THE IMPACT OF THE ORIGINAL GILAS PILIPINAS PLAYERS IN THE PBA TODAY
The last five PBA Drafts have seen the Smart Gilas Pilipinas alums move up to the pro loop after years of national team duty. The bulk of the Rajko Toroman-coached squad joined the PBA in 2011 and a look at the current Philippine Cup campaign will show the impact of these players in their teams’ respective fortunes.
2009 PBA Draft
Japeth Aguilar #1 overall to Burger King Whoppers
2010 PBA Draft
Rabeh Al-Hussaini #2 overall to Air21
Rey Guevarra #3 overall to Air21
RJ Jazul #15 drafted by Alaska but traded to Air21
2011 PBA Draft
JVee Casio #1 overall to Powerade
Chris Lutz #3 overall drafted by Barako Bull but traded to Petron Blaze
Marcio Lassiter #4 overall drafted by Powerade
Mark Barroca #5 overall to Shopinas
Mac Baracael #6 overall to Alaska
Dylan Ababou #10 overall to Barako Bull
2012 PBA Draft
Aldrech Ramos #5 overall drafted by Barako Bull Energy but traded to B-Meg
Chris Tiu #7 overall to Rain or Shine
2013 PBA Draft
Greg Slaughter #1 overall to Barangay Ginebra
There are other players who were a part of the team before it was joined by the all-pros (Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Kelly Williams) like Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Ryan Buenafe, and Magi Sison (all on current PBA rosters) but I decided to go with their classic line-up for this column. The only player from that Gilas team not included in these stats is Jason Ballesteros who is now in the D-League.
Here are their current stats of the (classic) Smart Gilas Pilipinas players in the PBA:
| Player | GP | Mins ave | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO |
| Ababou | 12 | 10.2 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Aguilar | 14 | 36.7 | 18.9 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| Baracael | 14 | 20.0 | 7.9 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | |
| Barroca | 14 | 35.9 | 14.6 | 5.0 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| Casio | 15 | 34.9 | 14.3 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Cawaling | 11 | 9.2 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.7 | |
| Guevarra | 12 | 10.1 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Jazul | 15 | 21.5 | 7.8 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | |
| Lassiter | 13 | 36.5 | 14.8 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| Lutz | 13 | 36.4 | 15.2 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 3.5 |
| Ramos | 14 | 16.1 | 5.3 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Slaughter | 14 | 34.1 | 15.7 | 10.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Tiu | 11 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 1.0 |
Smart Gilas Pilipinas produced three number one overall picks. Two if you exclude Japeth Aguilar since he also played on the Powerade-backed national team under Yeng Guiao.
During the 2010-11 season, Rabeh Al-Hussaini was named Rookie of the Year. The PBA Press Corps likewise selected Al-Hussaini to the All-Rookie Team.
During the 2011-12 season, Ababou, Casio, and Lassiter were named to the All-Rookie Team by the PBA Press Corps.
During the 2012-13 season’s Leo Awards, Lassiter was named to the All-Defensive Team while Casio bagged the Sportsmanship Award. The PBA Press Corps also named Lassiter as the Comeback Player of the Year while Chris Tiu was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Eight of them are logging 20 or more minutes per game.
At least six of them start for their teams.
Six of them are scoring in double digits.
One is averaging a double double.
Of course, they are still early in their PBA careers and their true impact can only be measured when their respective runs are over. Now that would be fun to correlate.
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