Read between the numbers

At the end of the single round-robin eliminations of the PBA Philippine Cup, the league released statistics that showed the leaders in conventional categories like scoring, rebounding, assists, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, steals, turnovers, blocked shots, minutes played and fouls.

If you dig deeper into the stats sheets, you’ll find a lot more numbers that reveal things about players not usually under the radar. Here are some of those hidden figures.

• More rebounds than points. Role players don’t mind doing the dirty work, cleaning up the boards and deferring to teammates for offense. They’re the selfless blue-collar workers who’re often the backbone of a team. The players with more rebounds than points in the eliminations were Ryan Araña (32 rebounds, 31 points), Jay-R Reyes (28, 26), Rico Maierhofer (77, 64), Dorian Peña (8, 2), Harvey Carey (98, 76), Rob Reyes (27, 25), Rodney Brondial (47, 38), Bradwyn Guinto (96, 94), Rich Alvarez (16, 8), Jason Ballesteros (71, 40), Yousef Taha (58, 53) and Rafi Reavis (19, 6).

• Guards with more turnovers than assists. A critical measure of efficiency, particularly among guards, is the assist-to-turnover ratio. Jimmy Alapag led the league in this department with 47 assists to 9 turnovers for a ratio of 5.222. The guards with ratios less than 1.0 were Chris Banchero (21 turnovers, 19 assists), Ping Exciminiano (8, 6), Ronald Tubid (12, 9), Terrence Romeo (40, 31), R. R. Garcia (14, 13) and Alex Mallari (27, 14).

• Double-double average. Only five players averaged a double-double in points and rebounds – Greg Slaughter (23.5 points, 15 rebounds), JuneMar Fajardo (23.1, 14.4), Sean Anthony (20.4, 11.4), Asi Taulava (19.7, 12.1) and Willy Wilson (17.7, 12).

• Higher field goal percentage than free throw percentage. Players usually hit a higher percentage from the line than the field. After all, a foul shot isn’t defended. But there were 11 players who shot at a higher clip from the floor than the stripe (minimum four free throw attempts) in the eliminations – Eric Menk (43.3 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from the line), Ping Exciminiano (33.3, 25), Chris Lutz (60, 50), Dave Marcelo (64.3, 58.3), Kelly Williams (51.4, 50), Aaron Aban (40.7, 25), Rodney Brondial (45.7, 37.5), Bradwyn Guinto (58.5, 51.4), Paolo Hubalde (36.5, 25), Jason Ballesteros (56.7, 42.9) and Yousef Taha (54.8, 43.8).

• More offensive than defensive rebounds. Brian Heruela (9 offensive rebounds, 6 defensive rebounds), Jeckster Apinan (5, 4), Rodney Brondial (29, 18), Frank Golla (14, 13) and Joseph Sedurifa (4, 2). Players with the same number of offensive and defensive rebounds (at least four) were Ryan Arana (16, 16), Jay-R Reyes (14, 14), Rich Alvarez (8, 8) and Ping Exciminiano (4, 4).

• Players with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game. Greg Slaughter (27 points, 26 rebounds in Ginebra’s 82-79 loss to Barako Bull; 22 points, 21 rebounds in Ginebra’s 85-70 win over GlobalPort), Asi Taulava (22 points, 21 rebounds in NLEX’ 93-91 win over Meralco), JuneMar Fajardo (28 points, 20 rebounds in San Miguel Beer’s 106-105 win over Barako Bull; 43 points, 20 rebounds in San Miguel Beer’s 103-97 loss to Alaska) and Willy Wilson (28 points, 20 rebounds in Barako Bull’s 105-98 overtime win over TNT).

• Players who scored in double figures every game in the eliminations. There were only five – Sean Anthony, Vic Manuel, Asi Taulava, Greg Slaughter and Stanley Pringle. Missing the mark by one game were JuneMar Fajardo, Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, Terrence Romeo, Willy Wilson, R. R. Garcia and Jayson Castro.

• Players with at least 30 points in a game. Terrence Romeo (33 against Alaska and Meralco – in the playoffs, Romeo hit 33 against Barako and a career-high 41 against Alaska in Game 1 of the semifinals), Gary David (40 in Meralco’s 108-106 loss to Barako Bull), JuneMar Fajardo (35 in San Miguel Beer’s 102-86 win over Mahindra, 43 in San Miguel Beer’s 103-97 loss to Alaska – in the playoffs, Fajardo scored 36 in San Miguel Beer’s 109-105 win over Rain Or Shine in Game 1 of the semifinals last Tuesday), Sean Anthony (32 points in NLEX’ 107-101 win over TNT, 37 in NLEX’ 111-106 win over Rain Or Shine), Asi Taulava (31 in NLEX’ 103-93 loss to Mahindra), Greg Slaughter (35 in Ginebra’s 102-94 double overtime win over Blackwater), Jayson Castro (33 in TNT’s 91-86 win over Star), Arwind Santos (30 in San Miguel Beer’s 97-84 win over TNT) and Mike Cortez (30 in Blackwater’s 108-99 win over Mahindra).

• Players with at least 20 rebounds in a game. Asi Taulava (20 rebounds in NLEX’ 97-95 loss to Star; 21 rebounds in NLEX’ 93-91 win over Meralco), Mark Yee (20 rebounds in Mahindra’s 93-85 loss to Barako Bull), Greg Slaughter (26 rebounds in Ginebra’s 82-79 loss to Barako Bull; 21 rebounds in Ginebra’s 85-70 win over GlobalPort), Willy Wilson (20 rebounds in Barako Bull’s 105-98 double overtime win over TNT), Cliff Hodge (20 rebounds in Meralco’s 86-83 loss to Mahindra) and JuneMar Fajardo (20 rebounds in San Miguel Beer’s 106-105 win over Barako Bull; 20 rebounds in San Miguel Beer’s 103-97 loss to Alaska).

• Players with a higher three-point percentage than two-point percentage (with at least five three-point tries and more three-point than two-point attempts). R. J. Jazul (42.1 percent from three-point range, 37 percent from two-point range), Dondon Hontiveros (46.5, 42.9), Ryan Reyes (46.3, 33.3), Jai Reyes (40, 25), Garvo Lanete (28.6, 23.1), Josh Urbiztondo (43.3, 35.9), Mick Pennisi (40.3, 20) and Rey Guevarra (33.3, 0). Pennisi had the largest difference between three-point attempts (25-of-62) and two-point attempts (1-of-5). Hontiveros was another designated triple bomber with 20-of-43 triples compared to 6-of-14 two-point tries. Reyes hit 19-of-41 from beyond the arc and 5-of-15 two-point shots.