Philippines Cadet/Developmental Team

[mathematicianrcg]

So far,

The only recent batang Gilas players who were at least played in Seniors are:

Caelum Harris

Mason Amos

Lebron Lopez

Others who haven't call up for seniors yet: Konov, Mahmood, Bayla,

[live_evil]

Jaworski also played center during the early years of his career. What was special about Jaworski, which Michael Jordan also had, was those BIG hands. His ball control was impeccable because he could firmly grip the basketball with just one hand. This is why Jordan could do all those magical shots and why Jaworski is the greatest passer who ever played for the Philippines. Jaworski's baseball passes after a rebound or during an inbound are a thing of beauty. Yes, he was dirty but that was part of the charm.

[IPC]

The triangle does not require a pure PG.
And since that's the case, might as well get guards who are excellent defenders because that is what the team needs (to cover for the slow bigs).

The system also uses a lot of short passes, which is easier for taller players. It's why Phil used a lot of Pippen and Odom as point forwards.

Cone used JDV and, in import conferences, JB, as point forwards too in his triangle.

Hopefully this can help us to see that initiators and even playmakers can come from the forward positions, not just the guard positions. Then we develop bigger initiators and playmakers from there.

[IPC]

Looking at it again, it's noticeable that Chito has a pretty good wingspan to go along with that wide body. He's 6'2 height is deceptive because he can play taller than he is because of that wingspan.

It's why wingspan is more important than just height. Someone asked how come Johnny A is so much better at defense than RJ. Aside from Johnny's physical strength (the guy was extraordinarily strong) he also had good wingspan which makes his height deceptive.

It's midwit to be anal about height without considering wingspan.

Handsize and wingspan will only really matter if the one who has the long arms plays against others whose heights do not dwarf him. KQ at 6'4-6'5 can guard guys up to 6'8. But beyond that is asking for trouble. Chito Loyzaga against that North Korean will show that. Watch the Yeshkel breakdown. Chito's defense was spectacular when he was able to irritate the North Korean and have him not get position. But those moments when the North Korean giant got the ball in the right position meant an easy basket. It is actually a combination of height, wingspan, strength, and handsize. No way KQ is gonna bother Zhou Qi. That is why an eligible QMB is a must because of his combination of size and wingspan. Commentators have even used the word Pterodactyl to describe QMB.

Seems to have a very long wingspan which is more useful than having height. I mean you won't block a shot using your head

Finally, someone mentioned KQs wingspan. According to Baek 6'10".

That plus big hands.

That crazy wingspan is more useful than an extra 1-2 inches of head height.

Apologies for getting into this thought late. I thought about this discussion on Quiambao's wingspan, as well as that of Chito Loyzaga's, and I thought, maybe standing reach should be taken into account when going to positions our players can realistically defend and even play. It takes your length into account as well.

Now, any thoughts on what should be the minimum wingspan and/or standing reach to be able to defend the 3, 4, and 5 spots?

[Silent Killer]

Apologies for getting into this thought late. I thought about this discussion on Quiambao's wingspan, as well as that of Chito Loyzaga's, and I thought, maybe standing reach should be taken into account when going to positions our players can realistically defend and even play. It takes your length into account as well.

Now, any thoughts on what should be the minimum wingspan and/or standing reach to be able to defend the 3, 4, and 5 spots?

6'10 should do

[Metta]

Apologies for getting into this thought late. I thought about this discussion on Quiambao's wingspan, as well as that of Chito Loyzaga's, and I thought, maybe standing reach should be taken into account when going to positions our players can realistically defend and even play. It takes your length into account as well.

Now, any thoughts on what should be the minimum wingspan and/or standing reach to be able to defend the 3, 4, and 5 spots?

First off, crazy wingspan means you have a pretty good standing reach too.

And IMO, standing reach isn't as important. The only instance it is used "as is" is when someone just stands straight with hands straight up. Now, you're allowed to jump straight up. If you can dunk then you can pretty much cover the rim jumping straight up just as much as someone standing who can reach the rim just by standing. Of course it's not exactly the same, but it's not that different. It matters more with centers who are the last line of defense, you want them to take up space as much as possible.

When defending lateral/horizontal space, which is majority of defense, short wingspan forces you to lunge sideways to widen your reach which makes you vulnerable (not a problem if you have quick feet).

[IPC]

6'10 should do

Try a combination of height and wingspan.

Maybe at least 193-196cm (6'4"-6'5") with a wingspan of 6'10"-6'11" at least (basically Quiambao's physical dimensions) for 4?

For 3, maybe at least 191cm with at least maybe a 6'8"-6'9" wingspan and/or Dwight's strength?

[Silent Killer]

Try a combination of height and wingspan.

Maybe at least 193-196cm (6'4"-6'5") with a wingspan of 6'10"-6'11" at least (basically Quiambao's physical dimensions) for 4?

For 3, maybe at least 191cm with at least maybe a 6'8"-6'9" wingspan and/or Dwight's strength?

I just rely on some nba stars whose official ht is 6'4. So most of them on avg. Has 6'10 wingspan.

[IPC]

I just rely on some nba stars whose official ht is 6'4. So most of them on avg. Has 6'10 wingspan.

Sorry, sir SK, the "combination" part was a note to myself. Hahahahaha.

But yeah, noted, thanks.

[IPC]

We need someone who can bring the ball up under pressure. That doesn't necessarily have to come from the point guard spot.

I am also curious to this. It seems to me this is a weakness of the triangle. Your bigs cant help screen in the back court because they are in post position on the other side. Your 3 can help but we dont want JB to do that. Which potential SF can help up us bring the ball?

Do we have such player right now?

We all know how susceptible CJ Perez & at times Iskati Thompson bringing the ball under pressure. We've seen that during the Gilas-Angola game in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Guess who did better bringing the ball up under pressure in that game? It was among the most hated Gilas player in recent years - Kiefer Ravena.

Right now, Carl, Arvin, Gabe, and Navarro are the notable forwards I saw that had the occasional duty of bringing up the ball. In the past, JDV also brought up the ball.

Honestly, we should develop every young kid to bring up the ball under pressure. That way we don't have to rely too much on our point guard to bring up the ball.

[thatweirdguy]

Honestly, we should develop every young kid to bring up the ball under pressure. That way we don't have to rely too much on our point guard to bring up the ball.

We don't even have a real PG who can be really counted on to safely bring down the ball in our lineup.

Saw a lot of big men prospects doing this on highlight videos but they're bound to bigmen duties in college and this aspect never gets developed again.

[IPC]

Imagine Brownlee playing as local here in the PBA, it will be a huge disadvantage for other teams, especially those who are low budget teams that can't afford to naturalized those kind of players.. and what will happen to our local development if we allow them to play as locals here? Playing here as an FSA or import is ok, but become as locals? So what is the essence to be a basketball nation of we can't develop local players?

How many NBA players did we developed as a basketball nation? Truth is we suck at developing players. This isn't even about national pride. The only reason they haven't allowed it is as you said, it would give the moneyed teams a huge advantage. Or it would allow the smaller teams to even the playing field by adding one naturalized player.

On this point, I think Kai has been the only world-level go-to guy we've produced in recent memory, or at least the closest thing to a world-level go-to guy. With our fascination with scorers, we should be working to produce more scorers that can shoulder the scoring load, so why's Kai the only one who's at least close?

And then how many FIBA-level shooters are we developing, how many 3&D wings, how many versatile defensive forwards that are at least tall and long enough?

[sroth3839]

On this point, I think Kai has been the only world-level go-to guy we've produced in recent memory, or at least the closest thing to a world-level go-to guy. With our fascination with scorers, we should be working to produce more scorers that can shoulder the scoring load, so why's Kai the only one who's at least close?

And then how many FIBA-level shooters are we developing, how many 3&D wings, how many versatile defensive forwards that are at least tall and long enough?

It's not like we are lacking in size either. How many 6'0-6'6 locals have we seen over the past decade? We have more than enough locals to develop into elite guards and wingmen but our archaic system has simply failed them.

My bar is a little high but if we can't develop local players to be FIBA-level guards or wingmen by 19, then we have already failed.

What we need is a solid youth program emphasizing guard/wing skill development like G-League Ignite. Look at Scoot and Jalen.

People have clamored for SGA to join the PBA. I disagree. It's better if they stay away. Others have said SGA has too many imports. I say the SGA model is what we need to not shoehorn local 6'4-6'6 dudes into the PF and C roles.

Let SGA be our G-League Ignite. Let them hire imports to fill the PF and C roles--positions we will never have abundance of locals to fill. Let them keep local ballers in the 1-3 positions to develop their game.

[Metta]

It's rather simple. Make it a goal for the elite homegrowns to get into D1.

If that's the goal:

-The "size-positional skill" fit gets fixed (6'5 and below has to be trained as guards)
-The development timeline gets fixed (has to already be skilled entering high school) no more age sandbagging
-The whole mindset changes because the goal is to become world-class by around 17-18 (has to start receiving offers in junior HS)

Kai did this and so did Dwight, Edu, QMB, etc. Even Kobe became a really good prospect and only got derailed by other stuff. And now, Gemao is providing for himself great development in his attempt.

Gemao (and Kobe) is the blue print.

[lem0nadi]

Speaking of Andy, I saw that he followed a D1 assistant coach on his Twitter account. The coach is from Lindenwood University in the Ohio Valley Conference. I think it's a low-major program that transitioned from D2 to D1 in the 2022 season. Although I may sound like I'm assuming things, there’s no reason for Andy to follow the coach without a reason, right? Also, the coach followed Andy back, so there might be talks happening that we don't know about. I might be reaching, but I hope it’s about offering Andy a chance to play for them. The program might be low-major, but D1 is still D1.