CHICAGO - Before entering the Season 48 PBA Rookie Draft, Adrian Nocum sharpened his spurs at the MPBL where he captured Rookie of the Year honors in 2023.
And though he was only picked in the second round and 24th overall later that year, there was little doubt about the then 23-year old guard's readiness to play with grown men in the country's premier hoops league.
"I noticed him in the Rookie Combine. I asked my assistant coaches about his background and they said he was really quick and athletic, qualities we were looking for," Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao told me in a Tuesday night interview,
READ Rain or Shine signs Adrian Nocum to lucrative three-year contract
"He was rough around the edges but seemed a good fit for our playing style. I noticed his toughness and competitiveness. His perimeter game was inconsistent but he had a good stroke which meant he just needed the reps," Guiao added.
In his two-season stint thus far with Rain or Shine, the second of which is still breathing life in the semifinals of the Philippine Cup, Nocum has done nothing but reinforce the faith the franchise had reposed on him.
BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS
Through 16 games this conference, the former Mapua gunner has averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists an outing while shooting a healthy 44 percent from the field.
Earlier on Tuesday, Rain or Shine rewarded Nocum's hard work and sacrifice with a fat contract extension that carried a robust raise from the P200,000 and P300,000 a month pay that capped his first two tours of duty.
His rookie deal wasn't due to expire at the end of this month but the Elasto Painters had seen enough to pull the trigger.
"He's grown by leaps and bounds because of his work ethic. He is quiet and humble with his early success. There's still a lot of room for improvement but his decision-making skills have shown the fruits of his labor. He will be scary when he gets even better," Guiao said.
Coach Yeng "wasn't at liberty to divulge" figures on Nocum's new deal but sources told me that the straight three-year contract will rest near the P420,000 a month max scale on the third and final year.
ANOTHER TITLE CHASE.
Adrian is also eligible for won-game bonuses and playoffs incentives. And he probably won't have to pay for paint for the rest of his life.
Baked in the same oven as teammates and fellow rough riders Andrei Caracut and Jhonard Clarito, Nocum has a voracious appetite for physical play that is prone to being misconstrued as dirty.
It's just intensity, folks, the old-fashioned "no harm no foul" mantra.
Although independent teams can't compete against the financial might of rich teams owned by conglomerates, Rain or Shine has repeatedly gate-crashed the semifinals by identifying assets through the draft before nurturing and then weaponizing them.
And Guiao, the builder of winning cultures and architect of seven PBA championships, is at the center of the Elasto Painters' continued evolution from pretenders to contenders.
This time around, coach Yeng has Nocum as one of the valuable pieces required to imagine another title run.
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