Two rising big men and one of the most memorable championship games in PBA history will be feted in the 31st PBA Press Corps Awards Night on Monday at Novotel Manila.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser will be the latest recipient of the Bogs Adornado Comeback Player of the Year, while the energetic Zavier Lucero is hailed as the Defensive Player of the Year.
And the Game of the Season? It’s no less than the winner-take-all Game 7 of the Commissioner’s Cup Finals between TNT and Barangay Ginebra, which the Tropang 5G won in a drama-filled overtime thriller, 87-83.
Ganuelas-Rosser, the no. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, was on his way to recovery from an ACL injury when TNT bagged its second straight title in Season 49.
But the 31-year-old Fil-Am was good enough to make his return in the season-ending Philippine Cup, helping the injury-riddled Tropang Giga reach the Finals for the third straight time, only to fall short against the highly-motivated San Miguel Beermen in six games.
Still, Ganuelas-Rosser posted respectable numbers in his first conference coming off an injury, averaging 10.6 points, 5.6 rebounds. 1.9 blocks, and 1.1 assists to earn the nod as the deserving recipient of the award named after Adornado, the deadly shooting guard with a silky touch who won three MVP awards after coming off numerous career-threatening knee injuries.
Lucero, meanwhile, made his presence felt right in only his second season in the league, submitting numbers of 14.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.2 block shots in his first year with the Magnolia franchise.
Lucero’s acquisition in a trade with NorthPort for Jio Jalalon, also toughened the Hotshots’ interior defense as the team ended up as the season’s no.1 defensive team.
Lucero also ranked in the Top 10 of both rebounding and shot blocking that earned him a spot in the season’s All-Defensive Team along with Stephen Holt, nine-time MVP June Mar Fajardo, Glenn Khobuntin, and Joshua Munzon.
