UNIVERSITY of the East head coach Jack Santiago will never tire of holding on to the belief that maybe, just maybe, the Red Warriors can make magic in UAAP Season 87.
And a seismic upset against no less than defending champion La Salle might’ve just proved him right.
READ: BOMBA! UE pulls off shocker against defending champion La Salle
The often-cellar-dwellers’ late Final Four push in Season 86 that just fell flat in the end showed signs of promise for what could be for UE in years to come.
After the departure of primetime playmaker Rey Remogat, the red-and-white still had a tour de force in Precious Momowei teaming up with an influx of new aces led by Tiger-turned-Warrior John Abate.
This season, the Red Warriors were no longer Remogat's team. Nor will they be Momowei's team. Santiago knew full well it take much more than just a one-man show to traverse a toughened-up UAAP field.
“If you notice naman, Precious cannot win by himself. It should be a team effort. I’m so happy lang with the boys that they accepted the challenge and weathered the storm. Big boost sa kanila ‘yun kasi nabi-build ‘yung character namin,” the UE shot-caller told SPIN.ph.
“Hopefully, this win (against La Salle) will give the boys more reasons to play hard.”
Yes, they can
The vision of a competitive UE team after years of dismal runs was always there, especially for its seasoned mentor who had been an assistant all throughout Franz Pumaren's title-winning teams in La salle and playoff-contending squads for Adamson.
In fact, even their losing seasons in the last two years never deterred his trust in the school that put its on him.
“Sinasabi ko sa kanila, ever since, kahit nu’ng offseason, this team is capable of beating big teams. We might not have good size, but we can match up with other players,” said Santiago.
“We can compete.”
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