SEABA Stankovic Cup Player Overview: As Per Requested

Even though some teams weren’t able to send their top talents to the SEABA Stankovic Cup, we still got to see a fair amount of talent (both new and old) show what they had.

Let’s take a closer look at each one of them.

สำหรับภาษาไทย อ่านได้ที่นี่

So after we got to step back and get a better look at the teams in the SEABA Stankovic Cup, here we take a chance to breakdown some of the players as well.

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Most Outstanding Player

It’s only normal that after a tournament is over, the fans would like to see the player that they admired and thought performed the best get recognized for his performance. A lot of fans were calling for an MVP award and I understand the gist, but maybe the use of the word “Valuable” in “Most Valuable Player” is a bit hard to define. Instead, I’ll be going with the word “outstanding”.

Doesn’t really make a difference. I just like to write down that I am handing out the MOP.

I think this one is actually pretty easy.

Troy Rosario, Philippines

significant numbers: 13.8 PPG (1st), 8.6 rpg (3rd)

Rosario seemed to be playing a different game than the rest of the players here. His athleticism, skill level, and psyche was just so fun to watch. For most of the time, he took a step back and let his team mates shine, but when he wanted to take over, he made sure to let everyone know that he could take over the game by himself.

He drove to the basket, hit midrange jumpers, hit longrange jumpers, scored down low, hookshots, everything. The thing was that he never forced it either. Mostly everything came within the flow of the game.

He used his athleticism and length to grab an ungodly 30.6 TRB% which easily led all players.

And yeah, he brought us what was probably the biggest highlight of this tournament.

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Best Shooter

After the Most Outstanding Player award, I’m just going to start creating award names just so I can list the players who I feel needs to be listed.

We saw a number of shooters in the SEABA Stankovic Cup like Vosotros, Chee Kheun Ma, and others. But none of them was such a pure and accurate shooter in this short span as Nakorn Jaisanuk.

nakorn jaisanuk, thailand

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 17 3PM (1st), 30 3Pa (3rd), 56.7 3p% (1st), 73.1 eFG% (1st)

I know, I know. It was just a stretch of 5 games. Still, was there anyone else that shot better than Nakorn Jaisanuk in this tournament at all?

Sure, he went relatively cold in the championship game (1/4) but he still hit that one ridiculous three point shot that sort of kind of kept Thailand in the game.

Jaisanuk his threes in all sorts of situations and the fluidity in his shot was quite impressive. Throughout his entire career prior to this, he was a good shooter that never really shot well in big games (his ABL games where he hit multiple thress were all against bottom half teams). This tournament might be able to change that narrative.

Is Nakorn Jaisanuk’s Thailand’s next big superstar? Maybe, but he’s going to have to improve the other facets of his game. Right now, he’s a mainly a shooter but he’s a really really good one at that.

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Best Innovative Position

I don’t even know how to properly name this award, but I feel like it needed to be pointed out and recognized somehow.

Mainly, it’s just me showing love to…

Kwaan yoong jing, malaysia

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 12.6 PPG (3rd), 6.6 RPG (7th), 2.8 APG (3rd), 26.7 3P%

I guess it was easy to peg Yoong Jing as a center when you first saw him or when you see him in the ABL. He was tall, he was slow, and his movements were kind of funny. Sure he had a decent baseline jumper but that was pretty much it right?

You are wrong. So soooooooooo wrong. Whether Coach Goh Cheng Huat was pushed in necessity by lack of having a true point guard or if he had really seen Yoong Jing’s awesome potential, he just stuck Yoong Jing in a Point Center position and let the offense run through him.

This created a lot of different options for Malaysia as the spacing wouldn’t be as clogged up down low and opened space for cutters. Yoong Jing could use his height and (surprisingly) good passing skills to hit his team mates.

It was a lot of fun to watch at times…but it wasn’t all fun and games. Putting Yoong Jing in this situation meant that the offense would take more time to set up. It also meant having a ball handler who might not actually be completely comfortable handling the ball. Yoong Jing was second in turnovers per game (4.0).

I’d like to see how Malaysia goes forward with this and if they embrace Yoong Jing’s new role fully or if it was just a stop gap until Tong Wen Keong (or another point guard) steps back into the National Team line up.

Nonetheless, fun stuff to see.

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Defensive Player of the Tournament

No one completely stood out on defense, in my honest opinion. No individual was completely shutting down the opposition’s aces or swatting away everything in sight near the basket.

Still, defense is a crucial part of this game and you just have to recognize who has done it well…

Mac Belo, Philippines

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 2.0 SPG (2nd), 1.6 BPG (2nd), 23.1 STL% (3rd), 6.6 BLK% (1st)

Belo doesn’t really stand out at all but he just keeps getting the job done. He didn’t go out of his way to lock down Jaisanuk or Ananti or Yi Hou, but he quietly played solid and sound defense in the system and it worked for him and his team.

He was also one of the most efficient scorers (12.2 PPG on second-best 57.6 eFG%) and a sound rebounder (4.6 RPG) but we’ll just recognize him here for his defense.

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Breakout Players of the Tournament

The fun thing about these tournaments is that it opens an opportunity for players to breakout. It’s fun to get a glimpse at something that could very well be the start of something bigger.

Here are your Breakout Players:

chitchai ananti, thailand

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 12.2 PPG (T-4th), 5.0 RPG, 51.0 efg% (4th), 0.8 BPG (T-3rd)

Let’s turn the clock back one year ago.
Ananti was a guy who scored on a pretty bad team.
That was it. He wasn’t a superstar on that team, just a scorer.
He wasn’t yet a household name in the TBL, let alone to make the national team.
Then he made a couple of big shots to take down powerhouse Hitech in the TBL Semifinals.

Then he made the Mono Vampire ABL team.

Then he scored a huge game tying basket for Mono Vampires against rivals Hitech in his very first ABL game.
Then he scored 29 points against the eventual champions, KL Dragons, in the very next game.
Then he made the National Team roster.
Then he was inches away from forever being a Thailand Basketball Hero.

Then he almost carried Thailand single handedly back into the game against the Philippines.
Then he averaged 16.5 points and 8 rebounds against the Philippines.

One year later, we have arrived at that point where Chitchai Ananti has evolved from a scorer on a bad team to one of Thailand’s brightest stars.

(and he’ll be a father soon as well. Congratulations!).

wong yi hou, Malaysia

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 13.2 PPG (2nd), 4.8 RPG, 5.6 FTA/G (1st), 71.4 FT%

Yi Hou had shown the trajectory that he would be a good player sooner or later for Malaysia with his performance with the KL Dragons. He had a three point shot (39.4 3P%) and he could get to the line (1.2 FTA in 10.0 MPG). His 43.6 eFG% was in the same range of Ananti, David Arnold, and Xavier Alexander in the ABL.

But I didn’t really expect him to step up this fast.

Right out the bat, Yi Hou drove hard to the basket against the Philippines. He would end up either getting the layup or getting fouled. His 22 points against the Philippines is the highest any other player has recorded in this tournament.

He might still be a bit inconsistent, as you can see from his scoring out puts in consecutive games:

vs PHI: 22 points
vs THA: 3 points
vs INA: 24 points
vs SIN: 5 points
vs SIN: 12 points

Yi Hou has the potential to be something special and he has shown us glimpses here. All he needs to do is to just refine the edges.

teerawat jantajon, thailand

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 9.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG (4th), 16.2 ORB% (2nd)

This breakout was only a matter of time. Thailand National Team veteran, Chaiwat Kedum, had personally begged off during the SEA Games so that Jantajon could make the squad that time, having seen the potential in the young kid.

Come this time in the SEABA Stankovic Cup, there was no need for anyone to beg off the squad for Jantajon. This time, he wouldn’t be just playing garbage minutes either. He would start all 5 games all the while playing the most minutes per game (21.2) on the team. Coach Tim made it clear that this was his time.

Jantajon certainly deserved those minutes, too. His athleticism, hustle, and instincts made him a terror on the offensive boards. Most of his offense has been on pure hustle second chance points however, but imagine what more damage he could do if he polished his offensive game.

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Breakout Player of the Tournament (in the Future)

kelvin lim, singapore

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 6.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 15.4 TRB% (9th)

Kelvin Lim isn’t a household name…yet. But I think he’s someone that we should all keep an eye on. He’s been stuck at the tail end of the rotation both on the National Team and the Singapore Slingers. He didn’t get to play the first two games to nurse a wrist injury.

But when he played, he played hard.

He drove stongly to the basket and finished a good deal of shots from there. He has the athleticism to finish above the rim too.

He might still have some problems with fouls and can’t really keep opponents honest with his shot yet, but that’s what the off-seasons are for.

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Guys Who Did What We Knew They Would Do Well

This list could go longer than it is, but I’m going to cut it short. I’m just mainly doing this for Delvin Goh who I can’t really say is a breakout star since he’s been around for a long time already.

So yeah, let’s get started…

Delvin goh, SINGAPORE

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 12.0 PPG (7th), 10.8 RPG (1st), 2.2 APG (5th), 46.0 eFG%

So maybe the passing touch was a bit of surprise, but other than that this is what we expected from Delvin Goh right?

He played sound defense in the post, boxed out, got rebounds, and scored in the post. I was surprised that he didn’t get more touches, but Goh did with what he got and he did it well.

raymar jose, philippines

SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS: 10.0 RPG(2nd), 22.6 ORB% (1st), 25.4 DRB% (2nd)

Raymar “No Way” Jose is not a scorer (29.0 eFG%). This was never assumed nor established at anytime whatsoever.

What Jose has always been however, was a rebounder and a hardworking one at that. And that’s exactly what he brought to the table.

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Best 5 of the SEABA Stankovic Cup 2016

I had to do this right?

Disclaimer Note: These “opinions” are all of my own and are not associated by SEABA or the organizer’s of the SEABA Stankovic Cup 2016 in any way. I will carefully list my reasoning along with my selections (whether it had already been stated above or added below), so please read through carefully. If you still disagree, feel free to comment and share your opinions.

Troy rosario, Philippines
Delvin Goh, Singapore
Wong Yi Hou, Malaysia
CHITCHAI ANANTI, THAILAND
MIKE Tolomia, PHILIPpines

Tough Calls: Mac Belo, Jio Jalalon, Nakorn Jaisanuk, Teerawat Jantajon, Kwaan Yoong Jing

Well, of course Rosario was going to be on the list. He was actually a unanimous vote, too. In fact all of them were because there is only one voter. I don’t think I need to make my case for Rosario or Goh or Yi Hou or Ananti. I think this discussion is more about why I chose Mike Tolomia over Jio Jalalon.

(and I love Jalalon mind you. This was a hard call to make)

So let’s square the two side by side, statistically:

Tolomia: 11.6 PPG, 3.4 APG, 5.0 RPG, 0.6 SPG, 36.9 eFG%, 25.9 AST%, 15.8 TOV%
Jalalon: 11.6 PPG, 3.4 APG, 5.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 40.6 eFG%, 34.1 AST%, 8.74 TOV%

It was creepy how their points and assists were identical. Even their rebounds were only 0.4 apart. Jalalon is even a bit more effective in terms of scoring and handling the ball.

Still, I gave Tolomia the nod in the Best 5 purely because he played and performed in the clutch. Nothing against Jalalon, who would have probably been just as clutch, but Tolomia’s performance as a whole just stuck in the back of my head more.

/goes to a corner to cry

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So that wraps it up! It’s been fun covering the SEABA Stankovic Cup 2016 with you all. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

I obviously won’t be gone for long because #BasketballNeverStops , but see you next time!

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Read the other SEABA Stankovic Cup 2016 day recaps here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Team Overview
Player Overview

Catch all of the action of the SEABA Stankovic Cup 2016 here at Tones & Definition
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or at the writer’s twitter account @tonesndef