BANGKOK — A former coach of Jason Brickman in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) believes his stock has hit the roof, thanks to his impressive play with Mono Vampire Basketball Club this season.
“Sure top three pick,” former ABL coach Ariel Vanguardia told SPIN.ph when asked about the Fil-American guard.
Vanguardia, a former coach of Phoenix in the PBA, was spotted during Game Two of the ABL Finals in Sta. Rosa, Laguna watching Brickman, his former player with the Westports Malaysia Dragons.
Having seen his game develop at Mono Vampire, Vanguardia believes the 26-year-old can be a great asset to any PBA team, especially one in search of a young and upcoming point guard.
His impressive performance in the ABL Finals as well as Alab Pilipinas coach Jimmy Alapag’s positive comments about his game will surely have PBA teams taking a look at the Fil-American guard, he added.
“Most of the top point guards of (PBA) teams are in their 30s like (LA) Tenorio, (Alex) Cabagnot, (Chris) Ross, and (Jayson) Castro. His stock got higher with his performance in the ABL and with coach Jimmy’s assessment of him,” said Vanguardia.
On when will Brickman join the PBA rookie draft is still unknown but the Mono Vampire point guard said he is now in the process of sorting out his citizenship papers to be become eligible.
Vanguardia said Brickman's experience playing in Europe should not taken for granted especially with current PBA players Stanley Pringle, Matthew Wright, and Christian Standhardinger having taken that same route before moving to the Philippines.
“Bihira lang sila na nakapaglaro sa Europe so talagang dun pa lang, malalaman mo ‘yung caliber niya,” said Vanguardia.
During the elimination round of the 2017-2018 ABL season, Brickman averaged 11.5 points, 10.5 assists, and 2.0 steals for Mono, which will play a winner-take-all Game Five on Wednesday night against San Miguel Alab Pilipinas.
Vanguardia said the pass-first Brickman has also improved his game since their time together with the Dragons by adding consistent outside shooting to his arsenal.
“Even before when he played for me, he was an excellent passer. But he rarely took attempts so we told him to also look for scoring opportunities to be unpredictable.
“He likes to make his teammates look good with his passes. Now, he has a complete package with his threes and drives,” said Vanguardia.
Brickman is also a good person and any team will be very proud to have him, the coach added.
“With Jason, he lets his game do the talking. He is a very quiet person,” said Vanguardia.
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