CHRISTIAN Manaytay and Jun Roque aren't exactly the names that you'd expect to hear on the Mall of Asia Music Hall floor during the first round of the PBA Season 50 Rookie Draft on Sunday afternoon.
But for Rain or Shine, the two were exactly what they came for.
"Consensus picks sila ng coaching staff namin," said coach Yeng Guiao when asked about the little-known players that Rain or Shine picked for the No. 10 and 12th selections of the first round.
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Guiao admitted that Rain or Shine had tempered its expectations with its two picks coming late in the first round of a draft that neither had the depth nor the size of the Justine Baltazar-led pool of the season before.
The veteran coach admitted his coaches, led by top deputy Caloy Garcia, had set their sights on San Beda's Yukien Andrada. But after that, Manaytay and Roque were exactly the second and third names on their draft list.
"Well-researched ang background ng mga 'to. Ang character and ability nila fit sa team namin," Guiao said.
Describing Manaytay as a 'solid all-around player,' Guiao said the 6-foot-5 former UST Tiger is the type of big man that brings something new to Rain or Shine's frontline vis a vis big boys Beau Belga and Kris Porter.
"Manaytay is a solid two-way player. He can score, he has range, he can play defense." said Guiao. "He's not like Beau or Kris, so he's the kind of big who can keep up with the up-tempo game that we like to play."
As for Roque, Guiao said he sees the 6-foot-4 guard from Lubao, Pampanga as a 'Santi Santillan' type of player who brings quickness, athleticism, and three-point shooting to the position.
"These two are not what you consider superstars, but solid role players," Guiao said.
Did they make the right choices?
Guiao said unlike in the past PBA drafts, the talent available in this year's pool is more or less even beyond the Top 3 of Geo Chiu, Juan Gomez de Liano and Dalph Panopio that there are really no wrong choices from No. 4 and beyond.
"After the Top 3, there's very little difference in terms of the talent ng mga naiwan," said Guiao. "So depende na lang ang choices dun sa preference ng mga teams."
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