5 in the hunt for PBA’s top rookie award

MANILA, Philippines – The answer to the question of who will bag the Rookie of the Year (ROY) award will be a tough puzzle to solve as five newcomers are in the hunt for the much coveted title. Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado will contest the ROY plum against Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro of Talk ‘N Text, and San Miguel’s Bonbon Custodio, based on statistics released after the double elimination round of the KFC PBA Philippine Cup. Norwood and Mercado, credited for the Elasto Painters’ huge turnaround this season, are the top two rookies based on the average statistical points (ASPs). Norwood is this year’s No.1 choice in the annual rookie draft with Mercado as the fifth overall selection by Alaska before the Aces shipped him to the Elasto Painters in exchange for Joe De Vance. Norwood, the shifty 6-foot-5 Fil-Am guard out of George Mason University, collected a total of 27.4 ASPs. He averaged 11.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals in the 18 games he suited up for Rain or Shine. Three-points down is the former Biola University guard Mercado with 24.2 ASPs behind per game averages of 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists. Dillinger, who together with Norwood are chosen by Yeng Guiao for the RP team training pool, collected 23.7 ASPs (11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds) to place third while Custodio surprisingly came in at fourth with 23.59 ASPs (10.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals). Castro, a three-time Philippine Basketball League most valuable player, was at fifth spot with 23.56 ASPs (10.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists) Completing the list are Red Bull teammates Larry Rodriguez (19.5 ASPs) and Jeff Chan (17.3), Rain or Shine’s TY Tang (16.6), Beau Belga of Purefoods (11.8) and Alaska's Mark Borboran (10.9). – GMANews.TV