With the excitement and anticipation surrounding University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP)’s opening day, and much less the outset game between the host school Adamson and the rebuilding UST, Nicael Cabañero seized the moment and made the most out of it too.

Let’s break down how he, at the first game of the season, quickly established himself as a UAAP superstar and arguably UST’s “King Tiger”.

The Stat-line

33 points | 4 assists | 2 rebounds | 1 steal | 9 turnovers | 10 fouls drawn

The 33-point explosion is historical. As quoted by Pong Ducanes, Cabañero’s 33-point game is the first UST player to reach the 30-point mark since Marvin Lee did it in 2018.

He also tied last season’s highest scoring games (FEU’s RJ Abarrientos’ 33 points vs NU and DLSU’s Deschon Winston’s 33 points vs UST).

But how efficient was he in doing this? Here is a table comparing Nic’s 33-point explosion to RJ’s and Deschon’s last season.

To understand the table, Effective Field Goal Percentage or EFG% measures the effectiveness of two-point shots and three-point shots. True shooting TS% is similar to EFG% but also takes into account free throws and values three point shots more than two point shots, which is a great metric to measure efficiency.

So, what does this tell us? Cabañero’s 33 had better efficiency than Abarrientos’ 33 but Winston’s 33 was more efficient than Nic’s 33.

Other notable stats with context is, Cabañero’s four assists accounted for 50% of the team’s total assists that game with 8.

The 10 fouls drawn by Cabañero also accounted for 38% of Adamson’s total fouls, which is an indicator of his ability to draw fouls and generate easy points off free throws.

But numbers do not tell us the full story, so let us break down the film and analyze how Cabañero can create his own shots, how he only missed one two-point shot and how awesome his three-point shot is.

Creating advantages

Being quick and fast are not always enough to open up drives to the basket. As seen in the first play, a subtle head fake is enough to drive past Jed Colonia and open up a lane to the basket. Lenda Douanga is there but may be a second too late to contest the layup properly.

In the second play, the screen by Adama Faye creates space for Cabañero to drive. There is some help as Barcelona slides in but a hop step by Cabañero opens up a floater which the latter calmly sinks in.

Finishing through contact

What makes Cabañero interesting as a prospect is how good he is as a finisher even with contact.

When given space in the half court as seen in the first play, he has the upper body strength to finish even when bumped by Joem Sabandal resulting in an and-one.

When I talked to Cabañero on how he performed well despite his first season in the UAAP, he told me that he was fearless and did not really care if he was a rookie then, and that showed in the second play as he went hard to the basket for the lefty finish.

Another example of how using subtle fakes and looks can get you a bucket is when Didlat Hanapi denies Cabañero the ball in the post, the latter then looks to Jamba Garing to cut and get the ball. This leaves Hanapi and Jerom Lastimosa who are guarding Garing to shift their attention to him. Upon realizing that Hanapi was too focused on a possible Garing cut, Cabañero cuts hard to the basket and gets another and-one. Faye’s perfect lob pass was a beauty to watch in this play too.

Second option

What makes Cabañero a dangerous player to guard is that he has two options when driving to the basket, finishing at the rim, and utilizing his mid-range jumper.

In the first play, Lastimosa did a great job of stopping Cabañero in the drive, but a spin move sets up a nice fade-away jumper which swishes through. The latter, being a 6'3 point guard, helps too.

A simple screen by Faye opens up another floater for Cabañero, he will feast on drop coverages like this one.

With Adamson looking to claw back after a three-pointer by Lastimosa, Cabañero goes for a jab step and drives hard to the opposite direction, with the Sabandal’s momentum going towards the rim, Nic stops then elevates for the jumper which he calmly sinks in. Clutch.

The three-point shot

Cabañero seems very capable as a movement shooter and banking on three pointers off the dribble, which is another important skill to develop in the long run.

After the handoff by Faye, one dribble is enough for Cabañero to get a good rhythm as he sinks the three-pointer.

In the last play, Aaron Flowers contains his drive well but a little push off plus a quick stop gives Cabañero the room to sink the three-point shot.

A work in progress

Even with the 33-point explosion and incredible scoring efficiency, there’s still a lot of holes and weaknesses to Cabañero’s game. As a first-time point guard in the collegiate level, he needs to learn how to take care of the ball (nine turnovers) and make the right reads. As observed in the offseason and this game, he does not yet possess an efficient free throw shot which is another glaring hole in his game. Lastly, can he consistently knock down threes? If not, then teams can make a defensive scheme to sag him and create a wall to limit his drives.

King Tiger already?

It is still too early to put the ‘King Tiger’ tag on him but he has been UST’s best prospect in recent years. If Cabañero continues this impressive performance, then it is safe to say that he is indeed a UAAP superstar and the King Tiger.