All hail King Kiefer!

Posted by Jaemark Tordecilla on April 11, 2011 at 14:48 | Comments (30)

Ok, crowning him king may just be a tad bit premature – after all, it was only one preseason game – but we haven’t seen a legit college freshman this exciting since… LA Tenorio? James Yap? And those guys are two of the best, if not the two best, homegrown players in the PBA right now.

Of course, for every Yap and Tenorio, there are dozens of other highly-touted high school prospects such as BJ Manalo, Derrick Hubalde, Mike Guidaben, Zach Estoesta, Allen Glen Patrimonio, Bong Abad, Tyrone Bautista, Arjun Cordero, Oliver Cua, and many others who never make it. The road to Philippine basketball stardom is littered with shattered dreams.

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Tags: Ateneo Blue Eagles, Basketball, James Yap, Kiefer Ravena, LA Tenorio, Philippine Basketball Association, UAAP, Video

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#1 workhorse3 on 2011-04-11 15:06 (Reply)

haven't seen a college rookie dominate a game in the clutch. and I witnessed it live. dayum.

on another note though, it was only Kiefer and Slaughter who were used among the rookies. They had capacio, tallo, pessumal on the bench.

this is ateneo's season to lose, even if they don't have Buenafe right now.

#1.1 workhorse3 on 2011-04-11 15:09 (Reply)

LA Tenorio had 30 points in game 3 of the UAAP finals 2001 as a rookie, but majority of them were made in the first half. Villanueva, harassed by Sharma (coupled by timely shots by Ritualo), couldn't deliver in the clutch.

#1.2 peter lopez on 2011-04-11 15:16 (Reply)

TJ took words from my pen & mouth, This phenom is fo' real! In between game, locked in 3, high bball IQ, the works. man. If MVP gets to do the deal with the SAC fly Kings, Bong Ravena's son will be the 1st Pinoy to rock the NBA!

See flashes of Steve Nash in that boy! Driving past Su Daniels, huwaw!

Rock on kid!

#1.2.1 ChuckD on 2011-04-13 22:04 (Reply)

Kung ako si Kiefer, ayaw ko naman yata maging 1st pinoy NBA player kung dinaan sa palakasan. Hollow yung honor that comes with being first kung ang dahilan kung bakit ako naging nba player ay dahil pinoy yung may-ari ng team. let me make it on my own merits. huwag yung dahil may padrino ako. diba?

#1.3 jaemark on 2011-04-11 15:19 (Reply)

James Yap was pretty dominant during his freshman year, but he was a year older than Kiefer. He played against better UAAP competition though.

#1.3.1 ginkingsfan on 2011-04-11 22:05 (Reply)

yup.. true.. James Yap played against the likes of Mac Cardona, Arwind Santos, LA Tenorio, Rich Alvarez, Enrico Villanueva, Cyrus Baguio etc.. as for Kiefer I don't think it's the same...

#2 rene215 on 2011-04-11 15:11 (Reply)

Ateneo would be the team to beat. again.

Kiefer Ravena's the real deal!

#3 no namer on 2011-04-11 15:16 (Reply)

blue eagle fans are already getting wet in their pants just imagining the potential havoc that kiefer (and greg slaughter) will bring to the competition in the uaap. lolz...

#4 Keifer Soze! on 2011-04-11 16:06 (Reply)

The kid reads the game so well - he is really 2-3 steps ahead of the plays ala Larry Bird or Ricky Rubio. His midrange game reminded me of Jolas in his prime Alaska days, with the pivots and accuracy. If he can further improve his quickness and handle, he'll dominate the PG position for us in international games and just might have a shot at the NBA or Europe. Hopefully, he keeps a good head and continued health

#5 Amici on 2011-04-11 17:39 (Reply)

Smooth moves from the Phenom, hard to believe he's showing much poise as a freshman. I might even root for Ateneo because of this kid :P

Off-topic, WTF slamma jamma?? :P

#5.1 no namer on 2011-04-11 18:52 (Reply)

don't forget "the bang and the bucket"! lol

#6 carlos quimson on 2011-04-11 18:55 (Reply)

the kid has a nice smooth touch... both dangerous inside and out...

#7 James Velasquez on 2011-04-11 18:57 (Reply)

Should Coach Norm give him the keys to the Ateneo offense, I dont think we'll hear a lot of complaints. The kid is a complete player; handles, court vision, midrange j, finishing ability, not to mention the athleticism. Of course this is just the preseason, can't wait for Kief to strut his stuff in the UAAP.

#8 Jimbo 2.0 on 2011-04-11 21:09 (Reply)

Kid looks good ..... but I aint jumpin on the chosen-one wagon just yet. It's way too early to tell.

Have seen many just-as heralded HS players who had the same super-scorer look, but just became marginal/good pros e.g. Paolo Mendoza, Gerard Francisco, etc . Not that it's a bad thing actually.

Best case he'll turn out to be a Gary David type of scorer .... worse case, he'll be Paolo Mendoza 2.0.

#8.1 Kiefer Soze on 2011-04-11 22:54 (Reply)

Re Paolo Mendoza, he turned out way better than I expected... I thought he wouldn't be able to get across halfcourt against PBA level pressure as a PG!

#8.1.1 JIMBO 2.0 on 2011-04-12 00:34 (Reply)

- Don Paolo turned out the way I expected ..... deadly enough when setup for the 3-ball ..... non-traditional PG really. Had a decent enough pro career.

- Just read earlier post about Ravena needing to improve quickness .... well that's one big reason why I'm not yet jumping on the chosen-one tag ..... quickness is one aspect where it's very hard to improve - mostly, it's either you have it or you dont.

Still, the kid has a knack for scoring & should have a great UAAP career.

OT: Norman Black had used the "phenom/Kobe" label before .... and it was for Jon Ordonio. Look at how that turned out. lol

#8.1.1.1 Keifer Soze on 2011-04-12 08:26 (Reply)

Maybe he's too advanced and skilled vs his current competition that's why he doesn't need to rely on quickness opting to be more measured with his game. Hopefully, there's enough room to grow on the physical side.

#8.1.1.1.1 booh rah oat on 2011-04-12 13:48 (Reply)

i would rather have him practice his quickness every game regardless if he has the same level of competition to go up against or not. he might be a victim of "if you don't use it, you lose it" saying.

#9 Nonamer on 2011-04-12 11:26 (Reply)

I didn't follow paolo mendoza's career, so I can't relate to the comparison. What I've seen though is that kiefer excelled against Asian competition while in the RP youth as well as older d-league players. In one tune-up game against a d-league team, a fan kept shouting "high school palang 'yan" as KR brought them to school time and time again. Let's all enjoy the ride folks!

#9.1 booh rah oat on 2011-04-12 13:53 (Reply)

playing against older players and still that good, kinda reminds me of carmelo anthony.

if he continues to excel, seems like kiefer kid is gonna be the modern-day big difference.

#9.2 no namer on 2011-04-12 18:07 (Reply)

hey, use your own nickname! lol...

#10 karlo sevilla on 2011-04-12 13:16 (Reply)

Kami si Peyups hindi natatakot...tanggap na namin eh, hehe...5 years ahead ako kay Paolo Mendoza sa UPIS, ano na nga ba team niya ngayon? (Too busy to google.)

#10.1 jaemark on 2011-04-12 13:19 (Reply)

Powerade Tigers. Was on the reserve list for most of the season.

#11 ftjo on 2011-04-12 15:17 (Reply)

Yeah, jury's still out. But more than his talent, Kiefer caught my attention during the Ateneo-La Salle junior finals when, as a freshman, he didn't have qualms about taking over in the clutch. I think the Eagles lost that series, but there was potential written all over him that early.

#12 Polo on 2011-04-12 18:32 (Reply)

I for one got excited watching Kiefer. But I was more excited for his potential. If that game's an indication of how things will play out for Kiefer's career, then we all have a lot to be excited about.

I don't expect that kind of game all the time though. He's been using those moves since High school and I'm sure coaches will study that and learn how to check them. But if he continues to improve and learns to play Norman Black Defense then he's gonna see solid minutes in Season 74.

#12.1 Nonamer on 2011-04-13 00:00 (Reply)

Funny thing is, he was on the HS team for four years and no coach or player was able to "check" him. Fact is he was able to evolve through the years. I guess it all boils down to basketball IQ

#12.1.1 jaemark on 2011-04-13 00:03 (Reply)

I almost never delete any comments, and usually have no problems with any kind of content in them. but i'll ask you to please change your posting nickname as a courtesy, since there has already been another regular commenter posting as "No Namer".

thanks.

#13 OFW perth australia on 2011-04-12 20:22 (Reply)

nagtataka lang ako bakit walang papuri kay KR mula sa mga PBA players sa twitter....bukod kay dondon mukang hindi bilib ang mga PBA players...is it because they know alot of phil'ams abroad na mas may potensyal kesa kay KR??is it because they've seen better than him before??i guess better to wait and see nalang tayo..and hope for the best for the kid...

#14 Proform Pete on 2011-05-26 02:24 (Reply)

I'd be an amazing story if this kid could make it to the NBA, I liked what I saw in that video... Very speed, high basketball IQ, great shot, good passer.... I'm routin for ya kid!

#15 mannoy on 2011-07-06 15:19 (Reply)

rookie mvp, go 4 it