HEAD COACH: Sean Chambers (first season)
LAST SEASON: 3-11 (7th)
HOLDOVERS: Jorick Bautista, Royce Alforque, Cholo Anonuevo, Miguel Ona, Aeron Bagunu
SUBTRACTIONS: L-Jay Gonzales, Xyrus Torres, Patrick Sleat, James Tempra, Mo Faty
ADDITIONS: Veejay Pre, Janrey Pasaol, Jedric Daa, Mo Konateh
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THE triangle may very well be the new favorite shape of FEU.
With Sean Chambers now at the helm, the vaunted offensive scheme popularized by Phil Jackson and preached to this day by Tim Cone will be run by the Tamaraws starting UAAP Season 87.
And that new coach and new strategy are what Morayta is banking on to lift the green and gold from a 8-20 standing in the past two seasons - far from the desired result of the league's winningest team in terms of men's basketball.
"Everybody wants to know, are we gonna run the triangle? We'll run the triangle, but it's a little bit with the Sean Chambers flair," stated the six-time PBA champion import in his introductory press conference back in March.
While Chambers is now calling the shots, the FEU bench actually remains intact with former head coach Denok Miranda moving over as basketball program director, as Gabby Severino, Allan Albano, Vic Pablo, and the comebacking Bert Flores serve as assistants.
All of those names know a thing or two about winning, as well as the Tamaraws' longstanding culture of it from the days of Arwind Santos all the way to their most recent title with Mac Belo and Roger Pogoy in 2015. This is a proud program - and Chambers knows full well the tall task that has been handed to him.
READ: Anonuevo takes pride in FEU developing its own varsity stars
"That's my goal, that's what I'm here for," he answered when asked by SPIN.ph about bringing back FEU's winning ways. "I wouldn't expect anything less from myself and I wouldn't expect anything less for FEU. It's for us to come here and be winners and I would hold myself accountable for that as well."
And so, it begins with the ex-Alaska resident import to impart to his wards just how the Milkmen became successful back in the day.
Good thing then that in terms of teaching, he has had a lot of practice.
"I think what I do bring is not so much of me being a player per se, but it's more about how I was an educator for the last 17 years as an administrator at a middle school. That helped me to be a better teacher," he said.
Triangle of happiness
No matter the teacher, however, for the triangle offense to work, it has to have a fulcrum in the form of a skilled big. FEU is adamant it already has one in rookie Veejay Pre.
To be clear, asking a first-year player - though he stands at 6-foot-5 and was the No. 10 player out of high school according to the National Basketball Training Center - to become a featured player right away is a tough ask. Pre's broad shoulders, however, look like they can take on all of it.
READ: FEU's Pre grateful to be coached by lolo's favorite import
And he isn't the only rookie coming in with great expectations for the Tamaraws, as Janrey Pasaol is being eyed to step into the shoes of L-Jay Gonzales and join forces with Jorick Bautista for the next fiery green and gold backcourt.
"I'm happy with what I see so far. Clearly, we have amazing young guys in Janrey, who's been a superstar in the [UAAP] Juniors and Veejay, who's been with the national team. We're going to be playing, most likely, five to six freshmen straight out of high school, so expectations are going to be high, but we're going to allow the kids to mature," said Chambers.
Add to that a new foreign student-athlete (FSA) in Senegalese Mo Konateh, and FEU will be heavily-reliant on new faces to backstop steady veterans Bautista and Cholo Añonuevo.
"I think Mo might be somebody that's going to be a surprise at how talented he is. He's still young, but he's very talented and one of the better (FSAs) here in town," said the Tamaraws tactician.
Being Brave, still
A new coach, a new system, and several new faces - it's clearly a brand new day for the Tamaraws.
Still, the winning culture has long been there, and is perhaps just waiting to be reawakened.
After all, last season, while they lost 11 games, among those were close defeats to the University of the Philippines (4), National U (6), and La Salle (9) - the top three teams. And as for the fourth seed? They actually got one over Ateneo, 62-59.
All in all, though their two-year absence from the Final Four continued, they remained a competitive squad - true to FEU's 'Be Brave' spirit.
"Winning is a habit, so right now, our goal is to teach our guys winning habits, things that win games like boxing out, shooting high-quality shots, taking care of the ball, and being competitive on both ends of the court. From there, we'll just see what that leads us to," said Chambers.
And make no mistake, the Tamaraws will be more than glad to compete, but are also confident and capable at contending for the playoffs.
"We won three games last year. First of all, we want to do better than that. My goal is to get to .500, that will give us a chance at being in the conversation," said the legendary PBA reinforcement.
"If we can get there, then hopefully, we can get a few more wins and maybe get (an) 8-4 (record), and we'll be in good shape."
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The FEU Tamaraws' first assignment in Season 87 is against the Adamson Soaring Falcons on Sunday, September 8 at the Araneta Coliseum.
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