Former Phillipines Basketball Association No. 1 Pick Japeth Aguilar Pursues NBA Dream

LOS ANGELES – TO former Philippine Basketball Association No. 1 pick Japeth Aguilar, it’s now or never.

There is an urgency in the 25-year-old Aguilar, who is in the U.S. right now planning to showcase his basketball skills in front of National Basketball Association and NBA Development League executives and coaches.

The 6’9” Aguilar wants to be the first Philippine born player to make it in the NBA.

“I think about it a lot of times,” said Aguilar to the Asian Journal and ABS-CBN. “Sometimes I pray to God because He gave me this ability, He gave me this athleticism, He gave me the height. I’m just thinking what is my purpose?”

Aguilar believes his purpose is to make it in the NBA or at least do all he can to try and make it.

For Aguilar, so far so good.

Over the weekend, the former PBA Burger King Whopper and Talk N Text Tropang Texters, made a good impression on coaches and officials for the NBA D-League team Bakersfield Jam during an open try out held at East Los Angeles College.

“Japeth is an intriguing player,” said Will Voigt, head coach of the Jam. “Obviously, his length and athleticism. He’s been playing as a four or a five (power forward / center) in the Philippines we’ll have to transition him into a three (small forward). It’s going to be a process for him. But he’s shown flashes throughout the weekend that makes you want to see more.”

Aguilar arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines last week. On a whim, he decided to try out for the Jam, the development league affiliate for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors.

Joining Aguilar were more than 80 basketball players – many of them recently finishing their college career in the NCAA Division I Pac-12. There were ballers from the University of Southern California, Oregon and UCLA, according to Jam assistant general manager Bryan Levy. Saturday began with 80 players before coaches whittled the list down to 20 by the end of the day. Aguilar was one of the 20 chosen to come back and play in the “All Star scrimmage” Sunday.

On Sunday, Aguilar didn’t disappoint. Despite his team losing 62 – 48, Aguilar’s performance stood out. He scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbed four rebounds, blocked five shots and had one assist. Six of his ten points came as dunks. One dunk came from a breakaway, and another from an alley-oop in bound pass from the baseline.

Coaches praised the Filipino’s performance afterward. Voigt said he likes Aguilar’s game and sees a lot of potential in him.

“I thought his athleticism really stood out,” said Voigt. “He didn’t really shoot the ball as well as he has in the past. But his size and length, the way he moves, I think he just made a lot of plays just based on that.” Jam Assistant Coach John Bryant called Aguilar a very intriguing prospect because of the Filipino’s length, size and athleticism. Bryant commended the Filipino’s game saying Aguilar has “one of the quickest…

via Former PBA No. 1 Pick Japeth Aguilar Pursues NBA Dream.