THE TOP FIVE PBA POINT GUARDS RIGHT NOW
We’ve always heard or read about how the Philippines produces some of the best guards in Asia. In the most recent FIBA Asia Championships held here in Manila, we saw how true that was. Guys like Jayson Castro, Jimmy Alapag, and LA Tenorio ran Gilas Pilipinas with great efficiency, helping our team return to the World Cup of Basketball.
In the current 2014 PBA Philippine Cup, other playmakers have also come to fore, and we will look at some of them today.
Anyway, here they are – the top five point guards in the 2014 PBA season as of January 9, 2014:
5. Alex Cabagnot (PET) – 12.8ppg, 4.3rpg, 5.2apg, 1.7 triples per game, 38.5 3pt%, 30.2 EFF
I’m sure Alex would’ve wanted more wins, but I guess he could settle for fifth best point guard right now. Despite playing better basketball than he did last season, Cabaggie hasn’t been able to help Petron sustain its strong start. The Boosters have lost three of their last four games and are now in a tie for second spot with the Elasto Painters.
4. Mike Cortez (MER) – 12.2ppg, 3.6rpg, 6.4apg, 1.3 triples per game, 39.4 3pt%, 52.1 FG%, 84.6 FT%, 32.0 EFF
It’s a pity we won’t be seeing Cortez for a few months (damned knee injury) because he’s been playing some of the best basketball of his pro career since the season started. He’s been norming career-highs in assists, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage, and he hasn’t scored this much since the ’05-’06 season. We’ll wait for your return, Cool Cat.
3. Mark Barroca (SMC) – 14.5ppg, 5.3rpg, 4.6apg, 2.3spg, 34.3 EFF
It goes without saying that the Coffee Prince is having his best PBA season so far. He’s putting up career-bests in almost all major stat categories, and he has become the undisputed top playmaker for the Mixers. Oh, and also leads the league in steals! SMC also seems to be on the mend, winning three of their last five outings.
2. Sol Mercado (GLO) – 20.2ppg, 4.1rpg, 4.3apg, 1.2 triples per game, 36.0 EFF
The Sol Train is currently the fourth-best scorer in the league, and that’s despite having someone like Terrence Romeo on the GlobalPort roster to boot! He exploded for 35 points against the Air21 Express on Christmas Day, though the Batang Pier ended up losing that encounter. Still, that performance reminded everyone again of how good Mercado is. He connected on 5 triples in that game, shooting 14-of-24 overall from the floor.
1. Jayson Castro (TNT) – 20.3ppg, 5.3rpg, 5.2apg, 2.1 triples per game, 41.8 3pt%, 86.1 FT%, 40.0 EFF
The best point guard in Asia continues to dominate in the PBA, with career-high numbers in scoring, rebounding, assists, three-point shooting, and free throw shooting. As a result, the Texters are among the top four teams and are on-track for the knockout rounds. Castro is one of the prime candidates for the Best Player of the Conference and is an early frontrunner in the MVP race, too.
Outside looking in:
LA Tenorio (ALA) – 30.1 EFF
JV Casio (ALA) – 28.5 EFF
Denok Miranda (BAR) – 27.8 EFF
Enzo Flojo has been writing about all things basketball for quite some time now. You can read more of his stuff on his nationally-recognized blog, HoopNut.com, on the college hoops site, InboundPass.com, on Rappler Sports, on Asia-Basket.com, or you can follow him on Twitter — @HoopNut.
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
