which should bolt him to the BPC conversation.
#3 Calvin Abueva
Calvin is still not 100%. He did not play regular basketball for almost two months so the guy that you have been witnessing with Phoenix is still not The Beast. And yet he is already averaging 12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 2.0 blocks and 45% FG per game.
By the way, he is only doing that in 20 minutes of play. So, if we try to equate his production to 30 minutes, you will get 18.0 points, 14.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 3.0 blocks. That production can easily win the BPC of this conference.
I expect his minutes to go up with more trust from coach Alas and with better chemistry to his teammates.
#2 Stanley Pringle
His current play in the Asian Games is not a joke. Coach Tab Baldwin was correct when he called him the Best Point Guard in Asia. The time of Jayson Castro is over. The king of the position now is Stanley Pringle.
In the Commissioner's Cup, he averaged 21.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 44% FG and 32% 3FG per game. If he can repeat that this conference, he will surely be one of the top candidates for the award.
His team though may be a roadblock to this award if they will not be able to reach the playoffs. North Port will miss Sean Anthony for several more games. Can Pringle return and carry his team to the playoffs?
#1 Christian Standhardinger
San Miguel's replacement of The Kraken could be as monstrous as the current MVP of the league. Remember that in the last conference of Asean Basketball League, he produced 22.5 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 51% FG per game.
The guy is a double-double machine and has the handle to breakdown the defense inside the arc. I am pretty sure he is also craving for more minutes and more touches. This is the conference that we will finally see if the hype is real.
Comments
Post a Comment