The NCAA has long been home to some of the very best in High School basketball, and one way of gauging who is best fit for collegiate sports is the named Mythical Five of the NCAA Juniors Basketball tournament. For this blog post, we'll be naming five players who will make up of the MVP Race/Mythical Five.
This year's batch of players is amongst the deepest in recent memory. Since that's the case, naming five players to make up the Mythical Five is a tough task in itself. It's always been a tough task before, but the sheer depth of talent and production this season has been close to unprecedented. College ready players are seemingly all over this time around.
Here are some of the notable players who missed the cut:
Sherwin Concepcion, Malayan Red Robins
Evan Nelle, San Beda Red Cubs
Carlo Abadeza, Arellano Braves
Jasper Salenga, Malayan Red Robins
Joel Cagulangan, LSGH Greenies
Makki Santos, LPU Juniors Pirates
With that, here's my top 5 players for the MVP Race after the first round of #NCAASeason92Jrs:
Mention the Arellano Braves, and chances are, two names immediately come into play. Those are big man Carlo Abadeza and Guilmer Dela Torre. There's good reason for that, but if there's a name people should remember, it has to be Aaron Fermin.
I remember talking to Aljun Melecio a couple of months ago, asking him who the must watch guys were in Mapua. Mike Enriquez and Sherwin Concepcion certainly got thrown around, but the player who Melecio had most trouble against was actually Romuel Junsay.
Admittedly so, San Beda has been facing kind of a slump as of late. An 8-1 record is considered as a disappointment for the team, so it isn't surprising that they haven't been making the headlines as of late. Almost everyone in the Red Cubs team has struggled, except for one man. That's none other than Sam Abu Hijleh.
Best player on the best team. In any case, that should be enough to catapult Guilmer Dela Torre to #1 in the MVP Race after the First Round of NCAA Juniors action. Sadly that wasn't enough, so he has to settle for #2 this time around.
LSGH has always had one player who's stood above the rest of the competition. Season 89 had Prince Rivero. The 90th season had JBoy Gob. Last season had Ricci Rivero who missed winning MVP because of an ejection. For Season 92, we have the second coming of Mac Belo in Troy Mallillin.
This year's batch of players is amongst the deepest in recent memory. Since that's the case, naming five players to make up the Mythical Five is a tough task in itself. It's always been a tough task before, but the sheer depth of talent and production this season has been close to unprecedented. College ready players are seemingly all over this time around.
Here are some of the notable players who missed the cut:
Sherwin Concepcion, Malayan Red Robins
Evan Nelle, San Beda Red Cubs
Carlo Abadeza, Arellano Braves
Jasper Salenga, Malayan Red Robins
Joel Cagulangan, LSGH Greenies
Makki Santos, LPU Juniors Pirates
With that, here's my top 5 players for the MVP Race after the first round of #NCAASeason92Jrs:
5. Aaron Fermin, Arellano Braves
Statistics: 10.4 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.0 BPG
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| (Photo Credit: Aaron's Fermin's Facebook Page) |
Contrary to popular belief, Aaron Fermin has actually been Arellano's best big man this season, not Abadeza. He may not be as good as a scorer as Abadeza, but his rebounding, shot blocking and inside scoring has proved crucial for a team that lost their only game after the first round after a poor performance against the LSGH Greenies.
The spotlight will continue to shine on Abadeza and Dela Torre. But people have to shine the spotlight on Fermin, because he has showed that his game is must watch.
4. Romuel Junsay, Malayan Red Robins
Statistics: 18.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, 2.1 SPG
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| (Photo Credit: The Manansala) |
Junsay has done an excellent job of leading a Mapua team that's perceived by many to be currently lacking in talent in the backcourt. That hasn't been the case when it has come to Junsay's game, as he has shown that he has the scoring chops to lead a Mapua team that is in the running for a title run.
3. Sam Abu Hijleh, San Beda Red Cubs
Statistics: 14.3 PPG, 10.8 RPG
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| (Photo Credit: Danilo Factor, San Beda Red Lens) |
Sam is the team captain of this Red Cubs team, and it has certainly shown itself with the way that he has performed amidst his team's struggles. Despite his lack of height, Sam makes up for this by showing a ton of heart, toughness and smarts against his opponents. That alone shows just how valuable he is to a San Beda team that is hoping to complete an unprecedented 8 peat.
2. Guilmer Dela Torre, Arellano Braves
Statistics: 18.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.4 SPG
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| (Photo Credit: The Manansala) |
Even though his partner Carlo Abadeza has been on a slump as of late, Dela Torre has maintained his jet like play by coming in second in scoring in the entire league. He may play like a jet every time he penetrates to the rim, but that doesn't mean he's a trainwreck of a player. In fact, he's arguably been Arellano's steadiest player this year thanks to his all-around play.
If he keeps this up, we may see him raise the MVP trophy by the end of the season. However, that is only a big if at this point.
1. Troy Mallillin, LSGH Greenies
Statistics: 21.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 0.8 BPG
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| (Photo Credit: Josh Albelda, ABS CBN Sports) |
Unlike teams like San Beda and Arellano, Troy is carrying an LSGH team that is full of young guns instead of veterans. With a 6-3 record and a victory against Arellano to boot, Troy is easily the MVP so far after the first round.
He may be a silent leader for his team, but that doesn't mean he isn't valuable. In fact, his value on the court is off the charts that we just have to award him the #1 spot so far in this year's MVP Race.
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