2012 PBA Draft Live Coverage and Results

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Welcome people to my basketball Christmas. The PBA Draft is definitely my favorite time in the PBA calendar because I get to see the future and at the same time, try my best Madame Auring impersonation and make the public believe that I can read the team owners’ and coaches’ minds.

FIRST ROUND:

1 – PETRON / JUNMAR FAJARDO
I think there’s no question that Petron is going to get the 6’10 behemoth as their first pick. Fajardo hopefully can start the return of the league’s elite slotmen especially with Greg Slaughter arriving in 2013. I just hope Fajardo will like the idea of being the fifth or sixth scoring option because that’s his fate. And yeah… he can also say goodbye to the Rookie of the Year Award as well. Nonetheless he is an awesome hoop specimen that Petron shouldn’t waste unlike what they did with Sam Eman.

2 – ALASKA / CALVIN ABUEVA
Wow. Clearly I was expecting Cliff Hodge but it’s not as if Abueva is a patsy. He is overpowering the NCAA with his import-like numbers. As much as I want the Aces to pad on their height, The Beast could work for Alaska in their wing spots. But then there’s the problem on how the playing time will be divided between him, Mac Baracael, Tony Dela Cruz, and Cyrus Baguio. Abueva can be a power forward but I doubt his height will permit him to be one. At least the Aces saved Abueva from limited playing time hell in Petron.

3 – PETRON / ALEX MALLARI
Now this is a shocker! Mallari was a late round find for most mock drafts but as been said in the pre-draft, he is very impressive. Mallari can play PG or SG well. And in some insane notion, can multi task the forward positions as well. Like I said, this pick is very intriguing.

By the way, the AKTV website is boasting that they got the first three picks right.

I only got Junmar right… and that’s like a sure thing two months ago.

Lucky and very well-informed bastards… ?

4 – MERALCO / CLIFF HODGE
Remember when Marcio Lassiter dropped on the laps of Powerade and it was as if they won the lottery, here’s another team that is thrilled by this development. The guy should be an awesome player to boost the SF and PF spots and could be the missing piece for their title run.

5 – BARAKO BULL / ALDRECH RAMOS
What on earth is happening??? I know Ramos is an excellent find but the Bulls were telling a lot of people that they plan to pick Chris Tiu when he is available. HE IS AVAILABLE! He is a good find to replace Wynne Arboleda! But fact is though, this may be a draft more for need than talent because with Don Allado sidelined (because of drunk Twitting), they need an able big man to fill in his void.

6 – GINEBRA / CHRIS ELLIS
Finally a Chris gets on the board but it was not the “Chris” people are hoping. But hey, I called Ellis for Ginebra so I am happy. The team is on some sort of rebuilding mix and I do think Ellis will spice up Ginebra’s run and gun game. Ellis’ high-wire act will probably make the Gins forget about JC Intal.

7 – RAIN OR SHINE / CHRIS TIU
Yeng Guiao will not let this chance slip out. NO. HE. WILL. NOT! Tiu is a leader and this is a neat selection for Tiu. It’s just sad for Tiu that he fell this in the draft since if he tried out a year ago, then he could have been a cinch in the Top 3 spots. With this development, I wonder how Tiu can work with their backcourt stars Jeff Chan and Paul Lee. Hell… does his face mix well with the Yeng Guiao Construction Boys???

8 – GINEBRA / KEITH JENSEN
It was either him or Kelly Nabong whom I thought was heading to Ginebra. Looking at his frame, I’d say he’ll either reach the height of awesomeness of Marc Pingris… or have the downside of Mike Holper. Ginebra is an awesome team for Fil-Ams as seen with their key players in the 2000’s.

9 – GLOBAL PORT / VIC MANUEL
Hey! The first trade of the 2012 PBA Season! Global Port gave up energy guy Sean Anthony for Val Acuna and the rights to pick this guy. Like I said, Global Port has a lot of aging veterans playing the big man spots in their roster so this is something good.

10 – GLOBAL PORT / JASON DEUTCHMAN
Now this is something that shocked me. I honestly saw Deutchman as an early second round guy especially after a dismal PBA D-League third conference. Like Manuel, Deutchman will pad Batang Pier’s height as well as give GP youth and athleticism.

And with this ends the first round of the 2012 PBA Draft. As expected, Fajardo is the top pick but my oh my who would ever thought Chris Tiu will drop to the seventh spot, Mallari and Deutchman to get picked that high, and Meralco getting lucky with their acquisition of Hodge.

In terms of prediction, I got Fajardo and Ellis right. In terms of getting in the first round, Nabong was not picked.

SECOND ROUND:

11 – AIR21 / YOUSEF TAHA
I guess size will always have a say in the draft and for a rebuilding team like the Express (rebuilding for almost five years now), they need the all the able bodies they can get right now. I’m just puzzled if Taha’s offense will be ready for the PBA.

12 – BARAKO BULL / DAVE MARCELO
WHOA! Talk about getting pingponged! The draft just completed one awesome swap with B-Meg trading away recently taken Sean Anthony and this pick for Aldrech Ramos! I don’t know what Ramos is having but he is officially a scene stealer. As for Marcelo, the Bulls will still have a tough frontliner in this San Beda player but he’ll have limited offense compared to Ramos.

13 – B-MEG / JEWEL PONFERADA
I see B-Meg still in need of a big player although this guy wasn’t the one I had in mind. The former NU Bulldog’s work was shadowed by the Bobby Ray Parks and Emmanuel Mbe combo and playing in a deep team like the Llamados could make Jewel’s PBA career turbulent.

14 – GLOBAL PORT / AJ MANDANI
Mandani was the guy I thought B-Meg will get especially since they already have Ramos and they just traded Val Acuna. Mandani will be a nice spark off the bench for Batang Pier who already have Rey Guevarra, Lordy Tugade, and Josh Vanlandingham backing up Gary David.

15 – BARAKO BULL / LESTER ALVAREZ &
16 – BARAKO BULL / EMMAN MONFORT
I’m going to batch up whatever I say with these two. One came from Cebuana Lhuillier and the other from NLEX. One is an Eagle while the other is a Falcon. But basically… they can both fill up the spot left by Wynne Arboleda. I think with Alvarez and Monfort Barako Bull will get two big time pass-first orchestrators and they will need this to let slashers Willie Miller and Ronald Tubid concentrate in attacking the basket. I think Barako Bull is doing its best to win the draft.

17 – MERALCO / KELLY NABONG
Lucky for Meralco… hell for Nabong in terms of draft order. I thought this guy was a top ten pick. But in some ways, the double-double magnet will be a good selection for Meralco because he is another rebounder to help Asi Taulava and Reynel Hugnatan.

18 – BARAKO BULL / WOODY CO
This is a very early pick for me considering the talent level of the draft but I guess this is experimentation time for the Barako Bulls who have already drafted three players. If they intend to use Co, then they will have an outside scoring specialist.

19 – ALASKA / RAPHY REYES
The son of former SMB great Elmer Reyes, this former UE Red Warrior is another early draftee for me but I can also see this pick working for the Aces. If you saw how Reyes’ work improved while he was part of the D-League, then you’ll know that he can be an improved version of Rhoel Gomez.

20 – TALK N TEXT / JAYPEE BELENCION
Huwaaaaat? I know the Letran kid formerly played for NLEX and is a very accomplished scorer and a noteworthy defender but as I said, there are a lot of better options still available in the draft.

And to repeat what I said in the TNT selection, there are a lot of better picks still left in the draft. Players are lucky because teams have now unli-picks. But as the draft goes further, the success rate of the players performing in the PBA are growing near.

Still left out are Paul Zamar, Allan Mangahas, Toti Bandaying, Jan Colina, Jerick Canada, Mark Jeffries, and Janus Lozada.

Let’s see how the third round will unfold.

THIRD ROUND:

21 – AIR21 / SIMON ATKINS
EEEEE!!! It’s like a DLSU fangirl’s dream to have Atkins play in the same team with Coach Franz Pumaren. I guess Atkins could be a believable part of the squad. I just didn’t like how he didn’t play like their marquee man in his last two seasons with La Salle.

22 – ALASKA / KARL DEHESA
I guess the Alaska management loved this guy’s style of play. I know little about this because whenever I catch NLEX action, I see Ellis, Hodge, and the SSC boys hogging the spotlight. Hopefully he’ll do well.

23 – BARAKO BULL / RYAN BOADO
Like I said, this is experimentation time for Barako Bull and having five draft picks, the Bulls are entitled to claim a complete unknown and hope what they get is a steal.

24 – MERALCO / JANUS LOZADA
I would have loved it if the Canada or Colina were picked first but perhaps in Ryan Gregorio’s frame of mind, Lozada is a better choice for his Bolts.

25 – PETRON / MARK SARANGAY
Petron was silenced in the second round and they get back to the drafting order by selecting another tough-as-nails big man.

26 – GLOBAL PORT / MACKY ACOSTA
Acosta is a decent scorer from the Mapua system that can be a vital part of Global Port if they would permit it.

27 – RAIN OR SHINE / BACON AUSTRIA
ROS landed its second Atenean in the draft with the entry of Leo Austria’s son. Coincidentally, Austria was selected in 1985 by Shell – the team that sold its franchise to the Welcoat (now ROS) owners.

28 – GINEBRA / JERICK CANADA
I think Ginebra got a steal with this selection. The guy was an excellent help in the Indonesia Warriors’ win against the San Miguel Beermen in the recently concluded ABL Finals. However, it’s scary on whether or not Ginebra will let Air Canada play for their team.

29 – B-MEG / GIAN CHIU
Internet darling Gian Chiu got the nod at 29th and I doubt if his chances to see PBA action is good. But then again, Tim Cone likes to keep big men projects like Ervin Sotto and Mike Burtscher in his rosters so this could mean something for the Oberlin College standout.

30 – TALK N TEXT / JUMBO ESCUETA
The Tropang Texters will end the third round with the selection of former Ateneo big Jason “Jumbo” Escueta. TNT could use a couple of nice behemoths in their roster especially since most of their centers are undersized.

I think the applicants are lucky that all teams continued on with the draft.

But then there’s the fourth round…

FOURTH ROUND:

ALASKA PASSES

AIR21 PASSES

31 – BARAKO BULL / KOKOY HERMOSISIMA
I think the wrong team passed. In some ways with six draftees, I doubt Hermosisima would be given a chance to wear their jersey.

32 – MERALCO / ERIC SUGUITAN
Suguitan is a behemoth that played a backup role for Dave Marcelo and Cliff Hodge in NLEX.

PETRON PASSES

33 – GLOBAL PORT / JAN COLINA
Thank goodness for Global Port for saving Jan Colina. Colina doesn’t deserve to be in this quandary with the way he played in the UAAP.

34 – RAIN OR SHINE / JEWEL PALOMIQUE
This Mapuan has probably one of the oddest names in the draft (it sounds like it’s a shampoo) but hopefully he can “wow” Yeng Guiao with his talent.

35 – GINEBRA / PAUL ZAMAR
This player like Colina doesn’t deserve to be in this spot. But then again this could be a blessing in disguise for the son of Boyzie Zamar. Ginebra likes streaky shooters with the never say die spirit and I think Zamar can show people what he’s made off wearing the underdog tag.

36 – B-MEG / RAMON MABAYO
If this was a push up contest, he could be something. But then again this is basketball and as impressive is his feat, it doesn’t matter in the greater scheme of things.

TALK N TEXT PASSES

FIFTH ROUND:

MERALCO PASSES

37 – GLOBAL PORT / VJ SERIOS
Serios was saved by the owners of the former team he played on when he was with the ABL (Philippine Patriots).

RAIN OR SHINE PASSES

38 – GINEBRA / JR BUENSUCESO
He made a bad decision not withdrawing his name in the list. He’ll probably return to the D-League with the way the Gin players are stacked at the moment.

B-MEG PASSES

SIXTH ROUND:

GLOBAL PORT PASSES

39 – GINEBRA / ELLIOT TAN
As the lone pick of the sixth and final round, Ginebra snubbed Paul Gonzalgo, the son of their longtime player Dante Gonzalgo for this guy.

39 names were selected to join the PBA teams with a bunch of players led by Mark Jeffries, Paul Gonzalgo, Robby Zablan, Ephraim Balagtas, June Dizon, Danny Pribdhas, Andrian Celada, Jerome Rubi, Christopher Pestano, Erwin Cornejo, Louie Medalla, Stephen Siruma, Jesse Bustos, Anthony Del Rio, Marvin Agacer, Ray Maconocido, Toti Bandaying, and Rex Leynes going home undrafted. I don’t think this will be a cause for concern for their careers especially with the ABL and the D-League.

Congratulations for the draftees!

Game over!