PBA ASPIRANTS GET BAPTISM OF FIRE

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Fueled by their basketball dreams, 77 out of the 85 aspirants came to the 2013 PBA Rookie Camp Monday at the Gatorade Hoops Center to take part in various skill-testing drills.

With tasks namely push-ups, bench press, pull-ups, sit-ups, and vertical leap at hand, the individual skill of the players were witnessed by team scouts looking to beef up their line-ups come Sunday at the Rookie Draft.

Echoing the sentiments of the majority of the rookies, Raymund Almazan said, “Kinakabahan ako pero excited sa mga ginawa namin.” The lanky Letran stud is seen as a shoo-in for the top three players picked in the 85-man pool.

The seven-foot Greg Slaughter, pegged as another of those top picks in the draft, said, “I’m not putting too much thought about it. I’m just focusing more on my preparation for the draft and to keep my focus for the task at hand.”

Slaughter was the tallest among the rookies as he was measured at 6-foot-11 and 5/8 inches, and has the longest wingspan at 85 inches. He also topped the vertical leap, and the bench press disciplines.

Ian Sangalang, the third of the potential top three centers, said, “Basta ako, focus lang ako sa mga gagawin. Big pressure yung dala ko ngayon dahil magaling yung mga kasabayan ko, pero gagawin ko lang yung best ko anuman yung mangyari.”

The former San Sebastian Stag who has been vocal on his intention to play for the crowd-favorite Ginebra bared that although he wants to play on his favorite squad, “kung hindi ako papalarin, kahit saan, lalaro ako.”

“I’m happy that I applied in a draft where the batch is very competitive. I just want to play basketball,” said second-generation and UST star guard Jeric Teng.

Cebuano Eliud Poligrates, pegged as a dark horse this coming draft, is confident that he can match up with the best young players coming into the rookie selection. “Alam kong kaya kong makipagsabayan sa kanila. Kaya ko to kaya magfo-focus lang ako sa game kung sakaling palarin ma-draft,” he said.

San Beda guard Anjo Caram, who is one of the smallest in the batch standing only at 5-foot-8, said that their height is not a disadvantage saying, “Mas mabilis kami kaya yun yung gagamitin namin. Wala naman sa height yan eh, sa puso pa rin yan para maglaro.”

LA Revilla, the 5-foot-8 La Salle guard, also said, “Wala naman sa akin yun eh. Actually, nandito kami sa situation na parang surreal pa sya. I’m just happy to see everyone today.”

“It’s a new experience,” said 5-foot-8 UST guard Jeric Fortuna. “I’m looking forward sa opportunity to play in a brand new atmosphere. I’ll just play hard to compensate yung disadvantage sa height.”

Shoreline Community College’s John Usita weighed the heaviest at 301 pounds. FEU’s Paul Sanga had 533 sit-ups to top the category, while UP’s Mark Lopez reigned in the pull-ups category by doing it 53 times.

Justin Brian Melton was also impressive in the draft combine as he had the most push-ups with 104 reps, while the trio of Slaughter, Melton, and Isaac Holstein had the highest vertical leaps by jumping 11 feet and six inches.

The Rookie Camp was managed by PBA head of referees Boy Cruz. (Randolf Leongson)

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