The PBA Season 46 Rookie Draft was held last 14 March 2021. A total of 65 out of 86 aspirants were selected over eight rounds. It also provided a chance for the Bolts to shore up their rosters and hope for better days in the upcoming season.
It's an opportunity to add more weapons to their arsenal while making calculated gambles and hoping for high-reward turnouts. Did the Bolts made the right choices? Here's what the team did with their 9th, 33rd and 45th picks.
Alvin Pasaol
Drafted at #9 by the Meralco Bolts, Alvin Pasaol could be the biggest steal in this year’s Rookie Draft. Fans can still remember how much of a scorer Pasaol was during his college days. Like #1 pick Joshua Munzon, the former UE Red Warrior is a walking bucket.
Basketball scouts who have not paid attention to his 3x3 career, would be surprised how much he's grown as an all-around player in the Chooks and FIBA circuits. Credit his time in the halfcourt game as he's become more methodical with his shot and added more post moves.
Another attribute worth noting is Pasaol's improved rebounding. He learned how to use his weight and size in the paint, surprising even well-experienced pros when they battled for the boards. Pasaol can immediately shake up the Bolts team that always struggles in the shaded area.
Trivia: At the end of the UAAP 2018 season, Pasaol’s numbers (24.7 points per game and 10.0 rebounds) has eclipsed former Far Eastern University Tamaraw Terrence Romeo, who racked up 22.2 points per game back in Season 76, and is behind Ben Mbala’s 24.9 in Season 80.
John Reynald Yasa
Picked by Meralco Bolts at #33 during the PBA Rookie Draft, John Yasa admits that he is still developing his all-around basketball game—specifically his defensive play. He is also not a sensational passer out of the blocks or in the half-court set. He's serviceable, but he isn't in the same tier as the other forwards in the Bolts line-up like Cliff Hodge, Raymar Jose and Nico Salva.
However, Yasa, with patience and extensive training, can be a power player or a finesse guy, and his ball skills stand out. The natural power forward can break through a full-court press and dish the ball out to his teammates with relative ease.
If the former PCU player can stay in shape, his youthful energy can be turn him into a pesky defender for bigs that are careless with the ball. Given how often the PBA centers want to act like guards and dribble the ball unnecessarily, this could happen quite a bit.
Louie Brill III
He may have been drafted after his brother Loren (26th), but there is no doubt that Louie “Luis” Brill III, who was selected 45th by the Meralco Bolts, is more talented and PBA-ready between the two.
Like his father, Brill is a former national youth team member, competing in the 2011 Seaba Under-16 Championship in Malaysia under coach Olsen Racela.
Then attending Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Montgomery County, Maryland, he teamed up with Arvin Tolentino, Kyles Lao, and Hubert Cani as the Philippines captured the gold medal.
The 26-year-old guard studied for two years at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia until 2016.
The 6-foot playmaker has also seen action in the PBA D-League, suiting up for Diliman College-Gerry's Grill and Marinerong Pilipino.
Louie Brill, raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was a former Philippine youth team member and an NCC stalwart in the 1980s.
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