THIS IS WHY | THIS YEAR WILL BE THE YEAR OF KEVIN FERRER

Writer's Note: I should have posted this before going asleep... 

Kevin Ferrer’s face just got smothered by Dave Marcelo.

Ferrer, who never saw this coming, was just minding his own business when the dastardly Marcelo came to him and overwhelmed his face.

Dastardly?

Hahaha. 

Well, I’m just blowing this incident to the core. The Phoenix Fuel Masters was set to play the Magnolia Hotshots as the second part of a two-game Saturday affair. Northport just finished Blackwater with Ferrer scoring 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists... including five triples. His efforts prompted the ESPN5 production crew to award him the game's Best Player.  

It was actually Marcelo’s way to congratulate his former teammate for a job well done. 

And it looked awesome.

I still think the 2016 PBA Draft is shady as fuck. Which team had dibs on which player? This is the question that has bugged me for some time now because, for a team like Columbian (then Mahindra), I would have taken the best player available from the Gilas Pilipinas cadet pool.

Like Matthew Wright.

Or if they needed a center, back then Arnold Van Opstal looked like the right choice.

I guess the best answer I can give you is that the PBA probably followed the regular draft order. In some ways, it made sense. With the exception of a couple of choices, it kind of felt right.

So, if we put the regular draft order on the special draft selections, the special draft could have been like this:

TEAM TO PICK	REGULAR DRAFT ORDER	PLAYER SELECTED
1 | BLACKWATER	RD 2 | 1	MAC BELO
2 | PHOENIX	RD 2 | 2	MATTHEW WRIGHT
3 | GINEBRA	RD 2 | 3	KEVIN FERRER
4 | MAHINDRA	RD 2 | 4	RUSSEL ESCOTO
5 | STAR	RD 2 | 5	JIO JALALON
6 | SAN MIGUEL	RD 2 | 6	ARNOLD VAN OPSTAL
7 | MERALCO	RD 2 | 7	ED DAQUIOAG
8 | NLEX	RD 2 | 8	FONZO GOTLADERA
9 | RAIN OR SHINE	RD 2 | 9	MIKE TOLOMIA
10 | ALASKA	RD 2 | 11	CARL BRYAN CRUZ
11 | GLOBALPORT	RD 3	VON PESSUMAL
12 | TNT	RD 4	ROGER POGOY

Now, one must be thinking…

HOW ON EARTH IS ROGER POGOY THE LAST PICK?!?

Well, that is for another blog.

The reason why I made a trip back to memory lane is because of Kevin Ferrer. The former UST Growling Tiger was highly touted for his shot-making abilities and his very arrogant celebratory taunt.

The dude looks like a gecko… especially when we see his hair all spiked up after draining a mood-killing three.

I want this version to return.

As seen in the table I just made, he could have been the third pick of the 2016 PBA Draft and back then it made sense. However, Ferrer entered a team that is fighting for titles. Rookies playing for this kind of environment either self-destruct (especially if they still have a superstar’s mentality) or transform into role players… like the tenure, Ferrer had in Ginebra. It also didn’t help that the primary young player Tim Cone was developing is Earl Scottie Thompson. The former UPHR triple-double magnet is the first player Ginebra selected under the Tim Cone regime and his entry marked the beginning of the end of Mark Caguioa’s stud status.

And this is why Thompson’s development is crucial for Cone.

But Ferrer had chances to shine. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really able to exploit said chances. I don’t really like praising Aljon Mariano (because I am still a salty UST fan) but to his credit, Mariano is a better fit as compared to Ferrer.

Of course, Ginebra will love Stanley Pringle’s awesome scoring outings but bear in mind that the combo of Ferrer, Jervy Cruz and Solomon Mercado combined for 53 points, 21 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Nevermind if Blackwater went import-less and we can probably account their great showing to beginner’s luck.

I highly doubt that Pringle can surpass these stats if and when he makes his Ginebra debut.

Ferrer still has a long way to go to return to his old deadly shooter self. Right now, I stand by my decision that Northport won the trade because getting important contributions from Jervy at this stage of his career is a feat in itself. I know he will turn 33 this year so he’s no young upstart but with how UST players fare in the pro ranks… I just hope Pido will use him well. And Solomon Mercado… you know he’s trying to return to his old scoring self. I know he is 35 years old but in the PBA, a big-time talent usually starts to lose his flair at around 37… so he still has two years left.     

If Ferrer can bring his UAAP game back, Pido Jarencio and the rest of Northport just robbed Ginebra.

END