Something has to be said about Don Trollano chugging along even when the ground under him has shifted.
As trades, player departures, and a coaching change chipped away at NLEX’s potential as a title contender, Trollano’s immutability has somewhat been a sign of defiance – that even if they have lost a ton of key pieces that probably could have given them a Finals appearance at some point, the Road Warriors sure as hell will remain competitive simply because Trollano’s workmanlike approach to the game won’t allow anything otherwise.
Kevin Alas’ continued growth as a primary option remains the bellwether of NLEX’s progress, but Trollano’s emergence as a legitimate No. 2 on offense in lieu of Calvin Oftana and Kiefer Ravena might end up being just as important. For the 2022-23 PBA season, the guard out of Gigmoto, Catanduanes is not too far behind in terms of raw production and efficiency:
- Alas: 16.5 points (47/33.1/68 shooting splits, 57.3 True Shooting %), 4.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 31.4 minutes in 28 games
- Trollano: 15.7 points (44.8/42.1/79.6 splits, 57.8 TS%), 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 32.1 minutes in 30 games
Yet for the most part, Trollano continues to fly under the radar. Strike a conversation with the common PBA fan about the 31-year-old and chances are you might hear the word “underrated” before you hear anyone talk about the upward trajectory he has taken over the past couple of years. In the recent returns from the All-Star voting – one that has become a full-blown popularity contest after the PBA shifted to a full fan vote for all 24 spots – Trollano didn’t even crack the top 30 despite arguably having a stronger case than some names on the list.
Trollano has slowed down a bit as of late – he’s only posted 10.4 points on meager shooting (51.8 TS%) in a sluggish start through five games in the Governors’ Cup – but there’s no reason to believe he won’t return to his previous form from the first 25 games of the year, where he profiled as an elite shooter and savvy finisher around the rack. His shot chart for the entire season still paints the picture of a selective scorer who only took high quality shots from deep and at the rim (59.6%, above league average):
Don Trollano’s chart of made shots through 30 games in the 2022-23 PBA season. (InStat)
Much of Trollano’s ascent stems from retaining a willingness to fire from deep despite taking on a larger responsibility (career-high 12.2 field goal attempts). For the season, 44.8% of his shots have come from beyond the arc; it’s not by any means a high-water figure, but it’s an uptick from his usual three-point rate from both his first six years in the PBA (42.3%) and from the past two seasons (37.3%).
The share of shots from deep is a key number when you consider how hot Trollano has been from downtown on a career-high number of attempts (5.5). They’re not all easy shots, too; per InStat, 82.3% of those triples have been contested, and he’s hit a robust 41.4% of those 3s even with a hand in his face.
Trollano has absolutely been scorching in particular on catch-and-shoot 3s – a staple for an NLEX offense that has led the league in that play type over the first two conferences of the season. Per InStat, Trollano has scored a mammoth 1.36 points per possession (PPP) on such triples.
He’s equally as potent shooting against scrambling defenses in transition. Trollano has scored 1.18 PPP when attacking in transition this season; about 36% of those possessions have seen Trollano shoot a 3, and he’s made a healthy 40.9% of his long bombs during those instances.
Trollano’s penchant for getting these high-quality looks appears to be brought in equal parts by scheme, positional and situational awareness, and perhaps a shooting reputation that hasn’t caught on quite yet.
Off the ball, the 6-foot-3 guard ably fills corners, detects when is a good time to hoist up a shot against a backpedaling defense and has a tendency to lift to the wing at the most opportune chances, often after lulling his defenders into a false sense of security by staying standstill for a beat or two. Defenses also have a tendency to contain drives or rolls by sending help from the strong side corner, where Trollano frequently lies in wait to make them pay; for the year, he’s hit a blistering 48.4% of his 3s from those spots:
Close out too hard and you’re at risk of giving Trollano a clear runway to the rim, especially if you provide little resistance against him once he’s there. So far, he’s scored 1.11 PPP when attacking closeouts, and he’s shot an elite 66.6% at the rim in such instances, utilizing a combination of craft and controlled cadence to use either hand to finish with ease:
Trollano applies that same kind of guile in small doses as a secondary/tertiary creator on-ball, where he only needs a second or two to process the situation once you carve out a little space for him. So far he’s scored a healthy 0.98 PPP on handoffs and 0.94 PPP when shooting out of the pick and roll – both safely above league average for the season:
Blending all of that on offense for an NLEX team that has needed (and benefited from) every bit of his production this season has done wonders for his production, at least through the first two conferences of the season.
In the Philippine Cup, Trollano logged 16.0 points (13th), 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 30.9 minutes through 14 games, posting a 45.7/41.6/81 split for a 58.5 TS%, good for seventh among top 20 scorers. According to the Offensive Box-Plus Minus metric (OBPM) – a stat that estimates a basketball player’s contribution on offense when he’s on the court, calculated by Tiebreaker Times columnist and now Meralco Bolts assistant coach Ryan Alba – only Robert Bolick, June Mar Fajardo, and Jayson Castro proved to be more valuable on offense.
Trollano took it up a notch in the Commissioner’s Cup, where he posted 17.7 points (2nd among locals), 6.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 36.4 minutes through 11 games, all while posting a lower usage rate than Alas, import Earl Clark, and two other teammates during that conference. His 59.7 TS% paced all locals inside the top 10 in scoring, and his 46.5% clip from downtown led only 23 players who attempted a staggering 6.0 3s a game.
A more important affirmation of his value: NLEX outscored opponents by 15.5 points per 48 possessions whenever he was on the floor – a figure third behind just Troy Rosario (still actually good despite meager raw numbers), William Navarro (elite before the injuries) and reigning Most Valuable Player Scottie Thompson.
As it stands, there’s a chance Trollano won’t get much love and attention for his play this season, barring a deep playoff or title run by the Road Warriors and a sudden shift in All-Star voting. That’s fine. While he’ll have to live with the “underrated” tag for a little bit more, it kind of feels like it’s only really a matter of time before he gets more deserved credit. You can only overlook consistency and excellence up to a certain point, anyway.
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