Japeth Aguilar is voted the Finals MVP of the 2019 PBA
Governors Cup.
When you talk about Ginebra and the Governors Cup, much of
the conversation revolves around the awesome gameplay of Justin Brownlee, Allen
Durham’s insatiable need to defeat his tormentors, Scottie Thompson doing a
yeoman’s job to play beyond his size, and Tim Cone’s mastery of the conference.
What is it about Tim Cone and the Governors’ Cup, anyway?
Sean Chambers… Marqus Blakely… Justin Brownlee… does he have
the magical ability to summon awesome imports for this conference?
But yeah, Japeth Like It's Hot unleashed big-time fireworks
in the finals.
For the longest time, Meralco lost their championships
because they can’t find a way to stop Ginebra’s triple towers. Greg Slaughter
is a handful for Reynel Hugnatan then… and until now with Raymond Almazan.
Gregzilla is not a factor in the series but his presence alone made life
difficult for Rakenrol and the Meralco big men.
And Japeth Aguilar?
Aguilar made life difficult for Allen Durham. More than his
17 points, his ability to disrupt plays is the reason why Ginebra made
mincemeat on the Bolts.
So I like the ovation Ginebra gave when they were shouting
“MVP” on Japeth. He always tried to deflect the love to his teammates but the
crowd wants none of it. I have seen this guy before and he’s the last celebrity
I took a photo with. Japeth is humble as heck and it’s hard to believe that
once upon a time, his career kind of looked like the one Rabeh Al-Hussaini had.
So right off my mind, here are five things DARK I remembered
from Japeth Aguilar’s basketball past.
NEVER THE SCORER
Back when he was in Ateneo, Aguilar got to share the
spotlight with a lot of eventual PBA players. The thing about him though is
that he left for Western Kentucky as a project. Aguilar had the hops to fly but
his numbers weren’t as spectacular as his vertical leap. Aguilar played in a
time when Ateneo had Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Magnum Membrere, JC Intal, Doug Kramer, Chris
Tiu, Macky Escalona, and Paolo Bugia and his only go-to move are rebounds and putbacks and the
setup for a throwdown. I guess this is what we thought he’ll improve when he
moved to the United States.
THE FAILED US STINT
I guess he could have stayed in the US to learn the ins and
outs of Western basketball gameplay. I guess in some ways, it worked. However,
when we check out his numbers, it’s a different story. Just like Kobe Paras,
just because a player is tall and can jam the ball inside the cylinder, doesn’t
mean that he’s God’s answer to Philippine basketball. The former Ateneo Blue
Eagle struggled with his offense and his minutes failed to rise up until his
departure in Western Kentucky. Sure, Aguilar became the first player to get
drafted by an NBA D-League team, but can we really say that he obtained the
confidence to create his own shot? I hope Kai Sotto will do well because
Aguilar, Kobe and even Bobby Ray Parks weren’t as fortunate.
ALMOST BANNED FROM THE PBA
Months after displaying his potential in the 2009 FIBA Asia
Championship, Japeth Aguilar was selected number one by Burger King in the 2009
PBA Draft. After playing one game with the Whoppers though, he asked for his
release because he wanted to play for Smart-Gilas. This understandably sucks
for Burger King and the league in general. Aguilar is pretty much the first
top-tier amateur since Romel Adducul to veer away from the PBA. Fellow
Kapampangan Yeng Guiao went livid – calling for the league to ban the Sasmuan
native for life. Talk N Text would later arrange a trade to send first-round
picks to Burger King and Aguilar would join the PBA after two years. Guiao left
BK, the team reverted back to their old Air21 name before selling their
franchise to Phoenix as the Barako Bull Energy Boosters, and I’m pretty sure
one of the aforementioned first-round picks turned into June Mar Fajardo.
Damn, conduit-ness.
LOW BASKETBALL IQ
Aguilar had pretty much the same number of FIBA Asia stints
as that of Gabe Norwood. With that said, he’s anything but a contributor in the
squads he played in prior to the 2013 edition. Remember the time when Rajko
Toroman told people that Japeth would have been amazing if he had the mind of
Chris Tiu? How about the glaring review of Yeng Guiao about this fellow and
then barely using him in 2009? This point is going to be important for the next
point I am going to make. Are you ready?
JAPETH IS A TIM CONE GUY
In his Finals MVP speech, Japeth humbly thanked the people
that looked after him. With that said, I felt Cone coached him the best. Prior
to playing for Ginebra, Rajko Toroman barely gave him any action as part of
Smart-Gilas, he played second fiddle and had a lot of issues during his stints
with Talk N Text and GlobalPort, and kind of had some sort of star complex
after his US stint. In some ways, Japeth needed a step-by-step direction and this
is pretty much how Tim Cone’s system works. Japeth is a dunking machine but at
the same time, he is an underrated passer. Cone’s approach is what drove Bong
Alvarez out of Alaska in the early 90s and what caused the dwindling scoring
averages of James Yap and Mark Caguioa. For some, he is a thorn but for Japeth,
Cone is just what he needed. Over time, Cone shook up his playbook and Japeth
kind of became Poch Juinio on steroids. Yes, you heard me… I compared Japeth to
Poch Juinio. Slaughter is soft and steady Bong Hawkins, Brownlee is Cone’s
rangier version of Sean Chambers, and Aguilar is Juinio. And with these Milkmen
in the frontcourt, Alaska won three consecutive Governors Cups, a grand slam in
1996, and a near-grand slam in 1998. Japeth is in the same boat as Juinio - much like Sonny Thoss is also comparable to the retired Alaska player. Japeth further blossomed when Slaughter
went down with an injury – as he explored the idea of him as a scoring machine
in the paint. Of course, Ginebra’s gameplay is centered with their guards as LA
Tenorio, Stanley Pringle, and now Scottie Thompson have the means to create
their own shot. But if Yeng Guiao has Beau Belga, JR Quinahan, and Jericho
Cruz, Aguilar could be at the side of Cone alongside Tenorio, Joe Devance, and
most of his old Alaska core.
And this is why I like to remember the old Japeth Aguilar.
Leaps and bounds, he improved his outlook in life and here he is now… a future
Hall of Famer in the works. He could have been an afterthought. He could have
coasted on the opportunities given to him because of his size and just… be glad
that he made the pros.
In a league where usually, the best players peak in their
early 30s, Japeth Aguilar is racking in the accolades and delivering the
awesomeness.
Congratulations, you rim-rattling machine.
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