NCAA picks Daniel as Player of the Week

SUDAN Daniel, the sophomore “Superman” of title contender San Beda College, bagged the Player of the Week honor in the ongoing hostilities of the 86th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament.

Opponents of the unscathed Red Lions (11-0) still could not find the kryptonite to shut down Daniel as he registered his second triple double for the season, a rare feat that even the current best players fail to match up to this time.

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The 6-foot-7 discovery from Dominguez Compton High School in California dished out an eye-popping 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 blocks against winless Perpetual Help last September 1.

The blow-out win, 92-61, catapulted San Beda to its fifth straight semifinal appearance while repeating the school’s sound beating of Perpetual in the first round contest last July 28, 101-77.

For his valiant effort, the 22-year-old Daniel was named Accel/Filoil NCAA Press Corps Player of the Week presented by Gatorade and Terrilicious Meat Products.

“He’s a lot better than last year and he's really playing very well,” said San Beda mentor Frankie Lim of his ward, whose 12 blocks was the league’s highest in recent years.

“For me it’s nothing personal (playing against Perpetual),” said Daniel, who incidentally scored his first triple-double effort of the season against the Altas by knocking in 16 points, 10 boards and 10 blocks.

“I promised myself I will protect the rim and the paint at all cost,” he added.

At the end of the first round last August 18, Daniel stands next to San Sebastian College’s Calvin Abueva for the Most Valuable Player plum after getting an average of 54.6 statistical points, just a full-point shy of Abueva’s 55.6 points.

But the strong caveat however lies on Abueva’s turnovers (20 to nine) and less won game points (105 to 120) that allowed Daniel in nearly becoming the second foreigner cager to win the MVP plum after former teammate Sam Ekwe from Nigeria.

Ekwe did the trick twice, in 2006 and 2008, when San Beda was still on top of the heap before losing to San Sebastian a two-game sweep last year.

Abueva leads everyone in rebounds with an average of 12.3 points a game and second in scoring (16) behind only St. Benilde’s Carlo Lastimosa (16.9) while Daniel tops in blocks (four), second in rebounds (11.6) plus a 10-point per game norm. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)