ALLAN THE MAN

Alaska made a splash in the first round of the PBA draft by selecting Ryan Buenafe with the eighth overall pick.

It was a reach for the Aces as Buenafe was not projected to go until middle of the second round. Coming into the draft, players such as Nico Salva, Alex Nuyles and Jeric Teng were expected to go in the first round ahead of Buenafe.

“I didn’t expect I will be their first choice in the draft. I will prove to them na hindi sila nagkamali sa akin,” said Buenafe. “There’s an added pressure, sobra because I was picked ahead of Nuyles, Jeric Teng, hindi ko ini-expect na mas mauuna pa ako sa kanila. But I will prove to my team that they didn’t chose the wrong player.”

San Mig Coffee, the recently-crowned champion of the Governors’ Cup, got even stronger with the addition of Ian Sangalang in Sunday’s PBA draft.

The selection of the former San Sebastian center came as no surprise as Mixers coach Tim Cone has repeatedly gushed about Sangalang’s potential over this past week.

As expected, 7-foot center Greg Slaughter was selected first overall by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Picking second, San Mig Coffee took former San Sebastian big man Ian Sangalang. Rain or Shine rounded out the top three by grabbing another center, Letran beanpole Raymond Almazan.

Barangay Ginebra acquired the fourth pick from Barako Bull and selected Arellano University’s James Forrester. UAAP MVP Terrence Romeo was picked fifth overall by GlobalPort, which received the pick that Barako Bull traded to Petron Blaze before it was moved again. GlobalPort also acquired Barako Bull’s sixth pick, which they used to select Romeo’s FEU teammate RR Garcia, and used their own seventh pick to take 6-foot-7 big man Isaac Holstein.

Crowd-favorites Barangay Ginebra got their center of the future after drafting former Ateneo slotman Greg Slaughter with the first pick of the 2013 PBA Draft last Sunday at the Midtown Atrium of the Robinsons Place Manila.

Slaughter, the tallest rookie at nearly seven feet, had been the clear choice for the Gin Kings for some time now, as he famously visited the team's practice. Ginebra's star guard, Mark Caguioa, also made it known on Twitter that he preferred for the Kings to take Slaughter.

There is growing consensus among PBA teams that big men will be high in the coming PBA rookie draft, making Greg Slaughter, Ian Sangalang and Raymond Almazan the top three picks in the event set Sunday at Robinsons Place Manila.

Pro league officials, who have completed their annual summit at The Westin Hotel here, appeared keen on enlisting big men during draft day.

An athletic left-handed center with great footwork, a solid post game, and a nice outside touch, San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone knows exactly who Ian Sangalang reminds him of.

“He’s like a smaller version of Wang Zhizhi, who’s a lefty as well,” Cone told InterAKTV in an exclusive interview.

Potential top rookie pick Greg Slaughter is not pressured at all if and when he joins Barangay Ginebra as the year’s no. 1 overall selection in this year’s PBA Draft.

He said suiting up in a Ginebra uniform will allow him to help the league’s most popular ballclub win a league title after a five-year drought given the mixture of veterans and young players in the team.

HOURS after dropping by Barangay Ginebra's practice on Friday, Greg Slaughter made no effort to hide where he wants to end up in the PBA rookie draft on November 3.

“If I end up in Ginebra, I can’t ask for anything more than that,” said the Cebuano seven-footer, the prospective No. 1 pick in the rookie draft where the Gin Kings happen to own the top selection overall.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will take first crack at the rookie pool in the PBA draft at the Robinson’s Midtown Manila on Nov. 3 and from indications, it appears that 7-foot Greg Slaughter will be the top pick. But San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone said yesterday Terrence Romeo’s surprise entry has thrown a wrench in the selection and he’s not ruling out the point guard to be an early choice.

For his part, Barako Bull coach Rajko Toroman singled out Slaughter of Ateneo, 6-7 Ian Sangalang of San Sebastian College and 6-7 1/2 Raymund Almazan of Letran as the likely top three picks.