Jason Ballesteros (original) (raw)

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Filipino basketball player (born 1985)

Jason Ballesteros

Ballesteros during his tenure at Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants.
No. 18 – Quezon City Toda Aksyon
Position Center
League Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
Personal information
Born (1985-10-07) October 7, 1985 (age 39)Basista, Pangasinan, Philippines
Nationality Filipino
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 246 lb (112 kg)
Career information
College San Sebastian
PBA draft 2011: 1st round, 7th overall pick
Selected by the Meralco Bolts
Playing career 2011–present
Career history
2011–2012 Meralco Bolts
2012–2013 Barako Bull Energy
2013–2014 Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants
2014 Meralco Bolts
2014–2016 Blackwater Elite
2016–2017 Mahindra Enforcer / Mahindra Floodbuster / Kia Picanto
2017–2020 Meralco Bolts
2021–2022 MisOr–Brew Authoritea / GlobalPort ZValientes–MisOr
2022 Pasig City / MCW Sports
2022–2023 Koponang Lakan ng Bulacan
2023 Pasig City MCW Sports
2023–2024 JT Bulacan Taipan
2024–present Quezon City Toda Aksyon
Career highlights and awards
2× MPBL All-Star (2023, 2024) MPBL Defensive Player of the Year (2023) NCAA Philippines Mythical Five (2008) 2× NCAA Philippines Defensive Player of the Year (2007, 2008)

Jason Ballesteros (born October 7, 1985) is a Filipino professional basketball player for Quezon City Toda Aksyon of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. He was drafted seventh by the Meralco Bolts in the 2011 PBA draft. He has also played for Smart Gilas.

Ballesteros played college basketball for the San Sebastian Stags where he became the team's starting center. While playing for San Sebastian, he was known as one of NCAA Philippines' top defensive players, winning the Defensive Player of the Year award twice, in 2007 and 2008. He also made the league's Mythical Five team in his final season in 2008.

Professional career

[edit]

In 2011, Ballesteros applied for that year's PBA Draft.[1] During the PBA rookie camp, he was measured as the second tallest applicant at 6’6 ¼”, but had the longest wingspan at 82 inches.[2] He was drafted by Meralco Bolts seventh overall in the 2011 PBA draft that also featured his former Smart Gilas teammates.[3] He was given a two-year contract.[4]

Weeks before the start of the 38th PBA season, he was traded to Barako Bull in exchange for Carlo Sharma and 3-point bomber Sunday Salvacion.[5]

Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants

[edit]

In 2013, Ballesteros suffered a knee muscle injury that made him consider retirement for four months. He made his return to basketball with the Jumbo Plastic Linoleum Giants in the PBA D-League.[6] There, he would consistently put up double-doubles and lead his team to a semifinals appearance.[7]

Second stint with Meralco

[edit]

In February 2014, San Miguel Beermen signed Ballesteros to a two-year deal, but never played a game for them and was released before the Governors' Cup.[7] The Meralco Bolts re-signed him for the rest of the season.

On September 12, 2014, he and Salvacion were sent to Blackwater Elite in a three-way trade involving NLEX Road Warriors and Meralco Bolts. NLEX obtained Blackwater's 2016 and 2017 2nd round pick along with the draft rights for Juneric Baloria. Meralco received Sean Anthony from NLEX via Blackwater as third party.[8]

On March 20, 2016, Ballesteros was traded to Mahindra Enforcer for Kyle Pascual.[9][10] He was cut by the team in 2017.[11]

Third stint with Meralco

[edit]

Ballesteros found his way back to Meralco for a third time.[12] In a 2017–18 Philippine Cup win against the Phoenix Fuel Masters, he had 12 rebounds.[13] He then followed it up with 17 rebounds and played clutch defense against Japeth Aguilar in a win over Barangay Ginebra.[7]

MisOr–Brew Authoritea

[edit]

In 2021, Ballesteros played for MisOr–Brew Authoritea in the VisMin Super Cup. He got Player of the Game honors in a win over Basilan BRT in which he had six blocks and 14 rebounds.[14] Despite being the top-seeded team that season, they were upset by the Zamboanga Sibugay Warriors.[15]

Pasig City / MCW Sports

[edit]

Ballesteros then played for Pasig City MCW Sports in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime win over the Bacoor City Strikers.[16] They got eliminated during the North semifinals by the San Juan Knights.[17]

Koponang Lakan ng Bulacan

[edit]

In between MPBL seasons, Ballesteros played for Koponang Lakan ng Bulacan in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). Against the Sta. Rosa Laguna Lions, he made two free throws with .7 seconds remaining to win the game.[18] He hit another game-winning free throw against Quezon City for 13 points with nine rebounds.[19]

Second stint with Pasig City

[edit]

Ballesteros returned to Pasig for his 2nd season. He had nine points and 16 rebounds in a win over the Marikina Shoemasters.[20] That season, he was selected as an MPBL All-Star.[21] He was able to lead Pasig to the playoffs as a fifth seed despite him and Josan Nimes being the only PBA veterans on the team.[22] In Game 3 of the first round, he was able to grab 17 rebounds, but they lost to the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo and were eliminated.[23] He was awarded as the league's Defensive Player of the Year.[24]

International career

[edit]

Ballesteros played for Smart Gilas, the Philippine national team, and was one of the Smart Gilas' pioneers. Of all the big men from the first Gilas team, he stayed with the team the longest, from its creation in 2008 until 2011, when he was drafted to the PBA.[25]

PBA career statistics

[edit]

Legend
GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage
RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game
BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

As of the end of 2020 season[26][27]

Season-by-season averages

[edit]

Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Meralco 16 8.7 .400 — .222 2.8 .1 .0 .3 .9
2012–13 Barako Bull 9 10.3 .300 — .500 3.9 .1 .1 .8 1.9
2013–14 Meralco 3 12.7 .667 — .778 2.3 .7 .7 .3 3.7
2014–15 Blackwater 27 14.0 .518 — .667 4.4 .5 .5 .7 2.4
2015–16 Blackwater 29 12.5 .575 — .464 4.0 .2 .2 .8 2.3
Mahindra
2016–17 Mahindra / Kia 32 15.5 .477 — .727 4.3 .2 .1 .7 1.8
2017–18 Meralco 20 11.8 .538 — .800 4.1 .2 .1 .6 1.8
Career 136 12.8 .498 — .592 4.0 .2 .2 .6 2.0
  1. ^ Ventura, Sid (August 18, 2011). "36 beat draft deadline, including 7 Gilas cagers". Yahoo News. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  2. ^ "D-League, Gilas players stand out at rookie camp". news.abs-cbn.com. August 24, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Navarro, June (August 28, 2011). "JV Casio, Paul Lee 1-2 in PBA Draft; All Smart Gilas players picked early". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  4. ^ Belen, Reynaldo (September 7, 2011). "Casio to sign max contract with Powerade; other rookies get deals | InterAksyon.com | Sports5". InterAKTV. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  5. ^ Joble, Rey (September 11, 2012). "Barako Bull acquires 'project' Ballesteros from Meralco for Salvacion, Sharma". InterAksyon. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Lozada, Mei-Lin (December 26, 2013). "After mulling retirement, Ballesteros vows to work his way back to PBA through D-League". Spin.ph. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Dolores, Aljo (February 21, 2018). "The Jason Ballesteros Redemption Project - SLAMonline Philippines". SLAM Online PH. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  8. ^ Saldajeno, Ivan (September 12, 2014). "Anthony to Meralco, Baloria to NLEX in three-team PBA transfer". Dugout. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  9. ^ "Mahindra, Blackwater swap bigs". Fox Sports Asia. March 20, 2016. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  10. ^ Sacamos, Karlo (March 21, 2016). "Defense-oriented Jason Ballesteros feels right at home at Mahindra". Spin.ph. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Ramos, Gerry (November 8, 2017). "Nico Salva headed for Meralco as Ballesteros, Elorde also fail to make KIA cut". Spin.ph. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  12. ^ Ramos, Gerry (December 8, 2017). "Meralco signs Ballesteros, eyes Canaleta, Baracael to beef up injury-hit frontline". Spin.ph. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  13. ^ Beltran, Nelson (February 15, 2018). "Bolts trip Fuel Masters, end skid". Philstar.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  14. ^ Valencia, Justin (December 3, 2021). "Ballesteros, MisOr fend off Basilan, take solo lead in VisMin". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Kapatagan, Zambo Sibugay dispute VisMin Cup title". news.abs-cbn.com. December 14, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  16. ^ Sports, Manila Standard (October 4, 2022). "Pasig trips Bacoor in OT; Bataan, Valenzuela win". Manila Standard. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  17. ^ Times, Tiebreaker (November 12, 2022). "MPBL: Nueva Ecija, San Juan forge North Finals showdown". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  18. ^ Times, Tiebreaker (December 8, 2022). "PSL: Ballesteros clutch as Bulacan stuns Sta. Rosa". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  19. ^ Times, Tiebreaker (January 19, 2023). "PSL: JL Delos Santos shines as Bulacan ekes out win vs QC". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  20. ^ Tribune, Daily (June 29, 2023). "Wilson drops 33, powers Warriors". Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  21. ^ Times, Tiebreaker (September 16, 2023). "Justine Baltazar heads revenge-seeking North vs South in MPBL All-Star". Tiebreaker Times. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  22. ^ Garcia, Joseph Emmanuel (October 5, 2023). "Underdog Pasig City clashes with MPBL giants in playoffs". BusinessWorld Online. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  23. ^ Alferez, Sheila Mae (October 21, 2023). "Caloocan Advances to MPBL Semi Finals, Beats Pasig - Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League". www.mpbl.com.ph. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  24. ^ "Justine Baltazar is runaway winner of MPBL MVP award". Spin.ph. November 28, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  25. ^ Verora, Levi (March 9, 2014). "Rajko's original hardworking big men - The Smart Gilas boys Pt. 6". Rappler. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  26. ^ [1] PBA-Online.net
  27. ^ [2] Real GM