Inside the bubble
SMART CLARK GIGA CITY, Pampanga, Philippines — A bevy of players have surely created ripples before the PBA bubble play took a pause.
Like a “phoenix,” Matthew Wright ascended to the bubble mountaintop with a league-leading average of 25.71 points in seven games. He also normed 5.29 assists and 5.71 rebounds in an all-around effort in Phoenix Super LPG’s 4-3 start.
Wright might be on the right track to take the Bubble MVP award.
Not far behind in scoring are Terrafirma’s CJ Perez (25.20), and TNT Tropang Giga’s RR Pogoy (22.83) and Ray Ray Parks (21.40).
Then there’s Christian Standhardinger, who’s lording it over in the land of giants with 11.4 rebounds on top of 18.80 points a game.
The NorthPort main guy is joined in the circle of top performing frontliners by San Miguel’s Arwind Santos (14.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg) and Phoenix’ Jason Perkins (17.29 ppg, 10.00 rpg).
Only four players norm double-double numbers – the fourth guy being the comebacking Calvin Abueva (19.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg in two outings).
Ginebra’s Scottie Thompson and TNT’s Jayson Castro are the leading playmakers with 6.0 assists each while Chris Ross is the “Man of Steal” with 2.8 an outing.
Fuel Masters center Justin Chua is bubble’s tapal king so far with 1.6 blocks in seven starts.
Gin Kings’ Prince Caperal (58.3 3FG%), NLEX’s Kiefer Ravena (89.8 FT%) and Raul Soyud (71.8% FG) are the current top marksmen.
Overall, Mo Tautuaa, Stanley Pringle, Paul Lee, Vic Manuel, Don Trollano and Kevin Alas have also made big strides.
And yes, TNT (5-1) and Rain or Shine (4-1) have only one loss apiece in the bubble.