What is your definition of a basketball prospect?
For me, he is a player that we cannot yet determine how good he can be and he still has enough time to achieve his peak.
So, I only consider the players that were part of the past four drafts and who will turn 27 years or younger next year. I already excluded players who were awarded as part of mythical teams in the past two seasons because the level of their play is already determined to be at the elite level.
So, who are the top 10 prospects at the start of this season? The first five were already revealed. How about the top five?
#5 Roger Pogoy
RR Pogoy entered last year's draft with no hype. He was a good prospect but not more than that. That changed after his performance in the first season. He manufactured 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.9 steal. Add to that is his good efficiency with 43.8% FG and 36.2% 3FG.
What makes him a pretty special prospect is his basketball IQ. He just knows where is the right position on defense and on offense. He seldom waste any movement and dribbles. He do not possess elite athleticism but his skills compensate for it, very well.
#4 Kiefer Ravena
Ravena is one of the most uniquely hype rookie to enter the league. Why? A lot of casual fans overrates him in a way but a majority of the die hards underrates him. If coach Yeng Guiao is correct though, Ravena will be the first ever Kiefer Ravena.
According to coach Yeng, he is a combination of Paul Lee and Willie Miller. Mind you, he did not mean that his greatness is equal to the combined greatness of those two. Kiefer showed that in his first game, delivering 18 points, 12 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Imagine Terrence Romeo filling up statsheets and that could be the ceiling of Ravena.
#3 Mac Belo
Just like in his college days, a lot of people are already sleeping on Mac Belo. His rookie season was derailed by an injury but what he showed on the Philippine Cup of that season was enough for me to say that he is legit.
He produced 15.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals and 45.2% FG. His outside shooting is not yet there but his form was good. His basketball IQ is prevalent on both ends of the court, although he is still need to look to pass more.
Overall, Belo could be the next prototype of a power forward. A capable scorer, playmaker and a superb defender.
#2 Earl Scottie Thompson
The Pearl is not as unique of a guard as before. But, he is still the best in filling up stat sheets. His nose for the ball is just explainable. In his sophomore season, he went for 8.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 46.4% FG. Defenders cannot take away their eyes away from him because he can go and grab an offensive rebounds.
Other than his rebounding, his vision is also superb. He is not really that good of a playmaker but he really loves to move the ball and finding good shots for his teammates. That is a good foundation though in making him a consistent triple-double threat.
One last thing to point out is his clutch genes. The guy is not a dead-eye shooter but in the crunchtime, he will suddenly knocked long bombs! I am looking for him to totally takeover the main man role, next season.
#1 Troy Rosario
Rosario was a revelation in his rookie season. Unfortunately, he failed to follow that up with a breakout sophomore year. Fortunately, he is still young and he has the unique skill set that should help him get there.
Last season, his outside shooting was down. Teams are more wary about him, manufacturing better defensive scheme against him. Physically, he looks much better. He handled himself inside, pretty well.
The size of Troy and his knock for outside shot is a superb recipe in the league, today. Add to that is his defensive instinct which was obvious already, last season. And he can actually make the right passes.
Combine that with the fact that he is also athletic and you have a guy, capable of surpassing what Ranidel de Ocampo, achieved.
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