Gary David has proven a lot of doubters wrong this season, emerging as a more than competent shooter from long distance. What does this mean for the Meralco Bolts long-term outlook?
From the very beginning of his tenure in Meralco, the No. 1 caveat with building the team with David has been his dwindling percentage from long range after reaching a career-high 36.8 percent during the 2010-2011 season with the defunct Powerade.
The Bolts took a risk on October 2013 when they traded Chris Ross, Chris Timberlake and a couple of second round picks for the 36-year old veteran, knowing that he is already in the twilight of his career and fizzle out on the floor.
Every Sta. Lucia Realtor and Meralco Bolts follower should know all too well that the options are limited when building around a shooting guard (Paolo Mendoza and Macmac Cardona) who can't shoot threes consistently. So naturally, there was a little bit of unease when the window opened for David to become the veteran face of the franchise moving forward.
During the 2012-2013 season, Meralco’s lack of 3-point range combined with poor accuracy from distance, would seem to invite opponents to collapse the lane against Cliff Hodge and Reynel Hugnatan, making these players’ preferred drive-and-kick games less effective. This lack of catch-and-shoot ability means guards are much more effective with the ball than off the ball, leading to a bit of redundancy and inefficiency offensively.
Fast forward to the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup and it now looks fairly apparent that David has addressed that problem. The team is only 5 games this conference, but thus far, David appears to have improved further his long-range shooting percentages, and perhaps even one worth building around.
If you look at the numbers, it's pretty clear what's happening this season – David isn't budging one bit on his shot selection, he's just shooting better. His 3-point accuracy is at a level higher than what he had accomplished so far in his career. This is pretty crazy.
If you're a Meralco Bolts fan for the long haul – sitting patiently through the rebuild, waiting for things to get better – the numbers provided by David should be dream come true. It is a proof that the Bolts have abandoned their one-on-one plays and are finding a formula that works. They've got a budding star in Hodge, but they're tapping into David’s strengths and they're figuring out how to be successful with both of them.
Just hope that this keeps up.
From the very beginning of his tenure in Meralco, the No. 1 caveat with building the team with David has been his dwindling percentage from long range after reaching a career-high 36.8 percent during the 2010-2011 season with the defunct Powerade.
The Bolts took a risk on October 2013 when they traded Chris Ross, Chris Timberlake and a couple of second round picks for the 36-year old veteran, knowing that he is already in the twilight of his career and fizzle out on the floor.
Every Sta. Lucia Realtor and Meralco Bolts follower should know all too well that the options are limited when building around a shooting guard (Paolo Mendoza and Macmac Cardona) who can't shoot threes consistently. So naturally, there was a little bit of unease when the window opened for David to become the veteran face of the franchise moving forward.
During the 2012-2013 season, Meralco’s lack of 3-point range combined with poor accuracy from distance, would seem to invite opponents to collapse the lane against Cliff Hodge and Reynel Hugnatan, making these players’ preferred drive-and-kick games less effective. This lack of catch-and-shoot ability means guards are much more effective with the ball than off the ball, leading to a bit of redundancy and inefficiency offensively.
Fast forward to the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup and it now looks fairly apparent that David has addressed that problem. The team is only 5 games this conference, but thus far, David appears to have improved further his long-range shooting percentages, and perhaps even one worth building around.
| SEASON | TEAM. | GP | 3-PTS M | 3-PTS A | 3-PTS PCT |
| 2004-2005 | CCT/FFE | 53 | 26 | 99 | 0.26 |
| 2005-2006 | Air 21 | 27 | 16 | 58 | 0.28 |
| 2006-2007 | Air 21 | 36 | 36 | 119 | 0.30 |
| 2007-2008 | Air 21 | 33 | 58 | 161 | 0.36 |
| 2008-2009 | Air 21/BK | 45 | 62 | 214 | 0.29 |
| 2009-2010 | BK/CC | 39 | 54 | 170 | 0.32 |
| 2010-2011 | Powerade | 28 | 53 | 144 | 0.37 |
| 2011-2012 | Powerade | 49 | 147 | 406 | 0.36 |
| 2012-2013 | Globalport | 31 | 58 | 193 | 0.30 |
| 2013-2014 | Meralco | 36 | 65 | 196 | 0.33 |
| 2015 Commissioner’s Cup | Meralco | 5 | 11 | 25 | 0.44 |
If you look at the numbers, it's pretty clear what's happening this season – David isn't budging one bit on his shot selection, he's just shooting better. His 3-point accuracy is at a level higher than what he had accomplished so far in his career. This is pretty crazy.
If you're a Meralco Bolts fan for the long haul – sitting patiently through the rebuild, waiting for things to get better – the numbers provided by David should be dream come true. It is a proof that the Bolts have abandoned their one-on-one plays and are finding a formula that works. They've got a budding star in Hodge, but they're tapping into David’s strengths and they're figuring out how to be successful with both of them.
Just hope that this keeps up.
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