At First Glance: University of Perpetual Help Altas

They were the surprise entry to last year’s Final Four. Banking on star guard Jett Vidal, the Magic of coach Aric del Rosario, and the inside presence of Femi Babayemi, Perpetual Help busted everyone’s bracket and even took the San Beda Lions to the limit and got close to going to a do-or-die setto. How will they work out this year?

The Good

No Jett Vidal?

No problem, says Del Rosario’s never changing expression.

Why is that? Well, there’s a new guy in town and he wears the same number as the dearly departed shooter. His name is Juneric Baloria. He’s no cannon fodder. He’s as legit as they can get. The guy is a scorer, not a shooter. Yes, he can stroke that jumpshot and even ocassional 3-ball. However, there’s a slashing game that warrants whistles and automatic freebies.

You may not know him now, but coaches would be drawing up defenses keyed on limiting his driving lanes and touches on an overall gamut. Also, Earl Scottie Thompson is still eligible and should make life easier for Perpetual’s future star.

The Bad

Nick Omorogbe, you are a bad man.

Well at least, on the shot selection side of things.

See, Omorogbe likes to force it sometimes and he ends up shooting Perpetual in the foot. He’s great, brings the intangibles to the table. Similarly, he looks like Luol Deng who is Mr. Intangibles. But let’s track back: shot selection.

Nick, oh Nick. You can handle that basketball. You can drive hard. You can pick it up and shoot your freebies. But never, ever force your jumpshots man.

The Ugly

It may get too predictable for opponents. Option 1: Scottie Thompson. Option 2: Juneric Baloria. Option 3: Who?

Aric needs to find a third option quick and it can’t be Nick Omorogbe who fires silly linedrive jumpshots. We like his game but his jumpshots? No we’ll pass. Also, they lack a post presence. Babayemi is great defensively, but what about the other side of the ball? Teams would be playing 5 vs 4 on offense and that will make life easy to trap Baloria, Thompson and force Omorogbe to throw up the jumpshots, which is always cringe-worthy.

Watch out for…

Juneric Baloria basketball fans.

Sit back, watch, and enjoy the show of Perpetual’s future top gun.