THE UNWANTED UAAP PREVIEW PART 2

Just a couple of updates since I posted Part 1 of my yearly unsolicited UAAP preview. First, it was reported that La Salle's L.A. Revilla will miss Season 72 due to still unclear medical reasons. Second, La Salle apparently left out RP Youth member Papet Paredes and La Salle Greenhills star Martin Reyes on its official roster. That brings the Green Archers' rookie total to six, and not eight as I posted in Part 1.

With that said, as promised, here's Part 2 of the preview. Part 3 will be about my predictions for the season's individual awards. I know it's extemely early to tell, but I like to believe that I have some sort of foreshadowing abilities. Fortunately for you, you don't need to believe me anytime.

NU is like a troubled celebrity. Think Lindsay Lohan. Every year, despite her histories of failures, you expect to see signs of improvement because you want her to succeed, but in the end, you always get disappointed. Every year, before the start of every season, the NU Bulldogs make us believe that they are a different team: wiser and more mature than the previous one. But when the actual games start, we see the exact same team: chaotic and self-destructing. Sadly, this year will end in another disappointment.

The entry of business tycoon Henry Sy to the NU picture may be a welcome development in terms of school sustainability, but that doesn’t mean that NU will get more wins on the court.

Without any research, can you name five players who will suit up for NU this year? Since their magical run in 2001, when they entered the Final Four for the first time in history with players like Froilan Baguion, Rey Mendoza, and Jeff Napa, the Bulldogs have never showed any semblance of a winning team. Not even close.  

For the past four years, only one player comes to mind when talking about the NU Bulldogs: Edwin Asoro. Now that he’s gone, more frustrations are in the horizon. He has done practically everything for the Bulldogs, except mop the floor. He was a one-man wrecking crew. No player in NU’s history had this importance since Danny Ildefonso in the mid-90s. It doesn’t need to be said that the team will be greatly affected by the graduation of Asoro. The numbers don’t lie: 30.5 MPG, 13.5 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and 2.0 BPG—all team highs. Head coach Manny Dandan will need all the creativity and brilliance in his bones to find players who can soften the blow of Asoro’s adieu.

The departure of Asoro, despite his awful shot selection, will only give more woes to the team’s already lethargic offense. NU was the second worst offensive team (only better than Adamson) last season with only 64.6 PPG. Without Asoro, Jonathan Jahnke, and Raymond Aguilar, the team’s top three scorers from Season 71, the question now is: who will provide the points? Honestly, there’s no clear answer yet. The only clear thing about NU this year is that they will languish at the bottom of the standings. Yet Again.   

Players to watch: Ajeet Singh and Jessey Garcia

University of the East Red Warriors

Last season: 9-5 (4^th place)

The Dindo Pumaren era is now over for UE. After five frustrating seasons of almost-made-its, the Red Warriors decided to go on a different path and establish a new identity. They want to forget their monumental choke job in the finals two seasons ago and last year’s uninspired performance. The entry of new head coach Lawrence Chiongson may not easily translate into a UAAP diadem, but it’s a start towards a new direction. And that’s exactly what the Warriors need.

Chiongson, known as free-wheeling tactician, will run a fast-paced system with the Red Warriors. This could actually work well for them considering they have athletic and spitfire guards like Raffy Reyes, Paul Zamar, Rudy Lingganay, and Lucas Tagarda. Pumaren played a more deliberate system with low post plays and kick outs, which eliminated UE’s obvious strength, which is speed. One underrated factor about the Recto-based squad is their defense. UE was the second best defensive team in the league last season, allowing only 64.4 PPG. The Red Warriors like to play scrappy defense and this usually leads to forced errors. This is where the speed part comes in. If they can convert the turnovers to easy fastbreak points, then racking up wins wouldn’t be too hard.

A big blow, however, to UE’s campaign this season is the absence of James Martinez. The sweet-shooting guard tore his ACL and will likely miss Season 72. The former San Beda Red Cub was supposed to be the leader of the team now that Marcy Arellano and Hans Thiele are gone, but as it turned out, red is not lady luck’s favorite color. Martinez led UE in points last season with a 10.0 PPG and also contributed on other departments (4.0 RPG and 2.5 APG), so his absence will surely be felt.  

Fortunately for UE hopefuls, there’s another guard who’s all set to take the next step: Paul Lee. He played below par last year as he, for some reason, was used sporadically by Pumaren. But this proved to be a blessing in disguise as Lee channeled his frustrations in his first conference in the PBL and became an instant star for Bacchus Energy Drink. He came out of nowhere to surprise everyone with his all-around play (first in points, second in assists, and third in steals) and ran away with the Best Player of the Conference trophy. Lee blossomed under the helter-skelter system of Chiongson in the PBL and there’s no reason why they can’t do it again in the UAAP.

Players to watch: Paul Lee and Raffy Reyes

University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons

Last season: 3-11 (6th place)

After an embarrassing 0-14 season in 2007, the UP Fighting Maroons returned to the win column last year with three much-needed victories. Head coach Aboy Castro has done a masterful job in instilling to his young players a positive mindset. There’s no question that his players have the youthful passion and exuberance, factors that are also valuable in college basketball, the only thing they need to do this year is put the “fight” in Fighting Maroons.

Like most young squads, the Maroons have the tendency to ignore the importance of defense. UP was the worst defensive team last season with 77.8 points allowed. That’s simply unforgivable in college hoops, wherein low-scoring is more of the norm than the exception. Except for Mark Lopez and Jay Agbayani, players hardly showed dedication to play defense last season. Playing defense is the worst part in basketball: it’s hard to do and it hardly gets noticed by the fans. But defense also spells the difference between winning and getting a big fat egg on the standings.

 With the graduation of outspoken leader Jay Agbayani, this is now Martin Reyes’ team. The sweet-stroking southpaw must learn how to control the team especially when his teammates start to play too much one-on-one basketball, most notoriously Woody Co. Reyes continues to improve his scoring number each year as evidenced by his career-high 11.4 PPG last season, and Season 72 could be his breakout year. Another Reyes who should also help the maroon side of Katipunan is rookie Mikee Reyes. The explosive guard from La Salle Greenhills will add another scoring option at the backcourt and should battle fellow diminutive guard Mike Gamboa for minutes at the point guard spot now that Arvin Braganza, who led the league in assists last season with Adamson’s Jerick Cañada, played out his eligibility.   

There were games last season that the Maroons just simply stopped fighting. It’s understandable that large margins could suck the energy out of any team, but still, that doesn’t mean that the players can just go through the motions and wait for the time to expire. Every game, no matter how lopsided, has a lesson. That’s what the Maroons need to understand. With their young core, they need to chew up every bit of lesson they can get and try to improve every game. The learning curve will only get higher as the season goes along.

Players to watch: Mikee Reyes and Mark Lopez

University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers

Last season: 6-8 (5^th place)

Jervy Cruz was in tears when the UST Hymn was played at the end of their final game last season. It was the perfect image to describe the Tigers’ Season 71 campaign: sad and frustrating. With a solid lineup made up of majority of the core of its 2006 champion team, UST was deemed as one on the top contenders last year. But as it turned out, the Tigers’ growls were silenced as they played below everyone’s expectations.

UST’s record last year does not reflect the amount of talent they had. They lost only by an average of 4.5 points and could’ve won four more games if only they delivered in endgame. What spelled the Tigers’ doom last season were their inaptitude to close out games and their horrific shot selection. Pido Jarencio’s lack of coaching acumen also contributed to their demise as he failed to lead his team during crucial stretches of games. UST could’ve easily beaten any team last year except for Ateneo, the only squad that convincingly won over them. But again, the España squad simply underachieved.    

With a younger and weaker core this season, it looks like UST will even go further down the standings. Last year, the Tigers fell short because of wrong decisions, this time, they will fall short because of lack of firepower. Aside from Dylan Ababou, who finished fourth in the league in points last season with 15.4 PPG, there’s no other player who can change the flow of the game. Clark Bautista, Jeric Fortuna, Chris Camus, and Khasim Mirza may be solid players, but they will struggle to find consistency. UST is now Ababou’s responsibility. He is the deadliest offensive weapon in the UAAP today. The only thing he needs to do is pass the ball more and lessen his turnovers. Considering he gets a lot of touches, he only managed to dish out 1.1 assists per game last season, while committing 3.1 turnovers in the process (third in the league).  

Scoring was not a problem for the Tigers last year as they were the best offensive team with a 78.1 average. But that is actually a tarnished statistic since they also gave up a lot of points. UST was the second worst defensive team (only better than UP) with 75.8 points allowed. With the departure of Jervy and key guys Japs Cuan, Mark Canlas, Chester Taylor, and Francis Allera, the Tigers will scourge for points, but they should make up for it by playing better D. Speaking of, if there’s one player in the entire UAAP whose graduation will leave a colossal effect on any team, it’s Jervy. He led the league in points per game (19.8) and rebounds per game (13.7) last year. There’s really nothing to explain. But that’s part of college hoops. Players come and go. For now, the Tigers will go as far as Ababou can take them. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look too far.

Players to watch: Chris Camus and Emilian Vargas