First off, congratulations to the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers for
bagging not just the Governors’ Cup crown but also the elusive PBA Grand Slam. Of
course, one of the main reasons the Mixers prevailed was superb shooting guard
James Yap, who drilled in 29 points in the title-clinching fifth and final game
of their series with the Rain or Shine Elasto-Painters. Yap, naturally, is one
of the country’s best players, but was his production this past season enough
to make him a top five two-guard in the league? Let’s see.
Without further ado, here they are – the
top five shooting guards of the entire 2013-2014 PBA season (as always, this is
based on the Player Efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net):
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| Who among these six will fit into the season's top five SGs? |
5. Mark Caguioa (GIN) – 10.6ppg, 4.1rpg, 2.0apg, .360 3pt%, .806
FT%, 25.1 EFF
- Caguioa had one of his best three-point shooting seasons in
2013-2014, making 36% of his trey attempts, which is the second-best season
mark of his career. His free throw shooting also went up from 73% in 2012-2013,
but, strangely enough, his overall scoring went down from 17.2ppg in 2012-2013
to just over 10 points per outing this season. The reason? Well, Ginebra had an
influx of talent with the arrival of Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar. They
ate up a lot of possessions and shots for the Gin Kings, which should explain
Caguioa’s somewhat diminished role in Ginebra’s ever-changing system.
4. Marcio Lassiter (SMB) – 12.6ppg, 3.5rpg, 2.5apg, 1.9 triples
per game, .356 3pt%, 26.1 EFF
- Lassiter started the season like a house on fire, helping the
Beermen to a huge win streak in the Philippine Cup, but the former Gilas sniper
once again was bitten by the injury bug and his performance dipped as the
season progressed. His 1.9 treys per outing is still an enviable number, of
course, but San Miguel fans are definitely still aching to see just exactly how
good Lassiter can be. At his best, he’s the shooting guard nonpareil of the
country, but he has been at his best very very rarely.
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| Marcio Lassiter has a great start to the season, but his performance has dipped since. (image by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports 5) |
3. Joseph Yeo (AIR) – 12.4ppg, 4.1rpg, 4.3apg, 1.6 triples per
game, .325 3pt%, 27.3 EFF
- Yeo is one of the biggest reasons Air 21 had a very memorable
2013-2014 campaign. Nobody really expected much from the Express especially
after they let KG Cañaleta go, but Yeo, along with Sean Anthony and Asi
Taulava, has really carried the cudgels for this squad. He’ll be shipped back
to the SMC group soon, however, and I fear we’ll see more of him on the bench
than on the floor. That’s a pity, of course, since this season proved that all
Yeo really needs is the right amount of playing time to be able to produce at
an all-star-level .
2. PJ Simon (SMC) – 13.6ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.6apg, .357 3pt%, .479 FG%,
27.6 EFF
- One just has to appreciate PJ Simon for what he is – a bona fide
scorer. He had the most points this past season (892 total), had the most
two-pointers made (302 total), and had the most field goals made (359 total). He
won’t do much else, but, man, what he does, he does outstandingly. I mean, this
is the only guard in the top ten (not counting Mike Cortez, who played just 15
games all season) of the league’s leaders in FG%. That in itself is insane. Sure,
James Yap erupts in the big games, but to get to those big games, the Mixers
had to win a bunch of smaller ones, and that’s where Simon makes his money.
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| PJ Simon continues to the occasion for the Mixers. (image by Pranz Kaeno Billones/Sports 5) |
1. Gary David (MER) – 16.4ppg, 4.6rpg, 1.9apg, 1.8 triples per
game, .332 3pt%, .799 FT%, 30.3 EFF
- Outside of Jayson Castro, Gary David is the league’s best
scoring guard. He is, after all, El
Granada and he is the only SG in the league's top ten in terms of player efficiency. He makes nearly two threes per game and makes more than 33% of his
shots form rainbow country. He is also, get this, the best rebounding guard in
the league, collaring 4.6 per outing. So, okay, David is the top-scoring
two-guard, a super sniper, and a beast on the boards. Yes, his Bolts could do
much better as a team, but it’s not for David’s lack of trying. He is the best
shooting guard in the country today. No debate about it.
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| Gary David has cemented himself as the league's best SG. |
Outside looking in:
Terrence Romeo (GLO) - 24.9 EFF
Jeff Chan (ROS) – 24.6 EFF
James Yap (SMC) – 24.6 EFF
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