Time flies by so fast that we never felt that the 77th season of the UAAP is upon us. Defending men’s basketball champion De La Salle is set to open its campaign once the ceremonies are over by July 12. And since we aren’t fans of opening numbers (admit it, they are unnecessary), let’s head straight to our mini eight-team preview for the basketball side of things.
Ateneo De Manila University
The Blue Eagles are out to redeem themselves after falling out of a Final Four finish since 1999. They landed top recruit Arvin Tolentino this summer together with home-grown Thirdy Ravena. They still sport a rather sizeable hole in the middle with transferee Ponso Gotladera, the only true center in the bunch. However, with Tolentino, they are getting a big who dribbles and runs like a guard and able to create space with his ability to knock down three balls. Kiefer Ravena, Chris Newsome, Nico Elorde and Von Pessumal are expected to provide not only the points but also the leadership. It is intriguing to think that on paper, the Blue Eagles can parade a small ball lineup of Tolentino-Newsome-Pessumal-Ravena-Elorde. Sorely missed would be Ryan Buenafe’s swag especially in the end game.
Predicted record: 7-7
Adamson University
Adamson lost the brunt of its offense and defense when Eric Camson moved on the pros coupled by the recent losses of Ingrid Sewa (academic issues reportedly) and Jericho Cruz (PBA Draft). And we haven’t talked about Leo Austria’s decision to walk once more. Losing Cruz is probably the biggest blow next to Austria. Here’s a guy who put up almost 15-4-3 on a daily basis. Where will you get your offense? I think it is too much to expect an otherworldly performance all season long from Dawn Ochea, the heralded recruit from the south. Veteran holdovers Ryan Monteclaro, Jansen Rios, Alejandrino Iñigo and Don Trollano were role players at their best last season. Rios and Trollano, however, hold promise that they can eventually break out and lead this outfit longing for the father figure Austria gave them. This would be a very different team after all without his presence patrolling the sidelines and telling his players to slow down the pace for their half court sets. Kenneth Duremdes is in for a rough start.
Predicted record: 3-11
De La Salle University
The Archers are bringing back everyone from their championship run minus Oda Tampus, Luigi De La Paz and Gab Reyes. In come Abu Tratter, Julian Sargent, Prince Rivero and Terrence Mustre. Can I say yikes? The Archers already paraded the biggest frontline last season and that’s not changing. It just got bigger. Rivero did not battle patsies in his junior days. Mustre was recruited from the US. Sargent and Tratter, well, they weren’t so bad in preseason action. I don’t see someone putting a hindrance on a back-to-back especially with Juno Sauler at the helm. It also helps that Yutien Andrada is returning after a redshirt season, adding more ceiling to an already gigantic frontline. With Norbert Torres and Arnold Van Opstal flanking Jeron Teng up front, the only way for the Archers to lose is to shoot horribly from the field, which is their glaring weakness. Good luck trying to get defensive rebounds from the frontline troika of Sauler and even if you goad Almond Vosotros, who has a propensity to jack it up sans bricks, to keep shooting, he’ll eventually punch three to break your back.
Predicted record: 12-2
Far Eastern University
If there’s any team that lost some scoring that bad, it is the FEU Tamaraws. Gone are RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo. That’s 35 points gone (22.2ppg for Romeo and 12.8ppg for Garcia), not to mention the 10 combined rebounds they pull and almost 7 assists they dish out. Mark Belo has to double his season stats for last season, as well as Mike Tolomia, for the Tams to remain in the thick of things. Belo was a beast with 9.1ppg and 7.6rpg playing just a shade above 20 minutes. Tolomia pulled in 9.4ppg, 4.8rpg and 3.6apg subbing in for 25 minutes a game. Can you imagine the production they can dish out given an extra five-10 minutes? I believe in a way that it will offset the production lost from Romeo and Garcia, while bringing a whole new punch for the team. With Russell Escoto set to come back from injury and with Roger Pogoy’s continued rise, they may even have a better team. Now if their management can all move on from creating ungodly rules and focus on their sports programs instead.
Predicted record: 8-6
National University
Anytime you lose your first and second option in basketball is tough. Parks and Mbe left NU along with their combined 33.2ppg, 19.6rpg, and 4.3 apg. That’s 47 percent of your offense gone if your team puts up 70 points a game. That’s how severely gutted this NU team is when it comes to offensive production. However, there are still bright spots. Alfred Aroga has beefed up the last time I saw him and his game remains scary to say the least. Troy Rosario should be able to grab the starting PF spot this time over Glen Khobuntin, relegating Khobuntin to sixth-man duties where he would eventually flourish. See, Khobuntin as your sixth man makes sense since he is a starter material, shot-happy PF who would be going against the second bananas of other teams. The successful recruitment of Rev Diputado solidifies their back court behind Gelo Alolino.
Predicted record: 10-4
University of the East
Three Warriors averaged in double digits led by Roi Sumang’s 19.3ppg and Charles Mammie’s 15.4ppg, respectively. Ralf Olivares put up 11 points a game but has used up his eligibility. The rest of the team? No one cracked seven points. The problem here is UE will be too predictable. You can shackle everybody else and let Sumang and Mammie do all the work. Almost 35 points can only do so much especially when going up against a stacked up team that plays defense. Maybe the addition of Moustapha and continued development of Gino Jumao-As in a Mark Barroca-esque role would lighten the burden on Sumang and Mammie. And while we are at it, will someone please tell new coach Derrick Pumaren to start Chris Javier alongside Mammie? That would ultimately add a D to his efense. And, let’s not forget that UE led the league... in protests.
Predicted record: 7-7
University of the Philippines
How do we start from this? You have a sophomore as your leading returning scorer with 7.8ppg, shooting 40 percent from the field. Gone are Sam Marata and everybody’s Tito Raul, Raul Soyud, who put up double digit outputs on a team that is horrid on both ends of the floor. And I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Gone are the days when there is actually some fight in the Fighting Maroons. Yes, it’s not what they’re good at, but still, emulating the Philadelphia 76ers in tank mode year in and year out can only make it worse. What chance do they have now? Every celebrated recruit they have flamed out – let’s not discount my HS batch mate, Mike Gamboa, this side of Marvin Cruz and Nestor David. Paolo Romero is the only one with an actual shot at making himself relevant, along with Kyles Lao. The Alinko Mba experiment miserably failed, and the Chris Ball mix isn’t going to go somewhere else.
Predicted record: 1-13 (someone is bound to be caught on an unlucky day)
University of Santo Tomas
UST lost their leader Jeric Teng, who morphed from a stopper to a scorer in his five years. However, they are bringing back a core of Karim Abdul, Kevin Ferrer, Aljon Mariano, Ed Daquioag and Sheak Sheriff. Return to the Finals sounding? Very. Add to that one of the hottest young point guards in the metro agreed to be a Tiger in Renzo Subido. Paolo Pe returns to give Abdul his ablest backup while providing sharp elbows here and there. We’ll miss the Frank Golla versus Paolo Pe battles while we’re at it. Kim Lo, along with Subido, should provide the fireworks off the bench. However, the X-Factor here is Mariano. Will he be able to recover from his Finals boo boo and tow this team to the promised land now that he is hale and healthy?
Predicted record: 11-3