Uichico says Nocum reminds him of PJ Simon, PBA great Samboy Lim

MANILA, Philippines — NLEX coach Jong Uichico likened Rain or Shine's fast-rising star Adrian Nocum to retired PBA star Peter June Simon, who once served as a member of the Magnolia (formerly San Mig) "big three" several years ago.Fast, shifty and has shown his ability to score in bunches, Uichico shared that Nocum, who hails from Tondo, Manila, reminds him of Simon due to the ROS guard's ability to score at any given moment."I remember PJ Simon from Adrian, small but really hard to stop because he can provide instant points," Uichico said in Filipino in a post-game chat last week with media after NLEX clobbered Rain or Shine, 109-95 in a Philippine Cup game.Uichico said the only difference is that Simon has that uncanny ability to churn out points in a flurry off the bench, while the 24-year-old Nocum not only does that as a starter, but he can even produce his points off penetration.The 62-year-old Uichico though mentioned that in some ways, Nocum's style of play draws comparison as well to the late PBA great Samboy Lim, who used to be the former's teammate in the national team during the 1980s."Of course, he (Nocum) has similarities with Samboy, but we know Samboy is different," he said, noting that the similarities happen through their ability to hang longer in the air when driving to the basket.Nonetheless, the nine-time PBA champion coach shared that Nocum's just hard to stop whenever he attacks the basket."Yes, Nocum's hard to stop. He's really that good," Uichico said, whose team managed to limit the usually efficient Nocum to just 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting in NLEX's 14-point win.Simon, who retired in 2020 after playing 17 seasons, has won eight championships, all with the Purefoods franchise. His career included a rare grand slam title wen the team was known as San Mig Coffee in the 2014 season, where he, along with James Yap and Marc Pingris formed the franchise's "big three" under then head coach Tim Cone.