Rookie Rankings: What’s eating Gilbert Bulawan?

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What’s up people!

It’s time for the rookie rankings again.

Yey.

The battle of the new breed of hardcourt sensations heats up and with the way they are playing, I think people are forgetting about Marcio Lassiter.

Not really… but you know where I’m getting at.

By the way, here’s how the season rookie rankings look like:

1 – Marcio Lassiter / Petron
2 – JV Casio / Powerade
3 – Paul Lee / Rain or Shine
4 – Chris Lutz / Petron
5 – James Sena / Air21
6 – Dylan Ababou / Ginebra
7 – Mark Barroca / B-Meg
8 – Mac Baracael / Alaska
9 – Rudy Lingganay / Powerade
10 – Magi Sison / Air21
11 – Allein Maliksi / Ginebra
12 – Eric Salamat / Air21
13 – Pamboy Raymundo / Talk N Text
14 – Mark Canlas / Meralco
15 – Jason Ballesteros / Meralco

And this is how the Governor’s Cup rookie rankings is shaping up.

Game starts now.

10 – PAMBOY RAYMUNDO / TROPANG TEXTERS
LAST WEEK: 8
2.8PPG • 2.0RPG • 1.3APG
Say goodbye to this guy. Jayson Castro returned to the lineup and automatically, Pamboy scored a DNP – the first of many he’ll get once the TNT surge begins to ignite.

9 – MARK BARROCA / LLAMADOS
LAST WEEK: 10
2.3PPG • 2.1RPG • 0.6APG
Again, B-Meg continues their rise but Barroca’s performance is still limited. You can’t blame Tim Cone here because his other backcourt personnel is delivering in energy (Josh Urbiztondo) and leadership (Jonas Villanueva).

8 – MAC BARACAEL / ACES
LAST WEEK: 7
7.7PPG • 2.9RPG • 0.3APG
I was about to speak ill on the contributions of the Alaska slasher but fortunately he was the lone bright spot in Alaska’s loss against the TNT Tropang Texters. With Alaska already out of the running, hopefully Baracael would salvage a nice end to his rookie season.

7 – GILBERT BULAWAN / BOLTS
NEW ENTRY
5.7PPG • 2.7RPG • 0.7APG
Yes Gilbert Bulawan is at number seven and I am not joking. The former San Sebastian forward is having his playing time and is getting the job done. Bulawan has taken over Mark Borboran’s minutes and he is doing this with gusto. So far, Bulawan has played just four games this season.

6 – ALLEIN MALIKSI / KINGS
LAST WEEK: 5
9.8PPG • 1.5RPG • 0.3BPG
The high-flying Ginebra rookie continues his quest to make up for lost time but he hasn’t been that explosive in his past few games. You can’t really blame him because with the superstars in the roster, he’s just lucky to average 18 minutes per contest.

5 – DYLAN ABABOU / KINGS
LAST WEEK: 6
6.0PPG • 4.2RPG • 0.8APG
Superababou has overtaken Maliksi in the rankings and this is right on the money. Ababou is Siot Tanquingcen’s preferred choice to finish games (as seen in their match against Powerade). The former Smart-Gilas forward ranks fifth in his team in minutes.

4 – JAMES SENA / EXPRESS
LAST WEEK: 4
7.6PPG • 7.0RPG • 2.2APG
Ranking third in minutes and playing consistent basketball for the hapless Express who has joined the Aces in Governor’s Cup extinction, James Sena could be a vital piece for the Air21 Express winning puzzle in the future. When they’ll learn to win is a question that still remains.

3 – PAUL LEE / ELASTO PAINTERS
LAST WEEK: 3
13.7PPG • 2.7RPG • 3.3APG
If ROS books a finals seat and Las fails to suit up, The Lethal Weapon might be the darkhorse to win the Top Rookie plum. This is until he injured his shoulder in the Barako Bull game that could sideline him indefinitely. More than the award, Lee is an import asset to the ROS cause that could derail their title dreams if he fails to suit up.

2 – JV CASIO / TIGERS
LAST WEEK: 2
9.7PPG • 2.8RPG • 6.7APG • 1.0SPG
Time is running out for JV because the scoring push needs to happen soon. His assists are nice and all but once he combines his offense with his playmaking qualities, things will seriously work for this DLSU Green Archer. Anyway from the looks of things Powerade is in line for a strong semifinal push. If Casio combines with Gary David, Omar Sneed, and their new core for a finals stint, he might win the Rookie of the Year Award.

1 – CHRIS LUTZ / BLAZE BOOSTERS
LAST WEEK: 1
12.1PPG • 4.4RPG • 4.4APG
He never really did anything this week but that’s because Petron’s schedule last week was light. The upcoming week for the Boosters will be tough though. And it’s even more for Chris Lutz because now he has to share his minutes with the returning Dondon Hontiveros. Hontiveros might struggle in his comeback but expect him to grab the spotlight. But while he’s still synching his game, Lutz should do his best in keeping his stats.

Did you see the numerous he MIGHT win the Rookie of the Year Award sentences? Well actually, I used those lines on Paul Lee and JV Casio for a reason. These two have the best chance to unseat the injured Lassiter but the problem is Lassiter had an extremely large lead.

I’m sounding like a broken record?

Yeah… I am.

But the thing is the Philippine Cup is the most important conference of the season and Lassiter killed it. Hell, I can be wrong here but Marcio Lassiter might make history for being the first rookie to win the award despite missing one conference.

Check out next week on whatever spin I can do for this ranking!

Game over!

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