JUSTIN Chua of Phoenix Super LPG and Prince Caperal of Barangay Ginebra are the likely candidates for Most Improved Player if such an award will be given out in the 2020 bubble season of the PBA.
Chua and Caperal have been vital for their respective teams’ campaign in the bubble, where the Fuel Masters and the Gin Kings emerged as two of the top teams in the league with their play.
Just how big a leap did both players make in the bubble?
Chua averaged 13.18 points during the elimination round of the Fuel Masters’ campaign in the Philippine Cup, up from the 8.9-point outing in the entire 2019 season of the league.
Chua’s improvement on offense can be attributed to his three-point shooting where he is now shooting 42.31 percent from rainbow country in the PBA bubble. While he already had that shooting touch from the outside last year, Chua was not as consistent as this year as he had 23.1 percent in 2019.
The former Ateneo big man also lorded it over the boards after tallying 6.82 rebounds in 11 games. That's a big leap from his 4.4 rebounds per contest last season.
The biggest improvement in Chua’s game has undoubtedly been his defense. Chua was the surprise leader in blocks in the PBA bubble with a 1.73-clip. He was a non-factor on defense the previous year where he only had 0.7 per outing in 2019.
“Whether it’s your defense or your three-point shooting, make yourself valuable. ‘Yun ang importante sa kanya and he embraced it,” said Phoenix Super LPG coach Topex Robinson of his big man.
Unlike Chua who was in the Fuel Masters’ rotation last year, Caperal was no more than a third-string center for the Gin Kings behind Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter.
With Slaughter not playing for Ginebra in the bubble, Caperal took advantage of the increased playing time with productive numbers in the 2020 season.
Caperal is averaging 9.64 points during the PBA bubble campaign, a big increase from the 1.2-point output in 34 of the possible 52 games for Barangay Ginebra last season.
With the increase in minutes from 7.1 minutes in 2019 to 22.3 in 2020, the Ginebra big man also grabbed four rebounds per outing during the bubble, not bad for a guy who only had 1.5 last year.
Caperal also became an unlikely three-point shooting weapon. He is making 46.34 percent of his three-point shots, the best in the league. He only shot 16.7 percent from threes in 2019 due to less attempts.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone said conditioning has a big hand in the turnaround.
“He has a better body. He is stronger and he is also just a great guy. Everybody loves Prince. He is a super guy on the team. We are all happy for our success. We expect it to continue to grow,” said Cone.
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