There were ten imports at the
start of the tourney and somewhere along the way – a lot of coaches saw that
some of these imports can’t boost their chances to the top.
One of those imports is one of
my favorites – Chris Alexander.
The out-of-shape former Best
Import was sent away and while Jackson
Vroman is a gem of a choice. The same can be said with Jarrid Famous, Dermarr Johnson, and Nick Fazekas who thought could
save their squads from elimination but when they left, their squad fared
better.
Well… except for Petron.
They changed Fazekas to Will McDonald a little too late.
Game starts now.
10 –
RODNEY WHITE / BARAKO BULL
There’s a question mark on
whether or not Rodney White will continue his PBA import career. Nonetheless,
the former NBA player was partially responsible for Barako Bull’s success.
9 – DONNELL
HARVEY / TALK N TEXT
Part of me tells me that Talk N
Text is one of those teams that have little use for domineering imports. What
Harvey gives this team is a fighting chance to defend their throne.
8 –
JACKSON VROMAN / GINEBRA
While I am more of a Chris
Alexander fan, you can discount the fact that they Kings indeed accomplished
their assignments with Vroman around. He needs to do well on his free throws.
7 –
EARL BARRON / MERALCO
The former NBA player finished
off what Jarrid Famous had trouble doing. The former Red Bull import also gives
the team a tremendous boost in their offense. Hopefully he can tow Meralco to
their first semis run.
6 –
ADAM PARADA / ALASKA
Parada isn’t as dominant as he
was when he was still playing for Red Bull. Admittedly, he started the season
hurting. However, he gave Alaska the chance to fill their void in the middle
and he gave the other starters a chance to do their thing.
5 –
DWAYNE JONES / POWERADE
Like Parada in Alaska, Jones is
not making his team HIS team. Instead he lets his teammates shine and lets Gary
David, JV Casio, and Marcio Lassiter continue what they started a conference
ago. Whenever the team needs a second crack at a shot, he’ll give it to them.
4 –
NICK FAZEKAS / PETRON
Fazekas was everything Petron
hoped for except that he can’t give the team the “W”. Dirk Nowitzki lite played
above and beyond the rim but he can’t make his teammates look good. But then
again, maybe Fazekas isn’t the one to blame. Let’s face it, Petron didn’t do
well with Will McDonald in tow either.
3 – DREW
CREWS / RAIN OR SHINE
Crews will leave Rain or Shine
giving his all. Maybe budget cuts got him to last until the end but it’s
adamant that for an undersized import, he could do more. Yeng Guiao putting his
faith on Crews was enough to realize his worth. Perhaps this is the reason why
he got a job playing for the ABL’s San Miguel Beermen squad.
2 –
DENZEL BOWLES / B-MEG
Of all the imports employed by
the San Miguel Corporation, Bowles had the least credentials. So how did Bowles
won Tim Cone over? The guy meshed with a system that has yet to gain fruit. Playing
the dominant import role, the Llamados flourished and for their sake, the B-Meg
faithful needs to wish that Bowles will continue making things easy for them.
1 –
MARCUS DOUTHIT / AIR21
I can’t stress this enough –
Marcus Douthit has gold written over him. He proved it with Smart-Gilas and he
proved it with Air21. So what the hell am I saying? Despite the changes the
team made, it is still a ragtag core but all of a sudden they realized that
they can win with Douthit around. While the Express failed to sustain their
newfound winning attitude, let it be known that Douthit did his part in making
the Express competent enough to fight for wins.
The good news for every fan
wanting to hurt the list with uncontrollable anger is that this is an
elimination round list. Douthit, Fazekas, Crews, and possibly White are already gone
with six teams left to contend. This means the weak teams will be weeded out and the best imports will stay at the top.
The bad news? Unless Bowles
gets injured or fails to boost his team to the finals, people will bow down to
him after he is awarded with the Best Import trophy.
Game over.
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