JAPETH wants OUT of PBA ‘We have decided to play for RP 5’

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MANILA, Philippines - Top rookie prospect Japeth Aguilar has declared his intention to bolt the Philippine Basketball Association and suit up for the Smart-Gilas RP Team, an official of the squad that drafted him told a sports forum.


Lito Alvarez, PBA chair and team manager of the Burger King franchise that made Aguilar the No. 1 pick overall, said the former Western Kentucky player and his agent submitted a letter seeking his release from the Whoppers so he could play for Smart-Gilas.


“After much thought and consultation with my parents and relatives, particularly my father Peter Aguilar, we have decided to further our desire to play for the Philippine team being formed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas,” Aguilar said in his signed letter, a copy of which was faxed to the Inquirer.


“We also wish to express our regrets to the management of Burger King, as well as the PBA itself for this decision even as we ask for your understanding because to us, the privilege to play for our country overrides everything else,” added the letter.
The decision stunned Alvarez, who had already offered to loan Aguilar to the national team if the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas requested for the services of the 6-foot-9 shot-blocking ace.
“I was shocked because we said he could play for the national team if he wanted, but he was very clear in his letter that he didn’t want to play in the PBA anymore,” said Alvarez, who broke the story during the Scoop sa Kamayan forum yesterday.


“We offered him the best of both worlds and in fact, he might even get two contracts—one from Burger King and one from Smart Gilas.”


“We will not take this sitting down.”


Commish offers ‘words of wisdom’


PBA commissioner Sonny Barrios has already spoken to Aguilar but on an unofficial basis since no complaint had been elevated to his office yet and said that he offered the son of former national and PBA standout Peter Aguilar a few “words of wisdom.”


“I told him that before this develops into something that is tantamount to making a mockery of league rules, he has to rethink (his stand),” Barrios said.


The soft-spoken commissioner said that once a formal complaint is filed, “there could be consequences.”
T
he move brings back ugly memories of the controversy Sta. Lucia Realty faced when cat-quick guard Alex Cabagnot bolted the squad after he was selected by the Realtors as the No. 2 overall pick in 2005.


The PBA threatened Cabagnot, who flew to Hawaii, with serious sanctions and the Fil-Am playmaker flew back to the country to fulfill his obligations. He was dealt to Coca-Cola in 2007 and has been playing for the Tigers ever since.


Aguilar, a PBA official who requested anonymity because he hasn’t spoken to Barrios yet, “could face a lifetime ban.”


Burger King has offered Aguilar a maximum three-year deal worth P150,000 a month in the first year, P227,500 in the second and the maximum of P350,000 in the third.


“I told his advisers to talk it over and to talk to Japeth’s family in the US and come back to us with their decision,” said Alvarez.


“It’s a long weekend,” Barrios added. “They have time to think things over.”
Alvarez admitted he felt slighted by Aguilar’s latest move because “we trusted his word when he said he will join the PBA.

We could’ve picked another player in the draft or better yet, entertained a lot of juicy offers from other teams. But we stuck with him because coach Yeng (Guiao) wanted to work with him and we trusted his word.”


Guiao, who coached Aguilar at the Powerade-RP squad that finished eighth during the Fiba-Asia qualifier in Tianjin, China, told management he wanted to handle Aguilar, who he said could help end a personal all-Filipino title drought.


SOURCE: inquirer.net


Comment mga pipz....what can u say?.....

[kamikaze426]

Wherever he is comfortable playing is up to him. kung dili cya ganahan PBA so be it.

[digitalsuperman]

im really confused with the situation. whats the fuzz about it nga wala paman gipirmahan nga kontrata si japeth? sa NBA gani naa man daghan taga Euroleague nga nagpa draft but wala lang ni sign ug kontrata sa NBA pero wala man ko kabasa sad nga ilang gi Ban ang player.. tsk.tsk.

[Uzumaki Naruto Ni]

bitaw sa? diba final na kung naa nay gipirmahan nga kontrata? panigurado man sad ning PBA cguro

[icon_king]

unsa kahay iyang purpose nganu nagpa draft sya nya change of heart dayon? hadlok cguro ni iyang papa si peter aguilar mabali iyang anak or nadaot ni sa gal-gal...naa siguro nag lubog ani....

[benjoot]

sows..feel na kaau cgro nya ginukod nah xa kai hapt naman xa nkatungtong og nba gd..bcn d xa gnhan mag pba..ad2 lang xa sa rp team kai international bya nga competitions,naa pay purohan ma discover xa og agents sa lain country especially para sa nba, makuha gyd daun xa..makes sense dba?pra pd cgro magmahay ang tga nba kng ngnu wa xa g.daun og kuha kng mu maau pd ni xa..

[skadiboy]

Board reps favor stiff sanction vs Aguilar
By Nelson Beltran (The Philippine Star) Updated August 30, 2009 12:00 AM



Japeth Aguilar
MANILA, Philippines - Throwing their full support to PBA chair Lito Alvarez of Burger King, members of the board will push for the severest of sanctions on top draft pick Japeth Aguilar if he doesn’t reconsider his decision, which has made a “mockery of PBA rules.”

Governors Buddy Encarnado, JB Baylon, Atty. Mamerto Mondragon and Ely Capacio are all for a severe sanction to “teach Aguilar a lesson”.

Aguilar, the top pick in the recent PBA annual draft, has issued a statement, saying he’s pursuing a goal to help the national team in international play and, thus, he’s abandoning his commitment with Burger King.

“We should send a strong signal that this can’t be done. Nobody can just want to join the PBA then turn his back when he’s already part of it. What will happen to the team that drafted him? It would be left with an empty bag,” said Encarnado.

“It’s okay if he turns his back prior to the draft but not when he’s already drafted. We can’t allow this,” Encarnado added.

“A player takes on a big measure of responsibility when he joins the draft, especially when the player is a first pick potential. A player’s change of heart after being chosen can’t go without some serious consequences to a team’s potential. I’m inclined to support chairman Alvarez,” said Baylon.

“In the event that the Japeth case is brought before the board, I will support moves to sanction and bar him if only to set a clear example for future players and to protect the PBA from highly irregular actions of player agents,” said Mondragon.

“I’m in favor of sanctioning him based on PBA rules and policies,” said Capacio.

Alvarez, however, has remained hopeful Aguilar will see the light and reconsider his decision to turn his back on the PBA and play for the Smart Gilas developmental team.

“I would like to believe he’s yet to sign a contract with Smart Gilas. And I want to hear what will be Noli Eala’s advice on Japeth. I think the best advice is to tell Japeth to honor his commitment with Burger King which is a team that would allow him to play for Smart Gilas after all,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez said talking to the SBP executive director is an option but he’s taking a wait-and-see attitude at the moment.

“Hintayin ko na muna sila. But I really believe Smart Gilas has no involvement here. My assessment is that only Ronnie Nathanielsz is doing all these complications,” said Alvarez, believing Aguilar is ill-advised by his agent.

“What if Smart Gilas says ‘we don’t want to have an irritant with an active supporter. You honor your commitment with them.’ Remember, the PBA is an active member of the SBP,” Alvarez added.

“I’m now one of four officials representing the PBA in the SBP board. I’m with Manny Pangilinan and Ricky Vargas and the three of us are Burger King shareholders.”

[skadiboy]

Guiao criticizes Aguilar’s decision


National coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao Sunday said he finds Japeth Aguilar’s explanation for turning his back on Burger King unacceptable.

“Kung ’yun lang ang reason nila, that they want a longer playing time for Japeth, I think that’s very superficial and shallow,” said Guiao.

Guiao, who coaches Burger King, said Aguilar had limited playing time because he still lacks international experience.

Sports columnist Ronnie Nathanielz, Aguilar’s agent, said his father, former PBA player Peter Aguilar, felt slighted with the way Guiao used his son in the recent FIBA-Asia championship in Tianjin, China.

Aguilar’s playing time was one of the reasons why Aguilar chose not to sign up with Burger King and join the Smart-Gilas national developmental pool.

Guiao said the problem with the Aguilars is that they wanted too much too soon.

“Kung ’yun ang reason nila, napaka-immature naman nila,” rued Guiao. “He needs to earn the respect just like Asi Taulava, Mick Pennisi and Kerby Raymundo. Whoever is advising Japeth is doing him a great disservice.”

Guiao said Aguilar should be grateful that he was made to play for the Powerade-Team Pilipinas.

“I put my credibility when it took him blindly to the national team. But every time I am being asked about him, I always say that he’s going to be the next dominant big man in the PBA,” he said.

Despite his talent and height, Guiao maintained that Aguilar’s experience was not enough.

“Even a veteran like Ranidel de Ocampo was put on the reserved list so that Japeth can be included to the line-up. It’s because we want to give him the experience,” he added.

Aguilar’s decision to join Smart-Gilas left Burger King without its No. 1 draft pick.

Burger King representative Lito Alvarez, the incoming PBA chairman, is recommending a “lifetime ban” against Aguilar who was offered a three-year contract approximately worth P8.7 million by the Whopper.

PBA commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios has sought the opinion of the league’s legal counsels before coming up with a decision with regards to Aguilar’s case

[diehard2005]

ban na jud ni siya forever... puros negative ang pagtan-aw sa mga pipz sa iya gibuhat... poor guy...

if ma ban siya sa PBA... if adto siya sa GILAS, basin may tendency sad na ig next PBA season di siya paduwaon sa PBa, kumbaga black listed...hehehe

[skadiboy]

Bleachers' Brew #172 Pride (In the Name of flag, club, money, and playing time)

Pride
(In the name of flag, club, money and playing time)
It’s too easy to say the Japeth Aguilar should have not joined the draft if all along he wanted to play for flag and country. There’s more to this than a simple press statement.

by rick olivares


Isn’t it every Filipino basketball player’s dream to make it to the Philippine Basketball Association? And isn’t it a dream and honor to represent one’s country in international competition?

Normally, the two go hand in hand but when does the dream turn into a nightmare?

There is much more than Japeth Aguilar’s statement that he’d rather play for flag and country. He once spurned the longer term Smart Gilas National Team to turn pro and suit up for the Powerade Pilipinas squad to the Jones Cup and the Fiba Asia Men’s Championship. Burger King selected him as the overall number draft choice and the club felt as if they added a crucial piece to their championship ambitions.

But somewhere in between Tianjin and opening day of the first conference of the 35th season of the PBA, the worm turned. There is speculation that the young player out of Western Kentucky was unhappy over being benched as the tournament progressed.

Whether he was being onion-skinned about it no one can be sure since he wasn’t the only one to burn a hole in his pants while seated on the bench. Forwards Arwind Santos and for a while, Gabe Norwood, rode the bench as well. The team found itself struggling to find a consistent go-to player. And any good games by James Yap and Kerby Raymundo were few and far in between.

Although the team had a chance to secure an opportunity for a berth in the zonal qualifiers, the Powerade Team faltered when the going got tough.

The team had fallen apart under the weight of its own hubris. The lessons of previous international failures were not learned. Word filtered out that National Coach Yeng Guiao did not scout the opposition and that the players kept late nights about town. They had treated an international tournament like it was being played in their own backyard and under their own rules.

Though they finished eighth – better than the San Miguel Pilipinas team that landed ninth in Tokushima two years earlier – there was a feeling that the team had been ill-prepared and poorly equipped to compete in the international arena. If that statement needed underscoring, Guiao’s post-Tianjin public assessment of the players validated that but it was perhaps better off left unsaid to a fickle public. You know the saying… what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Aguilar was said to be unhappy with the public grading. He was a rising star with the Ateneo Blue Eagles when he was made to leave for the United States to play for Division 1 school Western Kentucky presumably to help his family. But a series of injuries kept him mostly to the bench and suddenly there were missed opportunities. Perhaps being an expensive observer in Tianjin conjured images of sitting once more.

That’s the rub when the tag of “potential” is slapped on any player whether fairly or not. Either they live up to it or they don’t.

When Aguilar and his representative, veteran sports media man Ronnie Nathanielsz, met with Burger King officials last Wednesday afternoon and declared their intentions not to sign with the ballclub, its representative, the PBA’s new President Lito Alvarez, was reported to have hit the ceiling.

Burger King offered the young player a maximum contract that would also free him for national duty yet the Aguilar camp’s reticence at first perplexed the Burger King executive then enraged him. And that too is an understatement. Guaio was also said to have blown his top.

A day after, both Alvarez and Guiao expressed hope that the two parties could put aside their differences and start anew. But in a press conference last Friday morning, it was revealed that negotiations had broken down. Later in the day, Aguilar, through Nathanielsz, sent an emailed statement to the media signifying his intent to join the Gilas team.

The repercussions of this incident will resonate in the league for years to come. Its full effects can only be surmised for now but will be determined later.

One on hand, it is seen as disrespecting a 35-year old institution’s rules and the PBA will surely close ranks with the aggrieved Burger King that went from being draft day winner to WTF! Although players are not obligated to sign should they not come to terms, this is the first time that the top pick will not ink a contract with the team that drafted him. How this affects Gilas’ participation in the upcoming PBA tournament is not clear. And there is talk that Aguilar, the son of former national teamer and pro player Peter, will be banned.

There are no rules in the league that sanction players who refuse to sign. Whether this is lawful or not isn’t clear yet. But for the sake of argument, is every player who is drafted signed to a contract?

The incident isn’t new as it happened before when FEU standout Victor Pablo was said not to be crazy about suiting up for Ginebra San Miguel, the team that selected him second overall in the 1993 draft. Pablo eventually went to Shell.

Most recently, a repeat of this happened when Fil-Am Alex Cabagnot, also the second overall choice in the 2005 draft, refused to sign with Sta. Lucia. Team representative Buddy Encarnado threatened to have him banned and Cabagnot who was in Hawaii at this time, high-tailed it immediately back to the Philippines where he played two years for the Realtors before he was shipped to the Coca Cola Tigers.

In the American National Basketball Association, Duke’s Danny Ferry, another second overall pick refused to play for the woebegone Los Angeles Clippers that he saw action for a year in Italy before moving back Stateside with the Cleveland Cavaliers and lastly with the San Antonio Spurs where he won a title.

Several seasons ago, Chinese sensation Yi Jian Lian made it clear to Milwaukee Bucks representatives that they were wasting their time because he had no interest playing for them if they drafted him. Bucks officials had to fly to Hong Kong and China to court the athletic forward. NBA officials couldn’t ban Yi because they ran the risk of losing the Asian market that has been instrumental to their international growth.

And in the NBA Draft of earlier this year, Spanish point guard sensation Ricky Rubio stated that he was not going to play for the lowly Memphis Grizzlies in spite of the presence by his compatriot, center Marc Gasol. Clearly the shabby treatment of Gasol’s older brother Pau remained fresh in their minds. Now Rubio could instead be staying put in the Iberian Peninsula where he might wear the colors of Barcelona.

Unlike the NBA where they cannot sanction a draftee who refuses to sign because of its many obligations, labor laws, and delicate undertakings, Aguilar does not have that leverage in his current situation. The league has asked SBP Executive Director Noli Eala to advise Japeth properly about the situation and to go on record in doing so. What started as a PBA problem is an association problem and one that has to be managed well because it could possibly lead to the pro loop bolting the SBP.

The Gilas team will officially enter Year Two of its program to claim an Olympic berth in 2012 in London. Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Manuel V. Pangilinan, who sponsors Gilas, is also the team owner of Talk ‘N Text and a minority owner of Burger King, and thus can only stay away to avoid speculation that the PBA was hit by friendly fire.

There is still much that will happen and time can only reveal such.

But aside from the different jersey that Aguilar will be wearing now, one thing is for sure. He will no longer be playing just for national pride -- it’s for his basketball life.