3 Nationals join PBA draft pool

Three players who suited up for the Philippine national team this year, two Fil-foreigners and three players born in the country but raised abroad are among the early applicants for the 2004 PBA Annual Draft set Jan. 16.

Richard Alvarez, the starting small forward in the RP squad that reigned supreme in the recently-held 22nd Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, heads the list that include ABC championship veterans Bernzon Franco and Gilbert Omolon.

Alvarez, a key player of the Ateneo Eagles in the UAAP, is tipped to emerge among the top picks together with fellow Vietnam SEAG campaigners Ranidel de Ocampo of St. Francis and James Yap of University of the East.

Richard Michael Benitez and Joaquin Thoss were two players who beat the earlier list-up deadline for Fil-foreign players.

Fil-Ams who also want to try their luck in the draft are Theodore Hawkins, Lyndon Lagat and Alvin Garcia.

If Lagat is to be believed, the 5-foot-8 player is a crack pointguard. He said he suited up for Debry Institute of Technology in Canada and was among the last cuts in the Canadian national team that competed in the Tournament of the Americas in Puerto Rico early this year.

Hawkins is a 6-foot-4 forward who played for the Cosames Rover College in California while Garcia donned the Mt. San Antonio College also in California.

The other early birds in the draft pool are University of the East’s Arnold Booker, San Sebastian’s Alvin Pua, La Salle’s Carlo Sharma and Manny Ramos and PBL mainstay Manuel Huelar.

Other top players expected to beat the Dec. 29 deadline for draft application are national players Ervin Sotto, Wesley Gonzales, Gary David and Marc Pingris.

Dec. 29 is also the deadline set by the Commissioner’s Office for the player-agents and managers to apply for accreditation. Unaccredited agents will not be allowed to negotiate with the ballclubs.

The unknown Fil-Ams will be given a chance to strut their stuff in a rookie camp set Jan. 11.

Meanwhile, Talk n Text’s Asi Taulava emerged the scoring and rebounding king, teammate Jimmy Alapag the league’s chief playmaker, FedEx’s Wynne Arboleda the sultan of steal and Marlou Aquino the No. 1 shot-blocker at the close of the 2003 PBA season.

Taulava averaged 23.4 points and 13.7 rebounds. Runners-up in the fight for scoring honors were Kenneth Duremdes (19.8), Eric Menk (18.8), Dennis Espino (18.3) and Mark Caguioa (17.3). In rebounds, runners-up were Dorian Pena (12.5), Menk (11.8), Chris Jackson (11) and Rudy Hatfield (10.7).

Alapag topped the assists ladder with an average of seven a game, followed by Dale Singson (5), Olsen Racela (4.8), Johnny Abarrientos (4.6) and Hatfield (4.3).

Arboleda (1.9), Hatfield (1.8) and Abarrientos (1.8) were the top three in steals and Aquino (1.4), Taulava (1.3) and EJ Feihl (1.2) the top three in blocks.

Ironically, Taulava also topped the error department with 4.8 turnovers a game.