For
Slaughter, it was his size and heft combined with good basic basketball skills
that propelled him to the top. For Aguilar, it was his preposterous length
and the eye-popping athleticism (which was evident, even amongst NBA
D-Leaguers) that made him stand out.
Slaughter
and Aguilar have physical gifts that most of their PBA colleagues don’t have.
It’s not unfair to say that the expectations for both are that they would
dominate their competition every night.
And
while June Mar Fajardo is now the current gold standard of PBA big men, I think
both Aguilar and Slaughter need only to address one thing in their games to supplant
him and make 2015 the Year of the Twin Towers.
SLAUGHTER: BE AGGRESSIVE
One of
the main differences between the duo of Slaughter and Aguilar versus Fajardo is
their offensive mindsets. Fajardo is an active component of the San Miguel
offense. When San Miguel puts the ball in Fajardo’s hand, he’s immediately
going hard to rim for the bucket or the foul. When he’s not touching the ball,
he’s setting screens, trying to draw his opposing number away from the rim, or getting
position for easy putbacks.
Slaughter,
for all his size, is a finesse center, a skilled big man with good array of
post moves, knows how to use pump fakes and spin moves and can even hit the
occasional 10-12footer. But he needs to amp up his aggressiveness, needs to get
into the “I’ll go through you if I have to” mindset so that he can maximize his
physical advantages over his opponents. That means going hard for dunks instead
of lay ups, to avoid getting blocked. That means being able to play through
hard contact and get the bucket, despite the foul. That means challenging the
opposition to match his presence, which can lead to them being overly
aggressive and fouling him early and often.
AGUILAR: BE CONSISTENT
In
2014-2015, Fajardo averaged 17.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. What was
more impressive was how consistent he was in every game. Fajardo didn’t compile
his stats by having monster game every so often while putting up otherwise
pedestrian stats in his other games. He came in and did the work in every game.
Aguilar,
on the other hand, is not just inconsistent from game to game but also from
quarter to quarter. One quarter, he’s dominating on both sides of the court and
then the next quarter, he’s getting pushed around by Belga or losing Ranidel de
Ocampo on the perimeter or failing to box out Marc Pingris. On offense, he
swings from very aggressive to barely engaged at all. He’s not the most versatile or imaginative of offensive
threats, as he’s mostly limited to dunks, lay ups, putbacks, and the occasional
open mid range jumper but if he’s consistent with his effort through out the
game, he’s bound to put up monster numbers.
As
you can see, the one thing I think Slaughter
and Aguilar have to address has nothing to do with them improving physically or
skills-wise. It’s all about them changing their mindset and approach to the
game, so they can maximize the tools the already have.
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