Scouting the Seaoil
NBTC All-Stars
reports & pics by rick olivares
Now that the second Seaoil NBTC High School All-Star
Game (the All-Star Light Team prevailed over the All-Star Dark Team 92-78) has
been played with Letran’s Rey Nambatac winning Most Valuable Player honors,
here are the high school seniors who in my honest opinion look to be top picks
by colleges and universities around the country.
Their high schools are in parenthesis.
Axel Iñigo
(San Beda) – Loved this kid’s game. Heady guard who you cannot leave open from the
three-point arc. Great range. Doesn’t get rattled. Good ball skills. Good
addition for Coach Leo Austria and the Adamson Falcons in the upcoming Season
76.
Clint
Doliguez (Hope Christian HS) – Plays like Larry Rodriguez only has a better
drive. That will serve him well in college when he plays the three-spot. Can
shoot threes, hit the stick j and has a quick first step. Rebounds well and
plays defense. What more do you want?
Jeson
Delfinado (FEU) – The kid can shoot. Yes, he can. From Jimmy
Alapag range.
Rey
Nambatac (Letran) – RJ Jazul with a Rey Guevarra game. Can score
some. Can pass too. Can he translate this to the college game? His skillset
will work best with an uptempo team.
Mario
Bonleon (La Salle Greenhills) – Best ball handling skills for any forward
not named Clint Doliguez in the Seaoil NBTC High School All-Star Game. Has
great range and a deceptive first step. Has got guts too! Passing the ball
though is an alien concept he has to grasp.
Jerie
Pingoy (FEU) – Ever since I saw him three years ago, the first thing that popped into
my head was “Johnny Abarrientos redux”. Nothing since has made me change my
mind.
Jeric
Adorio (Sun Yat Sen Iloilo) – Easily the best athlete in this second
staging of the Seaoil NBTC HS All-Star Game. Can jump out of the gym. Drives.
Blocks shots like they are a personal affront to him. Will play the three-spot.
Needs to add a little more muscle then he’ll be like a bowling ball on hapless
tenpins.
Bears
watching:
Ricky
Peromingan (Bukidnon Faith Christian
School). Another dude with hops. But he needs more weapons in his arsenal. A
drive to the basket will only get you so far.
Jefher John
Egan - A spitfire point guard from
St. Mary’s School in Cagayan De Oro.
I mentioned three provincial players and watching the
all-star game, these kids can hold their own. In fact, the All-Star Dark Team’s
second and third unit, made up mostly of these kids, brought their teams back
in the thick of the fight. When they reverted to their starters (mostly from
Manila), they couldn’t keep up with their counterparts from the All-Star Light
Team.
What the fine folks at the National Basketball
Training Center are doing is great for grassroots hoops. It isn’t solely about
the game itself but also life values are being taught. There’s a glut of
college tourneys right now and it’s high time that the secondary education
programs are being given their due.
For the longest time, we all the best programs were
in Metro Manila. Now it’s great to see even the regional schools receiving and
teaching modern basketball.
The Seaoil NBTC National Tournament and the High
School All-Star Game (patterned after the McDonald’s All-American program) are
proof of this.
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