Sky is the limit for Ginebra's Twin Towers, says legendary coach Manotoc

Former Crispa coach Tommy Manotoc says that with proper guidance and coaching, Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar have the potential to "rule the league in the coming years." Jerome Ascano

THE first time he sat down at ringside to watch the new-look Barangay Ginebra team play, legendary coach Tommy Manotoc admitted being left in awe by the "limitless potential" of Twin Towers Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter.

"Those two were quite a pair," said the former grand slam coach after watching Slaughter come away with 16 points and nine rebounds and Aguilar 21 points, seven blocks, and the game-winning three-pointer in a 97-95 Ginebra win over Talk 'N Text on Sunday night.

So impressed was the former coach of the iconic Crispa team that he feels with the proper guidance and coaching, the towering pair "will rule the league in the coming years."

"The potential is there, it's limitless in fact," said Manotoc, who won six PBA championships in his coaching career including the grand slam with Crispa in 1983. "It's just a matter of keeping them together and using a little imagination to fully harness that potential."

Manotoc said the two giants complement each other, with Aguilar's outstanding help-side defense making Ginebra more formidable inside and Slaughter's presence freeing Aguilar to slide down to the No. 4 spot where he is more comfortable.

"Japeth is really a face-up player," said Manotoc, whose son Matthew is now one of Aguilar's agents. "So with Slaughter, Japeth doesn't need to post up which he obviously isn't comfortable doing and can do a lot more of the things that he wants."

Aguilar, he admitted, is one of the most athletically gifted Filipino player he has seen.

"He's tall, and those long arms," Manotoc gushed. "I was so inspired watching them that I drew up three plays in my head right there."

“The potential is there, it's limitless in fact. "It's just a matter of keeping them together and using a little imagination to fully harness that potential." -  Legendary Crispa coach Tommy Manotoc