(c) Zimbio
Basketball is truly on the blood of Filipinos. That is the reason why you should not be surprised if there are unknown Fil-Foreigners who will get drafted in the PBA, every year.
One possibility this year is Stephen Holt. From 2013 up to 2016, Holt was on the radar of our national basketball team because of what he showed in the NCAA of United States and in the NBA G-League.
According to RealGM, Holt is 6'4 in height and 194 lbs in weight. He was a guard in his stint in America, which will make him one of the tallest guards in the PBA, if ever.
Holt played in division 1 of US NCAA and was part of the rotation of Saint Mary's Gaels for his four years there from 2011 to 2014. For his career, he averaged 10.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 44.3% FG, 38.1% 3FG and 80.8% FT in 31.2 minutes per game.
In his last three seasons with the team, Holt was a starter and ended up with an above average Player Efficiency Rating.
There is no doubt that the biggest strength of Holt is his shooting from beyond the arc. In his last season in NCAA, he made 1.7 three-pointers per game in 44.3% efficiency.
Looking at his most recent play this 2018-2019 season in the National Basketball League of Australia and New Zealand and in the VTB United League of Russia, he averaged 1.5 makes per game in 40.3% efficiency.
With enough evidence, I can say that he will be an elite shooter in the PBA. He has the ability to hit catch-and-shoot threes and off-movement threes. Which means, he will be a great stretch option that will make the defense sweat with his mere presence from beyond the arc.
With his height, he can easily shoot over the majority of the guard in the PBA and even some of those who are playing the small forward position.
So, there is a good chance that he will be a much better sniper in our league than in what he showed in the other International competitions.
Stephen also has a pretty good handle. It is not on the level of Terrence Romeo and Jio Jalalon, but he is adept in taking care of the ball and making quick decisions.
His quick decision making should make any coach in the PBA happy and with his vast experience, I do not think he will make a lot of mistakes.
In his International stints, he was used more as a shooting guard and he still managed to make plays for others.
In his four seasons in different International competitions, Stephen never averaged less than 1.1 assists per game.
He is not the most eye-popping athlete that we used to expect from Filipino-Foreigners but his athleticism will be above average in the PBA and he did show glimpses of a quick first step.
If that first-step is also effective in the PBA, he can easily be a 16 points a game scorer at the minimum.
Overall, Stephen is a ready-made player already, knowing that he is 28. With his skillset and physique, he can easily play the 1 to 3 positions in the league and can even take some runs as small-ball four ala-Robbie Herndon.
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