2nd pick from San Mig Coffee Mixers – Ian Sangalang. PHOTO by Nuki Sabio/PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Just how ready is San Mig Coffee’s draft pick Ian Sangalang for the PBA?
Mixers head coach Tim Cone thinks Sangalang, the second overall selection, can contribute right away.
“If we had a game tomorrow, he’d be ready to play for us,” Cone told INQUIRER.net during the 2013 PBA Draft proceedings Sunday night. “He is that accomplished. He doesn’t need a whole lot of development, he’s got all the skills, the attitude and the presence to step in and play right away for a PBA team.”
“I think he is the most accomplished player right now. Greg (Slaughter) might have a better future down the line because you can’t teach seven feet but Ian is really a skilled player and he is going to help us right away so we’re really pleased and lucky to get him,” added Cone, who matched his idol and legendary head coach Baby Dalupan with the most league championships at 15 following San Mig Coffee’s seven-game conquest of Petron Blaze last October.
The six-foot-five beanpole Sangalang, who came after Greg Slaughter in this year’s Rookie Draft, played a vital role in San Sebastian’s NCAA championship run in 2009 and was named MVP in his last year with the Stags in 2012. He was also a PBA D-League MVP while suiting up for NLEX.
And Cone just couldn’t help but marvel at what Sangalang is capable of doing. “He is an all-around big man. He can pass it, he can shoot it, he has great footwork around the basket… he will have to learn our style of defense and what we expect. He runs the floor well. There’s very little of what he can’t do.”
With the Mixers running the triangle offense, Cone believes Sangalang will flourish under his system.
“One of the things we try to pride ourselves in the triangle is that we try to use all your skills. If you have a lot of skills, the triangle will try to use all of that and not just one part of your game. It forces you to use all parts of your game and he has a lot of parts to his game. He should be really, really good in the triangle.”
As Cone seemed to never run out of good things to say to Sangalang, the Pampanga native knows that he still has to refine some aspects of his game.
“I have to work on my outside shooting. I think that’s one area that I have to improve on,” Sangalang said in Filipino.
Adding a little weight will help too.
“I need to bulk up a bit to prepare myself for the physicality when I go up against the other big men of the other teams,” he said.
The Mixers are fresh off another championship after they outlasted the Boosters in the recently concluded PBA Governors’ Cup.
And Sangalang admitted that playing for a champion team like San Mig Coffee brings in more pressure to deliver.
“To tell you the truth, it puts a lot of pressure on me,” Sangalang said. “But it feels great to be part of the team because there are a lot of good players on the team and I know I can learn a lot from them and from the coaching staff.”