My All-Underrated UAAP Juniors Five
by rick olivares
News has broken out about UST’s
CJ Cansino bagging the UAAP Juniors Most Valuable Player Award while the King
Tiger Cub joins Ateneo’s Kai Sotto, SJ Belangel, and Dave Ildefonso, as well as
FEU’s LJ Gonzales in the Mythical Five Selection.
While all are deserving, here are
my players who should make the All-Underrated Five team in the UAAP’s high
school division.
Just a word in before we get to
the list. Adamson’s Joem Sabandal isn’t in the Mythical Selection talk in a
star-studded division, but this kid from Cagayan De Oro has a high impact and
is acknowledged as one of the Juniors Division’s top players. But we cannot
place him on this list precisely because of that. Now these five? They are
truly underrated.
Center: Bismarck Lina, UST
Lost in the shuffle of the Tiger
Cubs’ offensive weaponry in Cansino and Kobe Palencia as well as the late
season outburst of Rayjhun Baquial and Liam Manabat is their hardworking
center, Bismarck Lina. How does a Batang Gilas player get overlooked? He
rebounds, plays defense, passes the ball, and provides strong leadership for
his team. Furthermore, he doesn’t complain, just plays hard, and is very
coachable. He hardly even gets touches!
With few touches, Lina averages 8.4
points, 11.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. And he is hitting 49% of his field
goals; the highest among those in the regular rotation. Plus., he is the
league’s top offensive rebounder. Opined some observers, if his teammates feed
him the ball the way LJ Gonzales or even RJ Abarrientos feed Daniel Celzo, he’d
ease the pressure on the perimeter players.
Forward: Michael Malonzo, NU
On a deep and loaded Bullpups
team, Malonzo is like a super sub. In 15.9 minutes of game action, he averages
7.9 points and 7.2 rebounds. That’s close to adding something every minute.
Plus, he is clutch having scored numerous game winning plays as he remains
overlooked on a team that has Rhayyan Amsali, Terrence Fortea, and Miguel Oczon
to name but a few. Plus, he scored on 57% of his field goal attempts.
Talk about an impact player. That
three-point play after tipping the ball over seven-foot Kai Sotto should be one
of the season’s top plays.
Forward: Jason Credo, Ateneo
If this were a rock band, Jason
Credo would be the Fifth Beatle. Does anyone else have a bigger impact on both
ends of the court? This former Batang Gilas player brings up the ball, serves
the best passes for Kai Sotto, can score if he really wanted (but that is not
his role in this team), can rebound (but his role keeps him away from the
shaded lane), and plays top defense on the opposing team’s top scorer. If they
kept stats on his stops you’d find out that the other team’s top gunners shoot
very poorly against Credo who is a pest on defense.
Credo averages 9.7 points, 5.2
rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. He shoots 49.1% from the field.
Is the team’s best free throw shooter at 80%! If he got more touches and played
in a more offensive manner, his stats would shoot up.
Guard: Rafael Labao, UPIS
The Labao brothers – Ralph and
Rafael are like double trouble for foes. But I’d like to include Ralph in this
list in a photo finish over his brother for his playmaking and ability to
attack that rim despite being vertically challenged. Fearless inside.
Rafael averages 11.0 points, 4.9
rebounds, and 3.5 assists for UPIS.
Guard: Agem Miranda, UE
They may be at the bottom of the
standings but this is a young UE team. And Agem Miranda stands out. He led the
Junior Red Warriors with 17.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.8 steals
per game.
He is second in the league in
scoring, third in the league in both assists and steals, and 10th in
rebounding! Talk about a two-way player.
We certainly look forward to see
where these boys’ respective careers go. Good luck to them.
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