Powerade nabs backcourt of the future

At the height of the Coca-Cola Tigers' success in its first 2 years in the league, the team had a potent backcourt combination.  On the team were Johnny Abarrientos and Jeffrey Cariaso, 2 remnants of Alaska's 90's dynasty.  Both were past their prime already when they joined the Tigers (Johnny A. was 32 while Jeffrey was 31), but both wanted to prove that they can still play at a high level.  As fate would have it, this backcourt tandem would lead the Tigers to its first championship, the 2002 All-Filipino Cup title, at the expense of.... yes, the Alaska Aces.

August 28, 2011 was a huge day for the Powerade Tigers and its fans.  Days leading to the draft, people have been buzzing regarding who the team will be picking with the 1st and 4th overall picks.  While Smart Gilas standout JV Casio seemed to be the consensus choice for the top pick, other possibilities still linger like choosing UE spitfire Paul Lee or Smart Gilas wingman Marcio Lassiter instead.  I myself made an article a week ago discussing whom between Casio and Lassiter should we pick first.

Ultimately, the Tigers chose Casio, which was a great decision.  While Paul Lee has tremendous amount of untapped potential, Casio is arguably the better and more complete player at this point.  He had strut his wares for the national team and had competed against some of the best guards in Asia.  He became perhaps the most important local player for Gilas and his international stints made him ripe for the PBA.  All was well with this choice.

And then the unexpected happened...

In perhaps all mock drafts circulating around the net, nobody had Lassiter falling out of the top 3.  It was also believed that Barako Bull would choose Lassiter with the 3rd pick if Casio and Lee goes 1 and 2.  But on draft day, Barako Bull and recent champions Petron consummated a 4-player deal that brought Don-Don Hontiveros, Carlo Sharma to Petron in exchange for a future pick, Sunday Salvacion, and Mick Pennisi.  The deal also included a swap of picks between the 2 teams (3rd and 8th pick).  Now, while this deal was lopsided and really fishy, it actually worked in Powerade's favor.  Apparently, Petron was more interested in Chris Lutz than they were with Lassiter, and they did choose Lutz with the 3rd pick, to the surprise of many.  Of course, without hesitation, Powerade quickly grabbed Lassiter with the subsequent pick.

We got arguably the national's team 2 best local scorers.  When Smart Gilas played in the PBA Commisioner's Cup last year as a guest team, the team's top 2 local scorers were Casio (14.2 ppg) and Lassiter (13.5 ppg).  If that is any sort of indication, both guys can indeed compete and produce in the PBA.  

Another beneficiary is Gary David.  David finally gets the scoring help he badly needed.  Although Casio is known for his shooting, he is also a willing passer.  While in the past David had to exert much energy on creating his own shots, he will find it much easier this time with a playmaker like Casio.  Opposing teams' defense will no longer be focused on David alone.  Lassiter is also a good defender, and he could help David, also an able defender himself, defend against scorers of opposing teams.

Perhaps the best thing about acquiring Casio and Lassiter is the fact that these are 2  high-character guys, so there will be no attitude problems as such.  Both guys also considered it an honor to play with David, so we can at least be assured that there will be no ego clashes within the team.  They also expressed their desire to help the team improve, which is more than enough to make us fans happy and excited. 

Powerade was awarded the top pick when they won the draft lottery, they hit the jackpot when they landed Casio and Lassiter.

Only time can tell if Casio and Lassiter can lead our team to greater heights like what Abarrientos and Cariaso once did, but one thing we can be sure of, the future looks bright!

Roar out!