Burger making Aquilar top pick

Burger King coach Yeng Guiao may get his biggest wish after all.
"Yes, as of today (Wednesday), we're going for Japeth (Aguilar)," Whoppers team manager Lito Alvarez said yesterday, four days before the PBA Rookie Draft at the Market! Market! In Taguig.
The decision, Alvarez added, was reached after consultations with Guiao and would be finalized in a team meeting on Saturday that will also include their other plans for the draft.

"I had my reservations (about Aguilar) and I thought he would be a 'project.' But after getting a report from coach Yeng (after the Jones Cup in Taipei where Aguilar played with Powerade-Team Pilipinas), and after all those juicy offers from other teams, you can learn to appreciate the value of Japeth now," he related.
Among the teams leading the chase for Aguilar was Talk N Text, which reportedly prepared to go to great lengths to acquire the former Western Kentucky University Hilltopper.
"Whatever we are prepared to do, let's keep it confidential at the moment," TNT board representative Ricky Vargas said in a separate interview.
"But if you're asking me if we want Japeth, yes, we do," said Vargas, whose team does not have a first round draft pick. "It's not a secret that we're bidding for him."
That should put Guiao's mind at ease since he was among those unaware of Burger King's plans for the draft, where the Whoppers also hold two other first round picks.
One thing Guiao does know: Aguilar is quite special.
"We will not have a player with Japeth's talent or ability, at his height, in the next five to 10 years. Wala pang lumabas na ganyan even in the past. He's a very unique player and we will never know if somebody like him will come out again," stated Guiao.
Aguilar first honed his skills at Ateneo before moving over to WKU, where he mostly rode the bench.
The Pampanga native's potential was not lost on Guiao when he coached the former in the RP Team that recently saw action in the Jones Cup. There, Aguilar showed his slam-dunking and shot-swatting skills.
Guiao acknowledged Aguilar is athletic and nimble on his feet, but stressed a lot of work remains to be done on the player's game.
"Hindi na-maximize ang potential niya sa Western Kentucky. He was never given the chance to develop his instincts kaya at times he looks very raw," Guiao said.
"That's why I'm very interested and excited to show him the ropes, so to speak, coach him and teach him some things I know." Noli Cortez - Malaya Online Edition