THE TOP FIVE #PBA2015 CENTERS RIGHT NOW
Centers are ruling the 2015 Philippine Cup, with the top three slotmen among the five most efficient players in the league. June Mar Fajardo just dropped a huge game, ditto with Asi Taulava, and Greg Slaughter has been consistently great. Who are the other two, though? Well, you might be surprised.
Without further ado, here they are – the top five centers of the 2015 PBA season as of November 21, 2014 (as always, this is based on the Player Efficiency ratings)
- Bryan Faundo (BLA) – 9.1ppg, 6.0rpg, 1.0apg, 58.3 FG%, 27.9 EFF
Believe it or not, Faundo is not the only former Letran Knight on this list. He has, however, burst onto the scene from practically out of nowhere. He’s playing the best ball of his pro career, being relatively effective on both ends. He’s not a double-double machine by any stretch of the imagination, but he’s recently the only bright spot on the league’s team of futility.
- Raymond Almazan (ROS) – 10.1ppg, 8.4rpg, 56.2 FG%, 30.0 EFF
Out of seven games so far, Almazan has scored at least 10 points and grabbed at least 9 rebounds in four. The 6’9 former Letran big man has really been blossoming into ROS’s most reliable frontliner despite being relatively unheralded compared to his peers. Almazan is the epitome of the quiet worker who puts up the numbers without hogging the spotlight. A true workman. He plays, after all, for coach Yeng Guiao.
- Asi Taulava (NLX) – 16.7ppg, 10.2rpg, 1.3apg, 50.0 FG%, 36.9 EFF
True to form, The Rock continues to defy his age. I mean, he’s the only guy north of 30 averaging a double-double. As of this writing, he’s registered four double-doubles already and remains to be the biggest reason the Road Warriors might just make the next round of the conference. Oh, and who else can rock low-cut Chucks on court in this day and age?!
- Greg Slaughter (GIN) – 14.1ppg, 12.6rpg, 1.4apg, 1.1bpg, 40.0 EFF
Slaughter has been great for the Gin Kings, though he hasn’t really quite made the jump that June Mar did in his sophomore season. His FG% hasn’t been impressive, too. The former Blue Eagle is making just over 46% of his field goals, and considering how most of his shots are from 10 feet in, that’s definitely not worth writing home about. Still, Ginebra could do much much worse, and, well, his production has put him up as the second-best center in the league. Also, seven double-doubles in eight games? Pretty awesome.
- June Mar Fajardo (SMB) – 19.1ppg, 13.9rpg, 2.6bpg, 1.4apg, 58.2 FG%, 43.5 EFF
Across the board, Fajardo has proven to be the most productive player in the league and, quite frankly but not surprisingly, the odds-on favorite again to become this season’s MVP. He’s scored in double-digits and grabbed at least 9 boards in every game so far, and, well, his Beermen are tied for first. The Kraken continues to improve in every season, and if he wins a conference title, then that undoubtedly cements his status as the consensus best player in the PBA.
Outside looking in:
Yousef Taha (PUR) – 26.2 EFF
JP Erram (BLA) – 26.2 EFF
Yancy De Ocampo (GLO) – 23.6 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, or you can follow him on Twitter — @HoopNut.
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