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Filipino-Canadians Brandon Ramirez and David Penney may not have the same hype as other PBA hopefuls in this Sunday's PBA draft but both have confidence in themselves they have what it takes not just to play, but stay for long in the PBA.

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Ramirez  Penney 07122024

ABS-CBN News

<div><span dir="ltr" id="isPasted"></span></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1720773987487Ramirez--Penney-07122024.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Fil-Canadians Ramirez, Penney believe they can hold their own in PBA"/></div><div><br/></div><p>Filipino-Canadians Brandon Ramirez and David Penney may not have the same hype as other PBA hopefuls in this Sunday&#x27;s PBA Draft but both are confident they have what it takes not just to play, but stay for long in the PBA. </p><p>Penney played at the only NCAA Division 2 school in Canada, Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and led the Red Leafs in scoring and assists last season averaging 12.9 and 3.2 respectively. </p><p>Ramirez in his last season with York University in Toronto in 2017 averaged 14.3 points per game.</p><p>The two Fil-Canadians have decided that they are ripe for the pros.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;ve been preparing for a long time pretty much to go play pro anywhere and I just showed up (PBA Draft Combine), and I did my best, and hopefully the teams can see that,&quot; <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Penney said.</span></p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/7/11/policarpio-excels-as-pba-concludes-draft-combine-2215" id="isPasted">Policarpio excels as PBA concludes Draft Combine </a></div><p>Ramirez carries a wealth of experience playing in the 3X3 circuit both internationally and locally. He is currently with the Pampanga Giant Lanterns which helped him adjust to the Philippine style of play. </p><p>&quot;It allowed me to kinda just kind prepare myself, for the PBA, for 5 on 5 because, you know, 3X3 really kind of develops your skills offensively and defensively at all 3 levels, you know, like scoring inside, scoring outside, scoring on the perimeter. And then, sort of, defensively, you know, learning how to guard guards, learning how to guard the pick and roll, and learning how to guard big. So, you know, 3X3 really helped me develop my game, and and it&#x27;s starting to show in the 5X5 world. And I&#x27;m very glad that I&#x27;ve you know, I did 3X3 first before putting my hand to the PBA Draft,&quot; quipped the Scarborough native.</p><p>The 24-year-old Penney is confident of what he displayed in this week&#x27;s combine. &quot;I think I showed that in the combine, and I can really shoot it. And, you know, I do other point guard stuff. I make reads, all that stuff, but I think something that sets me apart is I can really shoot it, and I can really rebound,&quot; he said. </p><p>The 26-year-old Ramirez, meanwhile, despite being the heaviest at 131.3 kg topped the reaction test with 358 milliseconds and was part of the Mythical Team in this year&#x27;s combine despite not being 100% yet since came back from his wedding. </p><p>&quot;I came back from my vacation slash, my marriage, or my wedding. So it was kind of honestly, I wasn&#x27;t 100% yet. And, you know, I went in there, I still went in there confident that, you know, I was gonna make an impression, but I knew deep down that, you know, there was so much more, there was so much more to give,&quot; he said. </p><p>Both players almost played in the UAAP for college, Penney with De La Salle University, while Ramirez with Ateneo de Manila University. </p><p>Penney knows how big the UAAP is in the Philippines. However, he said, &quot;It was good to stay home, be closer to family, and get that Canadian degree and play D2 basketball.&quot; </p><p>The burly Ramirez was already in Ateneo but &quot;then I ended up getting homesick after the 10 days.&quot;</p><p>The Fil-Canadians aren&#x27;t bothered that they aren&#x27;t appearing in mock drafts online, as they know what they can offer to the table. </p><p>Penney, a Guelph native, describes himself as an all around player. &quot;I make good reads. I can score the ball, and you know what? I&#x27;d say I&#x27;m also a combo guard because out here, there&#x27;s a lot of good guards, and I could play on the wing and and do whatever the team needs me to do. So I&#x27;d say I&#x27;m a pass first guard, and I&#x27;m a combo guard as well.&quot; </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/7/10/balti-on-potentially-joining-converge-as-top-pick-malaking-bagay-ako-doon-1923" id="isPasted">Balti on potentially joining Converge as top pick: Malaking bagay ako doon</a></div><p>Ramirez is aware of what he can bring to a team. &quot;The biggest thing I&#x27;d give is my my size is strength. And, you know, that&#x27;s that&#x27;s kind of been my trademark here in the Philippines is, you know, like, how overly sized I am as a player. I&#x27;ll try my best to lead by example, you know, with my teammates, by either asking them to work out with me or asking them to warm up and shoot with me. It&#x27;s just kind of, you know, trying to be a leader by ...leading by action rather than leading by talk. I&#x27;m more of a leader by action than leader by actually saying something,&quot; The ox-strong Ramirez added.</p><p>Penney and Ramirez added they will be happy to play for any team that will make their PBA dream a reality. </p><p>Penney, who traces his roots to Pangasinan, unfortunately won&#x27;t have his family by draft night. So when his name gets called this Sunday, &quot;I&#x27;m planning on just taking a selfie with the commissioner or whoever.&quot; </p><p>Ramirez, who traces his roots to Lubao, Pampanga, knows what question to ask his wife once he&#x27;s wearing his team&#x27;s cap, &quot;Are you gonna pack the rest of your stuff here?&quot;</p><p>The PBA Draft will happen this Sunday, July 14 at Glorietta in Makati City.</p><div><br/></div>

<p>Filipino-Canadians Brandon Ramirez and David Penney may not have the same hype as other PBA hopefuls in this Sunday's PBA draft but both have confidence in themselves they have what it takes not just to play, but stay for long in the PBA. </p>

Fil-Canadians Ramirez, Penney believe they can hold their own in PBA

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Fil-Canadians Ramirez, Penney believe they can hold their own in PBA

ABS-CBN News,

Champ de Lunas

Published July 12, 2024 04:46 PM PHT

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3X3

Brandon Ramirez

David Penney

PBA

Basketball

Draft

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