KG Canaleta

Rommel Niño T. "KG" Canaleta (born February 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Biñan Tatak Gel of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). He is also a former assistant coach for the Taichung Suns of the T1 League. He played majority of his career in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). A 6-6 athletic forward, he is fondly called by nicknames like KG, The Big Ticket, and The Da Vinci of Dunk. He won the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2012 PBA Slam Dunk Contests and led the Air21 Express to a third-place finish in the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup.

KG Canaleta

Canaleta with the Air21 Express in 2008
No. 9 – Biñan Tatak Gel
League	MPBL
Personal information
Born	(1982-02-12) February 12, 1982 (age 42) Tarlac City, Tarlac, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
College	UE (2002–2004)
PBA draft	2005: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the Air21 Express
Playing career	2005–present
Position	Power forward / small forward
Number	9, 12
Coaching career	2022–present
Career history
As player:
2005–2009	Air21 Express
2009–2011	B-Meg Derby Ace Llamados / B-Meg Llamados
2011	Air21 Express
2011–2012	Barangay Ginebra Kings
2012–2014	Air21 Express
2014	Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters
2014–2015	NLEX Road Warriors
2015–2016	Mahindra Enforcer
2016–2017	GlobalPort Batang Pier
2017	Blackwater Elite
2017–2019	Meralco Bolts
2019–2021	Blackwater Elite/Bossing
2022	Taichung Wagor Suns
2022	Boracay Islanders
2022–2023	Taichung Suns
2023	Imus SV Squad
2023–present	Biñan Tatak Gel
As coach:
2022–2023	Taichung Suns (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
PBA champion (2009–10 Philippine) 1× PBA All-Star (2013) PBA Most Improved Player (2013) PBA Mr. Quality Minutes (2010) PBA All-Rookie Team (2006) 5× PBA Slam Dunk champion (2005–2007, 2010, 2012)

Professional career

PBA

He made a serious run for the Rookie of the Year honors with an impressive Philippine Cup campaign where he averaged 16.2 points per game, No. 1 among rookies and seventh in the tournament among locals. But a so-so performance in the Fiesta Conference and two finals stints of Red Bull made Larry Fonacier a no-brainer for the award.

Canaleta is undoubtedly one of the biggest attractions in the league with his jaw-dropping, never-seen slams by a local player. Canaleta was a back-to-back-to-back winner of the Slam Dunk competition, both by convincing fashion. He was ranked no. 2 in scoring among rookies during his rookie year with 9.4 points per outing. Canaleta was the first Philippine Basketball Association player to become a 5-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion. On 2011 PBA All-Star Weekend, he dunked on 3 men in the final round against Kelly Williams to win his 4th PBA Slam Dunk Champion Award. On 2012, Canaleta did it again after dunking on 3-men, including 6-foot-9 Asi Taulava to win his 5th Slam Dunk Award.

He was also awarded by the PBA to be the Mr. Quality Minutes Player in 2010.

On December 5, 2012, Canaleta scored a career-high 41 points in their 112-93 win against GlobalPort Batang Pier.^[1] Canaleta was named the PBA Press Corps' Player of the Week for the period April 8–14, 2013 after dropping 37 points anchored on 9-18 shooting from 3-point land in their come-from-behind win over Petron, 95-91.^[2]

On January 20, 2014, Canaleta was traded by Air21 to Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters for Sean Anthony, Eliud Poligrates, and a 2016 first-round pick.^[3]

On October 9, 2014, Canaleta was traded from Talk 'N Text to NLEX in a three-team trade that involved Blackwater Elite.^[4]

On August 25, 2015, Canaleta was traded by NLEX to Mahindra Enforcer in a three-team trade that also involved Talk 'N Text.^[5][6]

On March 29, Canaleta was traded to the Blackwater Elite in exchange for Dylan Ababou and James Forrester.

On January 10, 2018, while playing for the Meralco Bolts, Canaleta became the 87th member of the elite 5,000 points club, 83rd among locals, in the Bolts 103-98 loss to the Alaska Aces.^[7][8]

On October 25, 2019, Canaleta, along with Mike Tolomia and two second round draft picks in 2020 and 2022, was traded to the Blackwater Elite for Allein Maliksi and Raymar Jose.^[9] This was his second stint with the Elite.

Taiwan

On March 19, 2022, Canaleta signed with Taichung Wagor Suns of the T1 League.^[10] On December 20, Canaleta signed with Taichung Suns of the T1 League as assistant coach.^[11] On December 23, Taichung Suns registered Canaleta as import player.^[12] On February 10, 2023, Taichung Suns cancelled the registration of Canaleta's playership.^[13]

PBA career statistics

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 2021 season^[14][15]

Season-by-season averages

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	Air21	52	21.0	.388	.304	.707	3.8	.6	.3	.3	9.4
2006–07	Air21	41	25.8	.395	.331	.703	5.8	.8	.4	.7	11.9
2007–08	Air21	50	23.5	.397	.332	.681	3.2	1.2	.5	.6	10.4
2008–09	Air21	37	18.1	.353	.220	.736	3.9	.8	.3	.3	5.8
	Purefoods
2009–10	Purefoods / B-Meg Derby Ace	58	17.5	.379	.345	.596	2.6	.9	.3	.4	8.1
2010–11	B-Meg Derby Ace	43	20.0	.374	.342	.804	3.7	.5	.4	.5	8.0
	Air21
2011–12	Barangay Ginebra	36	17.2	.413	.364	.739	3.3	.7	.2	.3	8.7
2012–13	Air21	39	30.6	.397	.369	.739	5.3	1.3	.5	.6	16.7
2013–14	Air21	48	23.8	.388	.351	.769	4.1	.7	.5	.2	10.2
	Talk 'N Text
2014–15	NLEX	36	20.1	.382	.327	.762	3.3	.6	.2	.1	8.1
2015–16	Mahindra	32	25.3	.425	.354	.841	3.8	1.0	.2	.4	11.7
2016–17	GlobalPort	36	23.5	.372	.347	.745	4.1	.9	.4	.4	8.4
	Blackwater
2017–18	Meralco	37	19.4	.394	.374	.722	3.7	1.0	.2	.3	8.6
2019	Meralco	25	12.7	.436	.429	.833	2.0	.9	.2	.2	6.6
	Blackwater
2020	Blackwater	11	25.4	.398	.347	.765	4.3	.7	.2	.5	11.7
2021	Blackwater	13	16.0	.306	.190	.727	2.2	.6	.2	.6	4.6
Career		594	21.4	.390	.341	.723	3.7	.8	.3	.4	9.5

Awards

• Mr. Quality Minutes Award (2010)
• Five-time PBA Slam Dunk Champion (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012)
• PBA All Rookie First Team (2005–2006)
• Scored a record 38 Points in the PBA Rookie Game
• 2013 PBA Most Improved Player

References

1. de Leon, Job (December 6, 2012). "Canaleta drops career-high 41 to carry Air 21 past GlobalPort". PBA-Online.net. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
2. Dy, Richard (April 15, 2013). "Player of the Week Canaleta happy to prove he's more than just a freak show". Sports Interactive Network Philippines. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
3. "PBA: Talk 'N Text acquires KG Canaleta from Air21". GMA News and Public Affairs. January 20, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
4. Alas heads TnT 3 team trade deal, philstar.net, Retrieved October 9, 2014
5. Joble, Rey (August 25, 2015). "Talk 'N Text lands No.2 pick Troy Rosario from Mahindra in 3-team trade". InterAksyon. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
6. "PBA Trade: Rosario shipped to Talk 'N Text in three-team deal; Ginebra acquires Nico Salva". CNN Philippines. August 26, 2015. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
7. "KG Canaleta finds consolation in joining PBA 5,000-point club despite Meralco loss to Alaska".
8. "KG Cañaleta enters elite 5000-point club". 11 January 2018.
9. Lozada, Bong (October 25, 2019). "Maliksi to Meralco trade approved; Blackwater gets Tolomia, Canaleta". INQUIRER.net.
10. "有何喬登還不夠 太陽再找第2亞洲外援尼奧". China Times. March 19, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
11. "Facebook Post". Facebook. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
12. "2022.12.23聯盟公告". T1 League (Press release). December 23, 2022. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
13. "2023.02.10聯盟公告". T1 League (Press release). February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
14. PBA-Online.net
15. Real GM