THE RIGHT PLAYER IN THE WRONG SITUATION

CREDIT | FIBA.COM

If you think about modern bigs, the first name that comes to mind is Dirk Nowitzki.

And if you are still young enough to remember watching him play, then let's fast-forward and make Nikola Jokic your archetype.

Before Dirk arrived in Dallas, seven-footers were generally prohibited from stepping away from the paint. Sure, some of them had sweet midrange shots, like Hakeem Olajuwon. And back in the '80s and '90s, there were examples of big men playing outside their traditional roles, like when Magic Johnson played center for the Los Angeles Lakers after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got injured in the 1980 NBA Finals, Larry Bird when Boston was looking to mess with their opponents' defensive rotations, and Sam Perkins, who later in his career developed a sweet-looking shot similar to that of Beau Belga.

But the arrival of Nowitzki saw a German big man with skills unlike those of Rik Smits. Nowitzki's long-distance shots were just as lethal as his drives to the rim. It was like watching a center pretend to be a small forward, and he was successful at doing it.

And then there's Nikola Jokic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQc0hirB-o

There is a reason why Jokic's selection was preempted by a Taco Bell commercial.

Simply put, nobody saw this coming.

Jokic is the only second-round pick to win the MVP award, and it's because his game BREAKS the typical NBA big-man mold. He can pass the ball like Vlade Divac, but better, and he can grab rebounds as well as Shaquille O'Neal without The Diesel's athleticism. And like Dirk, Joker possesses wicked range that makes his playing style an anomaly that even NBA "locals" can't contain or replicate to this day.

While Dirk Nowitzki excelled during his time in Dallas, if we were to re-draft the 1998 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers should have selected him with the top pick instead of Michael Olowokandi. But what's even more damning is that if we had a crystal ball, Jokic should have been the next big man drafted after Joel Embiid.

Yes, Jokic's career is better than Embiid's, but back then, the Andrew Wiggins and Embiid tandem was running roughshod over the NCAA. That said, the fact that Jokic was selected 41st overall while Noah Vonleh was picked ninth is insane. This just goes to show that the NBA wasn't ready for these guys.

Because here's the thing: back then, the world wasn't as familiar with the EuroLeague. Even as of today, I doubt there is an established fanbase for the league in the Philippines. Up until recently, we based our basketball development on NBA standards. We built our basketball culture around an atmosphere shaped by Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and the pre-Lakers version of LeBron James.

And if the NBA didn't see this coming, then what about the Philippines?

And it's not just the players. It's also the coaches. Most Pinoy coaches were replicating what they saw from NCAA coaches. What's worse is that during international competitions, we tended to look at big men primarily for defense rather than offense.

I am not hating on EJ Feihl, but he was a shoo-in for the 1998 Centennial Dream Team over Jerry Codinera, Nelson Asaytono, and Benjie Paras simply because of his size.

If June Mar Fajardo, or perhaps Greg Slaughter, started their PBA careers at the 2027 PBA Draft, then I would expect these guys to have a modern-big feel, like Dirk or Joker.

However, they didn't.

JMF was about to turn 23 when he joined the 2012 PBA Draft, while Slaughter was already 25 when he entered the 2013 PBA Draft.

So what the hell am I saying this for?

Well, June Mar Fajardo is about to retire from international competition, and throughout his Gilas stint, people have been pissing on his accomplishments. The fact that he's a nine-time PBA MVP and can't translate his numbers to the international stage is one of the reasons why he has more trolls than fans.

I don't want to say that these fans are casuals because we really want basketball to have the same standing as we have with EJ Obiena's and Alex Eala's journeys. There is a reason why football and baseball never hit the same way as basketball, and it's because, ever since the days of Caloy Loyzaga, Robert Jaworski, and Danny Florencio, we have been looking for ways to conquer the hoop giants of the globe.

That said, I thought it was unfair for us to make June Mar Fajardo a modern-day big man because he developed his skills in a time when Shaq was an immovable force.

He basically gets the same flak as Japeth Aguilar.

Can you imagine a Gilas player with the gameplay of JMF and the hops of Japeth?

Wow.

Anyway, the biggest problem with our national team is our size. This is why, prior to Justin Brownlee and Jordan Clarkson, our reinforcements were mostly big men.

When we played in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, we were able to lose by the slimmest of margins because Andray Blatche was unstoppable inside. That said, it was a double-edged sword for us because, in order to defend our opponents' perimeter shooting, June Mar stayed stuck on the bench in favor of smaller but more agile big men.

When Gilas played Senegal, or the other African teams from that point onward, we had a fighting chance to either win or lose close games because we were able to either have two big men on the floor at the same time or have a local tower defend the rim so the naturalized scorer could do his thing.

Because Filipinos are small in stature, our towers have to be primarily used to defend the inside. And it's not just about JMF here, as the same can be said when we had the likes of Blatche, Marcus Douthit, Christian Standhardinger, and Angelo Kouame.

That said, I can't help but think about what would have happened if Mike Hrabak played in this current era. He's 6'8" and can shoot the ball like Mick Pennisi, but he wasn't as rugged defensively. Unlike Fajardo and Pennisi, though, because he played the game that way, he was labeled as soft, and after his rookie year with the Shell Turbo Chargers, no team would build its style around him.

But then again, when he played for Yeng Guiao as a defensive enforcer, he managed to turn into a solid contributor.

Hrabak would eventually finish his PBA career at the age of 31 in 2010, when the world was on the verge of witnessing how Steph Curry would change basketball as we know it.

Another reason is that when June Mar got to see extended minutes for Gilas, he was already in his 30s.

Again, Philippine basketball has to change this.

I know finishing your education is important, but athletes need to start young to develop faster. A case in point is Kai Sotto, who would have been the number one pick in the 2027 PBA Draft if he decided to exhaust his UAAP college eligibility. He is only 24 at this point, and he has been a pro for almost six years now.

That said, we can't fault Sotto if he wants to pursue his NBA dream because, at 24, he's too old to be an NBA rookie.

Again, going back to Dirk and Jokic, they were 20 and 19, respectively, when they debuted in the NBA. Dirk won his first MVP before he reached 30, while Jokic was only 26 when he won his first of three MVPs.

Finally, it's his personality, or perhaps the personalities around him.

Fajardo flourished in the PBA because he had Leo Austria. Austria got the best out of June Mar because he spammed the ball to him and let the rest of the first and second Death Five make him better.

Now, I don't know if Chot Reyes' and Tim Cone's offenses would have been better if they made him their first option, but with a naturalized import given the green light on offense, JMF had to feed on the scraps left for him.

If you see his gameplay in the current Governors' Cup, it feels as if he's training for the role designed for him in Gilas. George King's offensive insanity is almost as similar to that of Brownlee, and Fajardo is perfectly okay with letting him run the show while dominating inside the paint.

I mean, after all, I doubt the opposing team will give a dominant big man free room even when the shooting guard is the main offensive option. So this gives King more breathing room to hit his shots.

And again, it comes down to his personality. JMF wouldn't ask to be the team's scoring option. If Greg Slaughter or Christian Standhardinger wanted the ball thrown to them at all times, JMF just wants to do what he thinks is best for the team.

And I guess this is why, despite all the hate, all JMF can ask from the fans is to just politely lay off the negative comments.

Again, if this were another player, he might have thrown tantrums.

And let me say just this about the time when big men were tasked with just staying inside.

Before going to the NBA, Yao Ming dominated Asian basketball because not only did he have the height to dominate, he also had the outside skills to mess with opposing teams. We are talking about the Chinese basketball team before they had ex-NBA stars playing in the CBA. The Great Wall of China, comprised of Yao, Wang Zhizhi, and, in some ways, Mengke Bateer, had Euro-center vibes in their gameplay.

That is why, in the '90s, we saw their players as robots because their shots were almost automatic. When these three played in the NBA, it looked like they were lost because, aside from the language barrier, they also had to work their way out of the paint.

And yes, I am including Yao Ming, and in some ways Yi Jianlian, here because the NBA never went all-in on the way they played.

In fact, one of the reasons why Yao's knees got so messed up is because he had to pack on pounds so he wouldn't look like a stick when he defended against Shaq and the big men of his generation. I mean, it's not like Yao didn't need to build more muscle mass, but it also messed with his mobility, and I guess his outside shooting as well.

Ultimately, while I understand the criticisms surrounding June Mar Fajardo's international gameplay, the only thing that worked against him is that he learned the game in a different way, and his game peaked at the wrong time.

I would like Fajardo to continue playing for Gilas, albeit in a more reserve role, because even if he's already on the wrong side of his 30s, you know for a fact that he's the only player in the PBA who can serve as an anchor in the middle, especially if Kai Sotto and AJ Edu are unavailable.