WORDS BY: JAEMARK TORDECILLA
February 24, 2010 | 6685 views
LA Tenorio – The young point guard has turned heads with his play this season, drawing constant comparisons to Abarrientos.
With defense that has improved noticeably and outside shooting that has become more consistent, Tenorio is finally delivering on the superstar promise he teased basketball fans with as a freshman for Ateneo in the UAAP nine years ago.
Kerby Raymundo – The former Letran Knight might be the single most maddening player in the PBA today. When he’s on, Raymundo is damn near unstoppable, even when going up against world-class competition such as the Iranian national team.
More often than not though, he seems caught up in silly little things on the basketball court and taking ill-advised shots and making boneheaded plays. The question is, which Kerby will show up in the finals?
Sonny Thoss – Its backcourt hogs all the headlines, but the all-star center might be the most important player in the Alaska lineup.
He anchors Alaska’s collapsing halfcourt defense, which isn’t nearly as tough when he is on the bench, and his size around the basket on offense allows him to get cheap layups off the guards’ dimes. Thoss might be the puzzle Purefoods would need to solve.
Roger Yap – The Purefoods point guard is a bad ass, a throwback to rough backcourt enforcers of PBA yore, guys like Rudy Distrito and Onchie de la Cruz, who would beat you to the hoop for a layup before sticking a forearm on your chest for your troubles. They don’t make guards like these anymore.
Reynel Hugnatan – The former Negros Slasher is Cone’s Swiss Army knife off the bench. Need to shut down the opposing team’s best forward? He’s on it.
Team getting killed off the boards early on? He’ll come in and clean the glass. Offense is jammed and the team’s not shooting well from the perimeter? Well, throw it down to him at the post. Hugnatan plays every front court position for the Aces, and he plays all of them pretty well.
Marc Pingris – Here’s the best way to describe Bossing Vic Sotto’s son-in-law: He plays exactly like Hanamichi Sakuragi. He plays defense and rebounds like a madman, and abuses opponents in the paint when they dare put a smaller guy on him – as if he’s personally offended.
Pingris came up with the best quote to describe the upcoming series against Alaska: “Kung sa ice tubig nga, nagpapatayan sa barangay court, ngayon pa, eh milyon milyon ang bonus.”
Anyone who remembers those fierce battles over ice tubig wagers in the summer heat would know just how intense this series is going to be. Should be fun.
Jaemark is a blogger over at FHM's Man's Blog, though he has not updated in quite a bit. He is also the brains behind the irreverently funny sports blog, firequinito.com
