The Top 5 Small Forwards entering the 2016-2017 PBA Season

Images by Paul Ryan Tan.

*This was written on November 16, 2016.

In a few days, the new PBA season will finally be upon us! A few weeks after Ginebra won a title for the first time since the three-conference format was reinstated, we will be ushering in a new season where the best and brightest players this side of Asia will take the stage again and battle for the country’s ultimate basketball titles. First, though, let’s look at some exciting players to watch heading into the 2016-2017 PBA Philippine Cup. In the previous post, I wrote about the Top 5 Shooting Guards, but now let’s look at the Top 5 Small Forwards heading into the 2016-2017 season.

*This is based on the Player Efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net. Stats are accurate as of November 16, 2016.

The Top 5 Rookies of the #PBA2016 so far

Images by Paul Ryan Tan/Sports5.

Prior to the current PBA season, Mo Tautuaa was the most highly touted rookie entering the league, but right now it has been his teammate Troy Rosario who has really impressed. Former UAAP & NCAA stars Chris Newsome, Bradwyn Guinto, and Arthur Dela Cruz have also impressed, which makes making this 2015-2016 ranking a little tough.

Without further ado, here they are – the top five rookies of the 2015-2016 PBA season:

*This is based on the Player Efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net. Stats are accurate as of February 24, 2016.

The Top 5 Small Forwards of the #PBA2016 so far

This season hasn’t been particularly good for PBA small forwards. With the exception of Sean Anthony and Calvin Abueva, no swingmen have really stood out so far this season as the Philippine Cup was dominated by centers and playmakers. When the Commish Cup begins, however, that should change as the big imports will probably dominate possessions and open things up for small forwards to operate. If that happens, we should see more of the usual suspects on this list.

Without further ado, here they are – the top five small forwards of the 2015-2016 PBA season:

*This is based on the Player Efficiency ratings as calculated by PBA-Online.net. Stats are accurate as of February 7, 2016.

2015 PBA Draft: Top 5 Wingman Prospects

In a few days, we will have the 2015 PBA Draft, where some of the most talented and most exciting young hoopsters will have a shot at making the big time and cracking the PBA. It’ll be interesting to see who gets picked and at which spot. Which teams will look better with their rookies, and which ones will make us shake our heads? 

In this series of posts, I will look at some of the most interesting prospects for each general basketball position — the big man, the wingman, and the point guard. 

I previously looked at some of the best big men available in this draft, with, not surprisingly, Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario coming out on top.

This time around, I will look at the top five wingman prospects in this year’s batch of rookies. I took some liberties with some players who could be hybrid SF/PFs or PG/SGs, though, so some picks might raise your eyebrows a li’l bit.

The Top Five #UAAP77 Small Forwards as of August 6, 2014

Who is the top SF in Season 77 so far?

When one talks of UAAP swingmen, it’s pretty obvious that guys like Jeron Teng, Chris Newsome, and Kevin Ferrer should be included in the conversation, right? Yes, but we also cannot leave out some of the other SFs who have been quite productive early in the season. I mean, guys like Roger Pogoy, Glenn Khobuntin, and Dave Moralde deserve to get noticed, too. So here they are, the top five small forwards in the UAAP so far.

You want something surprising, though? One of the top three guys I mentioned in that introductory paragraph didn’t even crack the top eight.

Without further ado, here they are – the top five UAAP small forwards as of August 6, 2014:

*These rankings are based on average Player Efficiency (EFF) calculations.

**EFF = {[(points + rebounds + assists + steals + blocks) – (turnovers + field goals missed + free throws missed)] ÷ # of games}

Week 1 UAAP Season 77 Position Battle

Let's welcome Season 77 with our first UAAP Position Battle post ever!

Week 1 of the UAAP has passed, and it was definitely a doozy. We were treated to a lot of statement games, most notably the huge wins by FEU and NU over DLSU and UST respectively.

Now it’s time to take stock and reward the best performers of Season 77’s opening weekend. 

Let’s look at the best players per position and the best ones overall.

All stats are taken from PBA-Online.net.

Top Center: Chris Javier (UE) - 12pts, 9rebs, 1ast, 1blk, .667 FG%, 34.3 EFF
- Javier isn’t the hottest name on the UE roster (that’s reserved for either Roi Sumang or Charles Mammie), but he was the most productive this past weekend, putting up a near double-double against the lowly Maroons.