Many of
today’s great players are power forwards, which explains why this is one of the
most crowded positions in the league. In fact, four of the guys on this list
are among the top ten most efficient players so far this season, and the fifth
guy here is actually #11. That just illustrates how our own brand of PFs have
been quite dominant. Another interesting thing is that there are very distinct
kinds of power forwards in the current game: we have the classic bruiser who
does nothing but score off open chances and grabs rebounds, we have the
athletic freaks with long limbs who block shots better than actual centers, and
we have the stretch 4s who space the floor with their perimeter game.
Without further ado, here they are – the top five power
forwards in the 2013-2014 PBA season as of the morning of May 31, 2014 (as
always, this is based on the Player Efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net):
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| Arwind Santos leads some of the best players in the PBA who are part of our top five power forwards list. |
5. Marc
Pingris (SMC) - 8.0ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.6apg, .501 FG%, 30.7 EFF
- Ping has
recently hit a bit of bad press, what with his punching Meralco’s James Sena.
He’s also been bit by the injury bug, which could even hamper his game all the
way to the 2014 FIBA World Cup, but, hey, of we’re being honest here then we
might as well say Ping doesn’t give a rat’s ass about all those things. He’ll
report for duty, grab those rebounds, play great defense, hit some shots, and
make his stamp on the game. That’s just the way he is, and that’s exactly why
we all like him.
4. Ranidel
De Ocampo (TNT) - 15.2ppg, 5.8rpg, 1.3apg, 2.2 triples per game, .418 3pt%,
.847 FT%, 31.8 EFF
- RDO is
perhaps the best floor-spacing 4 in the country. I mean, he knocks down more
than 2 triples per game at a 42% clip, which is already among the league’s
elite. In terms of 3pt%, he trails only Mick Pennisi, who’s hitting at a .420
rate. In terms of total threes made, only ROS snipers Jeff Chan and Paul Lee
have made more. Yes, RDO is better at nailing those trifectas than JV Casio,
James Yap, Sunday Salvacion, Larry Fonacier, or Marcio Lassiter this season.
That. Is. Insane.
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| The floor-spacing maestro: Ranidel De Ocampo. (image by Paolo Papa/Sports 5) |
3. Jay
Washington (GLO) - 15.3ppg, 7.6rpg, 2.0apg, 1.2spg, 1.2 triples per game, 33.7
EFF
- J-Wash
is playing with a chip on his shoulder after getting traded away by the Petron
Blaze Boosters last season. He’s finally separated from Arwind Santos and,
guess what, they’re both among the top PFs in the league! J-Wash is like the
jack-of-all-trades of PBA power forwards. He can pretty much do everything at a
high level, but the problem is he just doesn’t bring the kind of leadership and
winning quality that a lot of other guys on this list do. The J-Wash of today
is a stat-muncher, and, sadly, not much else.
2. Japeth
Aguilar (GIN) - 13.8ppg, 8.0rpg, 1.1apg, 2.3bpg, .501 FG%, 34.9 EFF
- Japeth’s
numbers have been buoyed by his really strong showing in the first conference,
and though his stats have dipped in the Commish Cup and Govs’ Cup, he can still
occasionally reminds us of why he was a sleeper Best Player of Conference candidate
in the Philippine Cup. Nobody in the league is as athletically gifted as this
guy, and, combined with his size and skill-set, the sky really is the limit. It’s
just unfortunate that, now that Japeth is 27 years old and in his fourth PBA
season, we are still focusing on his potential.
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| When will Japeth Aguilar finally add consistency to his skill-set? (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
1. Arwind
Santos (SMB) - 15.4ppg, 8.7rpg, 1.9apg, 1.0spg, 1.1bpg, .303 3pt%, 35.9 EFF
- Last
year’s MVP is playing like he deserved it. With June Mar Fajardo, Marcio
Lassiter, and a coach/consultant like Todd Purves on the SMB team, the
spotlight is hardly on the former FEU Tamaraw, and it seems that’s exactly how
he likes it. He isn’t as flashy as before, but he still definitely gets the job
done. I mean, he puts up great numbers in the five major stat cats and hits
better than 30% of his treys. Too bad he just cannot seem to push the Beermen
over the hump and get that elusive conference title.
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| Arwind Santos continues to play at an extremely high level for the hard-luck San Miguel Beermen. (image by Pranz Kaeno Billones/Sports 5) |
Outside
looking in:
Gabby
Espinas (ALA) - 29.2 EFF
Cliff
Hodge (MER) - 27.3 EFF
Reynel
Hugnatan (MER) - 26.1 EFF
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