Dolphins start title defense vs Red Lions in NCAA opener

The 81st season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament fires off on Saturday with a promise of another slam-bang action among the country’s top collegiate teams, led by defending champion Philippine Christian U and title contenders Letran and San Beda.

In fact, the opener at 2 p.m. pits the Dolphins and the Red Lions in an early clash of the favorites while the Knights take on the Perpetual Help Altas at 4 p.m. followed by the San Sebastian-Mapua match at 6 p.m. and the Jose Rizal-St. Benilde tiff in the 8 p.m. main game.

In yesterday’s press launch of the oldest collegiate tournament in the country at the ELJ Building in Quezon City, host Letran College’s Fr. Edwin Lao, O.P., this year’s NCAA president, unveiled the season’s theme "One at 81" with a sub-theme of "values formation through sports" that bodes well for a league that was marred by controversies and court action last year.

"The NCAA was established many decades ago because of two goals. First is to promote harmonious relationship among all eight members. The other is to engage in competitive sports based on physical, moral and spiritual values," Lao said.

Lao, who also chairs the powerful NCAA policy board composed of heads and presidents of all eight participating schools who were mostly present in the launching, also announced the appointment of veteran coach Joe Lipa as the league commissioner, replacing Ricky Palou.

Lipa, who coached various collegiate, amateur, professional and national teams in the past, is also the commissioner of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

Not wanting to get embroiled in the current basketball fiasco involving the controversy-marred Basketball Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Olympic Committee, Lipa will tap the services of a 30-man pool of referees, who are mostly new faces, using current International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules.

Focus, however, will be on PCU, which has tapped multi-titled Philippine Basketball League mentor Junel Baculi as its new coach to boost its back-to-back title bid.

"Of course, we’ll go for a back-to-back but we have to watch our backs because all the teams will want to beat us," said Baculi, who won a total of seven titles — four for Welcoat Paints and three for Lamoiyan-owned franchise Hapee Toothpaste and Dazz Dishwashing Paste — in the PBL.

PCU boasts of an intact line-up led by 2004 rookie MVP Gabby Espinas and fellow PBL veterans Rob Sanz, Jason Castro, Ian Garrido and Joel Solis.

The Knights and the Red Lions are the other two teams to watch since the two are coming off stints in the PBL. Letran played under Toyota Otis and fared considerably well while San Beda was under the banner of Negros Navigation. — Joey Villar