Tigers bank on depth in offsetting key departures for UAAP Season 89

MANILA, Philippines — Even though Forthsky Padrigao, Nic Cabanero and Kyle Paranada are now out of the Growling Tigers’ den, University of Santo Tomas remains to be one of the most dangerous teams this coming UAAP Season 89. 

While the three have used up their playing years, UST will be banking on a deep roster led by Collins Akowe, Mark Llemit, Gelo Crisostomo and Amiel Acido.

UST ruled a number of preseason tournaments as well, showing that the team is capable of making some noise this season.

Likewise, it is a big part that this is Pido Jarencio’s fourth season as UST head coach, and he has a team that he could call his own. 

“This is my fourth year sa UST. My first year, nangangapa pa tayo dahil hindi nga nating mga players yun. Pero, as years go by, inaayos namin yung programa, yung sistema. Kaya, nagiging solid na yung team,” he told reporters during the preseason conference Tuesday. 

“Kasi, lalo itong team na ito, akin na ito. Talagang halos wala na yung dating players. Kaya, amin na ito, nabuo na amin na ito. Tapos, may mga nagagaling pa ng high school team namin. Which is, nagiging maganda yung programa. Nagiging tuloy-tuloy,” he added.

He said that the team’s holdovers have shown flashes of brilliance last season, even with Cabanero leading the charge. 

This just shows that they are ready to answer the challenge this time. 

“Actually, nung nandito pa si Nic, medyo pumutok-putok na rin yung iba. Nakakatulong na. Pero for this season, talagang alam nila yung responsibilities nila, bawat isa. Tapos, alam nilang walang Nic… Tapos sa kami, we play as a team. We play as one unit. One cohesive unit,” 

“And, at the same time, yung trust nandun ng bawat isa. Yun ang importante, na may tiwala ka sa kasama mo.” 

Jarencio added that Llemit and Acido have also shown great leadership skills and vast improvements both on and off the court.

“Last year pa lang, makikitaan mo na sila. Pero ngayon, alam nilang sila na ngayon.

Panahon nila ngayon. Alam mo naman ang player. Taong-taon yan, may kasama kang magaling. Next year, dapat ikaw na yung magaling. Kasi, nawala na yung magaling,” he said. 

“Regarding kay Mark and Amiel, talagang ano sila, good leaders. Tsaka, nag-improve sila na. They improved a lot. Not just in basketball, but outside basketball. Magandang leader yung mga batang yan kaya hindi ako namomroblema e.”

Aside from the main guns, Koji Buenaflor, Charles Bucsit, Carl Manding, Ice Danting, Mur Alao, newcomers Kristian Porter, Kirk Canete, Charles Esteban, and second foreign student-athlete Peter Osang are all expected to provide support for the Tigers, as well as one-and-done studs Landyn Jumawan, Donovan Sevilla and Enzo Abellar. 

And while they own arguably the deepest roster in the league, Jarencio stressed that this season is a wide-open race.

“Lahat, walang team na pangit yan. Lahat yan. Marunong mag-basketball lahat yan. Yung mga players nila, maraming magagaling na coaches. Siguro, kami, basta ayusin muna yung problema ngayon, kung sino kalaban namin, bago namin isipin yung susunod na game,” he said.

“One game at a time lang kami. Tapos, from there, tingnan natin. First round, second round, tingnan natin kung saan kami aabot. Pero ang target pa rin siyempre, nandoon ka sa final four. Iba pa rin yan. But for the last two years, nung mga players na namin ang hawak namin, nasa final four kami.”

UST will have an early acid test this season as it takes on last year’s runner-up University of the Philippines on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.