PBA draft picks boom or bust?

1 BOOM jOR BUST NUMBER 1 DRAFT PICKS FROM 1985 TO 2011 1985 1986 1987 CABATU CUENCO CAIDIC 24 12 REY CUENCO Alaska ALLAN CAIDIC Great Taste SONNY CABATU Shell His much smaller, less lauded but more skillful teammate Leo Austria would eventually take home rookie of the year honors in 1985. 'Nuff said. The late Rey Cuenco would eventually blossom into a dependable player on both ends of the floor, but it was Dondon Ampalayo who was named 1986's best rookie. Perhaps the greatest pure shooter this country has ever produced, the Triggerman still holds many reccrds and! will not easily be forgotten by PBA fans. 1988 1989 1990 TANUAN PARAS 55 14 JACK TANUAN Purefoods BENJIE PARAS Shell PETER JAO Great Taste On a year where direct hire rookie free agents named Patrimonio, Codinera, Lastimosa and Magsanoc came bursting onto the scene, Tanuan didn't stand a chance at making much of an impact. Tower of Power. Rookie of the Year. Most Valuable Player. Multiple championships throughout his career. Paras is perhaps the best number one pick in the history of the PBA. In what is considered by many as the leanest draft ever, Jao turned out to be the top draft pick, but his batchmates Gerry Esplana and Gido Babilonia are far more familiar with the casual PBA fan. 1991 1992 1993 ARANETA MENESES LIMPOT ALEX ARANETA Alaska VERGEL MENESES Presto-Tivoli JUM LIMPOT Sta. Lucia After a successful coliege basketball career in Atenec, Araneta fizzled out in the PBA faster than perhaps any top draft pick in history. With his all-around scoring capability and high-flying game, it was only a matter of time before Meneses would win championships for his teams. And an MVP award to boot. Limpot was a ridiculously taiented offensive force when he came into the league. He would suistain that higth skill level throughout his career but would only get to win his championships much later. 1994 1995 1996 LOCSIN ESPINO AQUINO 161 16 NOLI LOCSIN Tondeña DENNIS ESPINO Sta. Lucia MARLOU AQUINO Gordon's Gin As coach Robert Jaworski's undersized but overpowering number four, Locsin would flourish in the Ginebra franchise's never-say-die system but slowed down when he was shipped to another team. Playing Robin to Jun Limpot's Batman for many years, it was only after the trade that shipped Limpot to Ginebra for Marlou Aquino did Espino become the heart and soul of the Sta. Lucia franchise. The Skyscraper made an immediate impact as the league's top pick in 1986, and would, throughout his career, garner many individual awards. BOOM!!! The best of the best garner both the individual awards and the championships. The Trig- german. The Tower Of Power, The Aerial Voyager and Thriller are among these elite. THE TRIGGERMAN 1987 ALLAN CAIDIC ALLAN CAIDIC was called "The Triggerman" in his prime because of his ability to shoot the lights out of any game. He set many scoring records including most points in a single game (79), most points in a single half (53), most points in a single quarter (37) and most 3-point field goals in a quarter (8). He is regarded by many as the best pure shooter the country has ever produced and is also considered as among the best Scorers Asia has ever produced. He was named the PBA's MVP in 1990. CAIDIC 8. 8. championships won: TOWER OF POWER 1989 BENJIE PARAS SENJIE PARAS was aptly called the "Tower of Power". He is the PBA's only rookie MVP. He wouid eventuaily win the award one more time, is regarded as among the PBA's 25 greatest players and is 10th on the all-time scoring list. PARAS 14 As the cornerstone of the Sheil franchise, he led his team to four PBA championships. championships won: 1997 1998 1999 SEIGLE TSONSO ALVARADO 52 10 15 ANDY SEIGLE Mobiline DANNY ILDEFONSO San Miguel SONNY ALVARADO i Tanduay What's most notable about Seigle, apart form his being a great defensive center and ROY awardee, is how his arrival Rookie of the Year. Eventually back-to- back MVP. Multiple championships. Danny I has always been the real deal. Here was one other sure winner from the Here is a guy who would have been great. If only he were Filipino. The Fil-Sham movement quickly followed the Fil-Am movement. And Alvarado was its poster boy. ushered in the entire Fil-Am movement. get go. 2000 i 2001 2002 MENDOZA MILLER DE OCAMPO 11 33 PAOLO MENDOZA Sta. Lucia WILLIE MILLER Red Bull YANCY DE OCAMPO FedEx With the arrival of Mendoza, and the blossoming of the Espino-Aquino tandem, the Sta. Lucia franchise finally won its first ever PBA championship in 2011. That's impact for you. Thriller Miller is a two time MVP who's brought his amazing array of offensive moves to every team he's played for. To this day he can still score on any defender if he so wills it. As his batch's top pick, you'd have thought Yancy would be the best de Ocampo baller to get to strut his wares in the PBA. Really, that distinction goes to his younger brother, Ranidel. 2003 2004 2005 CORTEZ ALVAREZ 10 23 MIKE CORTEZ Alaska RICH ALVAREZ Shell JAY WASHINGTON Air21 Coming off a stellar college career in DLSU, everyone expected the Cool Cat to dominate in the PBA. He's had a steady career instead. Multi-awarded college player Rich Alvarez became the top pick of 2004. However, in a Talk N Text team overflow- ing with talent, he's hostly come off the bench sporadically. Washington had a rough time adjusting to the league when he first came in. It wasn't until he broke into the San Miguel rotation after being traded that he truly flourished, 2006 2007 2008 WILLIAMS DEVANCE 21 53 KELLY WILLIAMS Sta. Lucia JOE DEVANCE Welcoat GABE NORWOOD Rain or Shine Many believe that Williams is the single most talented all around player in the league. In fact, Williams' versatility has landed him several slots in the national Are we still waiting for Joe Devance to explode like he's supposed to or is this as good as it gets? Despite being the top pick in 2007, these days, Devance now comes off the B-Meg bench. A lot of people want Norwood to be the next Kelly Williams. Norwood would rather be the first Gabe Norwood. His team mentality is a lot more refined - and that's what shows. team roster. 2009 2010 2011 AGUILAR BACLAO 18 NOY BACLAO Air21 JAPETH AGUILAR JVEE CASIO Powerade Burger King Boy is this one pick wrapped in contro- versy. By the time the smoke had cleared, Aguilar was thrust onto a multi-talented Talk N Text squad. At this rate, we'd wager we'll only see glimpses of what Aguilar can really do. Also another controversial pick.For Also another controversial pick. Baclao was named top pick ahead of his much more decorated and more highly touted schoolmate Rabeh Al-Hussaini. These days, both barely get playing time. Despite coming into the league injured, once he got into the groove, Casio became an instant contributor to his team. Only history will decide if he's truly worthy of being picked first in a great draft.