Manhattan Men selects Gerald Dela Cruz in the JBA draft

          Manhattan Men won the JBA lottery and selected point guard Gerald Dela Cruz first overall on November 25th, 2014. Dela Cruz, 12, averaged 22.8 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, and, 7.0 assists per game in this year's Summer League while playing for Newark Andy Law, Gerald Dela Cruz, nicknamed "GDC" or "The Truth", is an explosive point guard and lead the Summer League in points in the paint. He is more of a combination of Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook and Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. He is also a point guard with good court vision, and, high in rebounding.

          He led Newark Andy Law to the inagural JBA Summer League championship was named JBA Summer League Finals MVP. He was named JBA Summer League MVP as well. In Summer League, Dela Cruz has received two technical fouls, ties for sixth on most technical fouls. The lack of inside scoring for Manhattan Men can benifit with this draft pick. In past tournaments, Manhattan Men were settling with outside shots and was low in 3 point percentage. Dela Cruz is an average 3 point shooter, shot 0.210 from 3 point land.

         "My number one goal is to win a championship, no doubt," he stated, "Another thing I wanted to do is to try my best, because, in any sport, it's not the numbers that judge your effort, it's how hard you try that judges your effort"

          When asked about the number one frustration in the Summer League, he answered 'losing'. Dela Cruz's favorite NBA player is Derrick Rose, which can be pretty obvious if you see the way he attacks the rim. But, he also led the Summer League in free throw attempts, all of them coming from inside the paint. He is also a half defensive player, average 1.0 blocks per game and 2.7 steals per game. In fact he had a JBA Summer League record of 8 steals, and, had a career high of 42 points in that same game!

        How will GDC react when hit in the paint? Because, that is what happend in the Summer League often. As in, it is impossible to see one game with out drawing a foul at least twice. He had 12 free throw attempts in one game against the New York Dunkers, six short of the free throw attempts record, which was broken by Aaron Falu with 18, and, it was against Newark, in the same game!

          Do you think Gerald Dela Cruz is a bust? We will update you with his rookie season.