Byron Scott praises Kieffer Alas, compares him to Luka Doncic

Former Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott was in Manila last week as he steered Fil-Am Nation Select to its second straight title in Division 1 of the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) last Sunday.

Fil-Am Nation Select defeated Phenom BlueFire-Pasay, 64-59, in the finals held at the Mall of Asia Arena.

While his team is composed of impressive players such as Angelino Mark and Caelum Harris who led their squad, Scott said he was also impressed by one Filipino player from the opposing team.

That player was Kieffer Alas.

"He's so good with the ball. He almost has a Luka Doncic-type style where you don't think he's going to get by you, but he gets by you. He has a very good tempo with his movement," Scott said when asked about the opposing player who impressed him the most.

"He understands how to use his body. He can shoot the ball. He's great at the free throw line."

Alas, the UAAP Season 87 Most Valuable Player, had 20 points, two rebounds, and two assists to lead the Pasay-based squad.

"Like I said, he has a very good basketball IQ, but he's probably the one that impressed me the most," added Scott.

Aside from Alas, Scott was generally impressed with Filipino players' knowledge of the sport.

"The thing that I love about Filipino basketball is how hard they play. They compete. They come at you for 40 minutes. They don't give up. They don't back down," Scott added.

"They play a physical style of basketball, which is what we used to play back in the day, so it suits me just fine. But the other thing that I was very impressed with is their basketball IQs. They understand the game."

"They understand situations. And so you have to give a lot of credit to the coaches here in the Philippines on what they've been able to accomplish as well. They've learned very well, and they've been able to teach that to their players," said Scott.

For the former Lakers coach, a homegrown player from the Philippines may land a spot in the NBA soon.

"So I told somebody the other day that I wouldn't be surprised pretty soon here that you're going to see a full-blown Filipino in the NBA."

Alas previously said that as part of his preparation for the future, he initially plans to go to Australia for a training camp. 

"Let's just see what happens afterwards."

—GMA Integrated News