Rookies by the numbers

With the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations coming close to an end, it’s evident that rookies are playing a major role in determining the fortunes of their teams. Here’s how the newcomers stack up by the numbers.

28 – rookies who’ve played at least one game this season: That’s five more than the 23 freshmen who suited up in the Clark bubble last year.

3 – rookies averaging in double figure points: TNT’s Mikey Williams (17.9), NorthPort’s Jamie Malonzo (12.4) and Terrafirma’s Joshua Munzon (11.7).

10 – rookies averaging at least five points: Williams, Malonzo, Munzon, NLEX’ Calvin Oftana (7.1), Rain or Shine’s Anton Asistio (6.5), Phoenix’ Aljun Melecio (6.3), Meralco’s Alvin Pasaol (6.3), Rain Or Shine’ Santi Santillan (5.8), Alaska’s Ben Adamos (5.2) and NorthPort’s Troy Rike (5.3).

2 – rookies who weren’t drafted in 2020: Meralco’s Michael Canete and Magnolia’s Alvin Capobres who were both picked in 2019.

6 – rookies from La Salle: Malonzo, Melecio, Santillan, Rain or Shine’s Andrei Caracut, Blackwater’s Joshua Torralba and Terrafirma’s James Laput. In addition, Phoenix’ Larry Muyang played briefly for the Archers before transferring to Letran. The school with the second most rookies is UE, listing Magnolia’s Ronnie de Leon, Blackwater’s Rey Mark Acuno and Pasaol.

4 – most rookies in a team with Magnolia, Alaska and Rain or Shine sharing the honors. The Hotshots freshmen are De Leon, Capobres, Jerrick Ahanmisi and Loren Brill. Alaska’s newbies are RK Ilagan, Adamos, Alex Stockton and Taylor Browne. The Elasto Painters’ first-timers are Asistio, Santillan, Caracut and Franky Johnson.

0 – rookie in San Miguel Beer’s cast. It’s the only team without a freshman this season. A team with no rookie impact is Barangay Ginebra whose freshmen Brian Enriquez and Ken Holmqvist are averaging a combined 0.4 of a point.

7 – rookies who never played for a Philippine school: Enriquez of William Woods University in Missouri, Johnson of Warner Pacific University in Oregon, Phoenix’ Nick Demusis of Whittier College in California, Munzon of California State University Los Angeles, Williams of California State University Fullerton, Brill of Old Dominion University in Virginia and Browne of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

6 – rookies averaging at least four rebounds: Malonzo (9.3), Oftana (5.2), Rike (4.2), Santillan (4.1), Williams (4) and Demusis (4).

4 – rookies averaging at least 1.5 assists: Williams (3.1), Malonzo (1.9), Asistio (1.8) and Melecio (1.6).