THE second year of the Allen Ricardo era at Letran is serving a lot of promise, especially with the personnel the two-time NCAA juniors champion coach has at his disposal come Season 101.
One look at this Letran Knights squad who will still be having their core players from last year in Jimboy Estrada, Deo Cuajao, Nat Montecillo and Kevin Santos and there’s already plenty of reasons to be excited about for the supporters of this team from Muralla.
READ: Titing-Jimboy 1-2 punch already looking like a knockout for Letran
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg as it’s the new faces who will be joining that core which may turn the Knights from merely a solid team to the outright favorite to win it all this year.
At the forefront of that is the now-eligible playmaker in Squires standout Titing Manali who’ll be expected to be the Knights’ main conductor this season, while transferees Jun Roque, Mark Omega and Aaron Buensalida will give Letran some ceiling – something they lacked last season.
READ: Titing Manalili vows to make up for lost time with Letran Knights
Then you factor in the addition of former Mapua guard Ryle Rossilo, sharpshooter Chad Gammad and bruising forward Luiz Tapenio, and Ricardo will definitely have one of the deepest teams in the league entering this season.
“Masarap na mahirap,” Ricardo told Spin.ph when asked about the talent at his disposal.
“It’s all about give and take. Yung mga bata naman na yan, binibigay nila yung best nila kaso siyempre lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila being consistent yan ang pinakamahirap sa pagiging basketball player,” he added.
“It’s take a lot of demand, especially from me, di ako sanay na natatalo, so day in and day out ang taas ng demand ko sa kanila, especially sa practice.”
While the young mentor isn’t shying away from acknowledging the talent that he has at this squad, he knows that it’s only part of the equation in the winning formula that he’s trying to concoct.
After all, since there’s no questioning the talent that he has – it now all boils down to character, something Ricardo and his coaching staff will be putting a premium on.
“It’s all about discipline for us. The most important thing is doing the right thing,” Ricardo shared.
“It’s making the right reads, right passes. Being a good teammate, making your teammates look good, yun ang pinapraise namin when we started the campaign for Season 101.”
Letran coach optimistic
And if we're basing it on their preparation for this year, then the Letran faithful should certainly be optimistic as Ricardo assured the community that they’ve done their part in gearing up for the basketball war that’s to come.
“I’m excited for this year. Mas naka-prepare ako ng mas maaga. I feel that yung team ngayon is locked in at yung commitment nila is talagang more than 100 percent,” he shared.
“Tingin ko ang secret recipe lang naman dito is higitan natin yung binibigay ng kalaban natin. Bawal mapagod. Maikli lang tong season na’to we’ll have to take it one game at a time.”
Not one to make grand proclamations – all Ricardo can assure is that the heartbreak from missing out the playoffs last year won’t be happening again this time.
“For us, winning is business. That’s one thing. Kung ano nangyari last year, hindi na ko papayag mangyari yun this year.”
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