PBA Philippine Cup

Ilagan draws praise in promising Alaska debut

JR Isaga
Ilagan draws praise in promising Alaska debut

WALKING BUCKET. RK Ilagan flaunts his vaunted shooting for Alaska.

PBA

PBA rookie RK Ilagan drops 8 points in less than two minutes in his first game for Alaska

Since his days at San Sebastian College, streaky guard RK Ilagan has proved he is a walking bucket from anywhere on the court.

Now in the PBA with the Alaska Aces, the 5-foot-8 scorer picked up right where he left off after dropping 8 points on a perfect 3-of-3 clip with two triples in just one minute and 43 seconds of action.

Even though that scoring run happened in the final 1:43 of regulation en route to a 103-77 blowout win over the Blackwater Bossing, Aces coach Jeff Cariaso still heaped praise on the young gun’s brief pro debut outing.

“Not bad, ha. I told the rookies they’re gonna be thrown out there and given an opportunity,” he said. “You saw at the end how impressive RK can be, he’s our little spitfire, so we’re excited about him.”

Projected to be picked somewhere in the second round of the Season 46 draft, Ilagan slid all the way to the third, and Alaska happily scooped him up with the 31st overall pick after picking Ben Adamos at 7th and Taylor Browne at 16th.

All of them saw limited time in the team’s season debut, and Cariaso is only expecting more improvement moving forward.

“They’ve been working hard every day at practice and we can’t say anything bad about the attitude that they bring in each and every day,” he said.

“They’re ready, they’re giving their best, and they’re asking a lot of questions because they want to learn. That’s all you can expect from rookies, and I think they’re off to a good start.” – Rappler.com

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