“GILAS-ables” is a series of articles that
will discuss different players who could make a case for joining the Gilas
pool. This series will include Fil-foreign players plying their trade in other
leagues, the US NCAA, and the PBA.
In the second article in this series, we take
a look at a young player with a huge upside: Rain Or Shine’s fast rising
sophomore forward, Raymond Almazan.
PLAYER
INFO
Name:
Almazan, Raymond
Team:
Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters
Height:
6’ 9”
Weight:
194 lbs
College:
Colegio de San Juan de Letran
STATS
Career:
6.8 points
per game, 5.67 rebounds per game, .61 assists per game, .88 blocks per game
2015
Season:
9 points
per game, 7.45 rebounds per game, 1 assist per game, 1 block per game
WHY HE SHOULD BE IN THE GILAS POOL
If you go by the numbers, there’s no way Raymond Almazan
should be given a slot at the Gilas pool. There are just too many people who
have better numbers, have more experience, have better reputations.
But if you look at the bigger picture, as well as the future
of Gilas, there are loads of reasons to invest time and training in this young
man. At 26, Almazan is still just approaching his prime playing years and if
properly developed, he can be a monster on both offense and defense.
On offense, 9 points in 24 minutes is not a lot but you’ve
got to remember that Rain Or Shine boasts of one of the truly team-oriented
offenses in the league. In fact, only 5 points separate their leading scorer (Jericho
Cruz with 14.71ppg in 24mins) from Almazan, their 6th leading
scorer.
He’s also had the benefit of playing for a coach like Yeng
Guiao, who’s a certifiable tyrant. That means Almazan will be a disciplined
player, capable of executing instructions under duress without cracking and
able to withstand the hottest of tirades without wilting, which is important
when the weight of a country’s expectations are suddenly laid on his coach’s
shoulders.
However, Almazan needs to shine a lot more if he hopes to
get even just a sniff of an invite to Gilas camp. The players he needs to prove
himself against would be the likes of Japeth Aguilar, Troy Rosario, Moala
Tautuua, Ranidel de Ocampo, and Marc Pingris, which is basically a murderer’s
row of skilled power forwards. What he has going for him is that he’s young and
has tons of upside, which bodes well for his chances moving forward.
Basically, Raymond Almazan could be the Junemar Fajardo from
2 years ago. When Fajardo started training with Gilas, he was barely used in
games and struggled in his first two PBA conferences. Suddenly, the Gilas
training turnd a light on in his head and he’s been dominating the PBA ever
since. Imagine the same thing happening to Almazan, and, in two years’ time,
having two 28year olds leading the Gilas frontline, one of whom is a 6-11 offensive
juggernaut (Fajardo) and the other, a 6-9 defensive bastion (Almazan).
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Twitter: @SportadoPH
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