FIL-FOREIGN PLAYERS NO LONGER LURE PBA TEAM TALENT AGENTS SAY
Less and less PBA teams are now willing to take risks on Fil-foreigners who come out of the blue and join the draft, as most talent and promotions agents found out.
Player agent Matthew Monotoc said a rule limiting each PBA ballclub to five Fil-foreign players in their roster has made teams hesitate to go for broke on untested overseas-raised prospects.
Besides, the level of competition is now so high there are no guarantees that a top US-raised prospect can shine in the PBA, nothwithstanding his glowing credentials, Manotoc added.
“The PBA has this age-old rule that only five Fil-foreign players are allowed per team, that’s one. And secondly, the level of competition in the league has become very tight that you can’t just waste your precious pick on somebody you don’t know so well,” said Manotoc.
The son of former PBA assistant commissioner and Crispa Redmanizers coach Tommy Manotoc also said a lot of teams have over the years been ‘burned’ after taking chances on Fil-foreginers.
While he didn’t name names, a roll call of past PBA draftees will reveal a slew of Fil-foreigners drafted in the first round who are no longer in the lineup of teams.
Then there is another league rule which mandates Fil-foreigners aged 27 and below and with no national team experience to play a minimum games in the PBA D-League before they become eligible for the rookie draft.
That has more or less taken out the element of surprise when it comes to Fil-foreigners and eliminated the advantage of teams which have the capacity to scout for rookie prospects in the US and elsewhere.
Since 2011, the Fil-foreigners that stood out in the draft were players with previous exposure to teams, beginning with Manotoc clients Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz who were grabbed in the first round after glowing stints with the original Gilas Pilipinas team.
It’s a different story, Chris and Marcio played for Gilas, so everyone knew their capabilities,” he said.
The 2012 draft saw Alex Mallari, Cliff Hodge, Chris Ellis, Keith Jensen and Jason Deutchman picked in the first round. From these players, only Mallari and Hodge continue to log major minutes for their ballclubs while Deutchman currently has no team.
High profile Fil-Ams again arrived in the 2014 draft with Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Chris Banchero and former San Beda twins Anthony and David Semerad joining Stanley Pringle in the first round. But none of them are considered gambles since they’ve had previous experience, either in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) or in local college leagues.
Even the top pick of the last rookie draft, Moala Tautuaa, came in after proving himself in the ABL. The two other Fil-foreign players grabbed in the first round, Maverick Ahanmisi and Chris Newsome, were already well-known to teams before they joined the draft.
Nino Reyes, president of SMTM talent promotion had found that it is hard for him to get Fil-foreign players because I have to depend on game tapes and my relationship with various ballclubs, the problem is, no matter what, at the end of the day, coaches will put more premium on the players’ capabilities and value,” said Reyes, who handles the careers of Terrence Romeo and Ping Exciminiano.
Reyes said the highly physical play in the PBA also makes it hard to adopt for Fil-foreigners, regardless of their vast experience overseas.
The trend now is ‘show me your talent,’ even a stint in the US NCAA division 1 will not land you an instant spot in the PBA. There are more and more homegrown talents who end up becoming superstars in the PBA, do I have to mention the names of Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva?