Coach bares his top 10 draft picks

A COACH in the PBA rookie camp wonders why some people think this year’s 66-man draft pool is shallow.
He disagrees.
A deputy coach in a PBA team, he has seen all the rookies play, having handled two different squads in two days and winning both assignments. He has evaluated all the talents.
Recently, he gave me a list of players who he thinks will be drafted in the first round, and challenged me to a friendly wager.
If at least seven of the names on his list are drafted in the first round, I will treat him and his family to a pizza and fried chicken dinner. If the selectees are less than seven, I will treat him and his family to a food-court meal in a Quezon City mall.
Whichever way it goes, seems like he would end up the winner.
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The coach must have really studied his choices because it took him almost an hour to finish his list. First, he listed down his candidates randomly, then he checked his 10 first-rounders. Finally he chose his top three.
The coach originally had 20 names on his list. His final top 10, listed in no particular order:
 John Wilson, a 6-foot guard from the Jose Rizal University:  “Excellent shooter and slasher, prolific scorer. Can be an impact player.”
 Mark Jefferies, a 6-4 forward from California: “A blue-collar worker, strong, athletic, very aggressive on defense, and can penetrate.”
 Josh Vanlandingham, 6-4 guard-forward: “Good long-distance shooter, slasher, and tough defender.”
 Mark Angelo Canlas, 6-4 forward-center from University of Santo Tomas: “Simple but effective post player, decent rebounder and defender.”
 Alfredo Gerilla, 6-4 center-forward  from Far Eastern University: “Mobile post player, accurate perimeter shooter, and good shot-blocker.”
 Sean Anthony, 6-4 guard-forward born in Canada and graduated from Mc-Gill University: “Very sound fundamentals, nothing fancy, decent shooter, and not afraid to take it strong to the basket.”
 Shawn Weinstein, 6-1 guard: “Clever, big point guard by local standards. He was unnoticed in his first two games for lack of playing time. He shone in his third game, where he scored the winning basket. Scrappy defender.”
 Rabeh Al Hussaini, 6-7 center from Ateneo: “Good post player, good perimeter shooter, has the potential to be a franchise player.”
 Elmer Espiritu, 6-3 forward from University of the East: “Explosive leaper, shot-blocker, has a deadly perimeter jumpshot, and can be an impact player.”
 Siverino “Noy” Baclao,  6-5 forward-center from Ateneo: “Good defensive big man, shot-blocker and rebounder.”
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The coach predicted that the last three on his list would be the top three picks in tomorrow’s Rookie Draft.
Hussaini is his top draft pick, followed by Baclao and Espiritu.
The 10 special mentions, all likely to be picked in the second round, are John Carlos Hermida, Jimbo Aquino, Jose Antonio Reyes, Claiford Arao, Marvin Hayes, Narciso Llagas, RJ Jazul, Rey Francis Guevarra, John Carl Melegrito and Riego Gamalinda.
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As I watched last Monday’s hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, I began to have doubts whether the NBA Asia Challenge, scheduled at the Araneta Coliseum last night, would push through.
Many years ago, during President Cory Aquino’s administration, two batches of NBA stars, led by Charles Barkley, if I remember accurately, flew to the Philippines to play an exhibition game at the Araneta Coliseum.
Hardly had they settled themselves in their hotel rooms when military rebel planes took off and tanks rumbled along major roads. And then there were machine-gun bursts. Rebel soldiers were staging a coup!
Faster than anyone could say “Aurora Borealis,” the NBA delegation made a 180-degree turn and headed for the airport to catch the first flight back to the United States.
NBA Asia Challenge publicist Tessa Jazmines assured me nothing of the sort would happen.