Good Enough for Gilas: JV Casio

2014 is going to be a BIG year for Philippine basketball. This year will mark the first time two of our Philippine National Teams (Men’s and U17) will march onto the world stage and compete at the highest level of international hoops. Our very own Gilas Pilipinas squad will go to Spain and play in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, while the Philippine U17 Team, coached by Jamike Jarin, will troop over to Dubai for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships. 

It’s been reported that the Gilas Pilipinas brain trust is keen on tapping more players to join the pool, with the magic number pegged at 24. That means that there are still around eleven slots open. Take note that this does not YET include the two naturalized prospects of the team — Javale McGee of the Denver Nuggets and Andray Blatche of the Brooklyn Nets. We’re still not sure if their respective naturalization processes will finish in time for Gilas to include their names in the final 24-man pool.

As of this writing, the 2014 FIBA World Cup Draw is done, and the Philippines has been grouped along with Senegal, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Greece, and Croatia. That, in my opinion, is the second-toughest group of the lot, and making it into the second round will certainly be the tallest task coach Chot Reyes has ever faced. Needless to say, he’ll need all thew support he can get.

This is the tenth piece in a series of posts detailing the players who can be part of that pool. For each named individual, we will look at the good things he can bring to the pool, his probable role should he get named to the final Gilas lineup, and the possible match-ups he will have at the Asian and world levels.

Today, we’ll talk about someone who was part of Gilas in 2011 and, like Barroca, is currently one of the top point guards in the country. He played so well in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup that former coach Rajko Toroman described him as one of the top three PGs in all of Asia. He is none other than former San Beda Red Cub and DLSU Green Archer JV (or Jayvee or JVee) Casio.

JV Casio has the skills and experience to
contribute a lot to Gilas.
(image from Sports163.com)

What he brings to the table:
In my humble opinion, Casio is so good, he might as well be considered the heir apparent to current Talk N Text playmaker Jimmy Alapag. They have very similar skill-sets — great handles, great quickness, great court vision, and, of course, great perimeter shooting. 

The main advantage for Casio, needless to say, is his youth. At 28 years of old, Casio is about 8 years Alapag’s junior, just approaching his prime, and should be given a chance to unleash his full arsenal against the world’s best. His current numbers in the PBA are proof enough of his potency — career-high numbers in scoring, rebounding, three-point shooting, and field goal shooting. In short, he’s playing at his most productive/efficient rate ever.

His experience is invaluable, too. He has been with the Gilas program pretty much since the its inception, and was a major part of it (its number one PG most of the time) till he was drafted by the Alaska Aces late in 2011. A return to international circuit won’t really require much adjustment on his end.


Why he is a good fit for Gilas: 
He’ll be a perfect fit for the dribble-drive system in much the same way Jimmy Alapag was. He can break his man down effectively, and then hit the open man or hit the short jumper. He’s quick enough to leak out after forcing a turnover and smart enough to make the correct decision in the clutch. Like I said — a younger Jimmy Alapag. 

JV Casio in action in the 2011 FIBA Asia tourney.
(image from FIBAAsia.net)

Potential match-ups:
FIBA-Asia: Wesam Al-Sous (JOR), Mansour El-Hadary (QAT), Naoto Tsuji (JAP)
FIBA World Cup: Pablo Prigioni (ARG), JJ Barea (PUR), Mamadou Ndoye (SEN)

Casio can be the perfect match-up for guys who play very similarly — Al-Sous, El-Hadary, and Tsuji — and he can also be the perfect foil to guys who like to penetrate like Prigioni, Barea, and Ndoye. Playing Casio means Gilas will be sacrificing a lot of size (he’ll be easy pickings for big PGs), but it also means we’ll maximize out biggest strengths — speed and shooting.

In the last post of this series, we will see if Rain or Shine’s Paul Lee can be considered for the Gilas Pilipinas program.



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