FOR many, the University of the Philippines winning the PlayTime Cares Filoil EcoOil 18th Preseason Cup last July was an indication that no matter how much changes other teams have had, the road to the championship in the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament still runs through Diliman.
And to a degree, it’s true, with Fighting Maroons coach Goldwin Monteverde still locked in on his quest to continually strive for greatness regardless of the roster turnaround.
“Kahit na sino naman ang maglaro sa amin, the mentality is the same. You want to continue on learning and putting in the work, and in the end, magbubunga yung hard work na ginagawa mo. Yun naman lagi ang tinuturo namin sa mga players dito,” he said, as State U claimed an unprecedented third straight crown in the premier preseason league.
The ECJ Perpetual Trophy is a solid reinforcement of State U's status as the favorite coming to this season, rising through adversity when it lost two straight in the preliminaries before picking it up when the lights were at their brightest to take down fellow contenders.
Aside from the Fighting Maroons, there are two teams which boosted their credentials with how they fared in Manila-based preseason leagues.
National U and Adamson certainly turned a lot of heads with how they performed in the run-up, building steam, as they sought an ascent in this upcoming campaign.
The Bulldogs overcame the odds and were the surprise runners-up in the premier preseason league, bucking a slow start and were the underdog picks in the knockout rounds before eventually settling for bridesmaid honors.
Yet for coach Jeff Napa, this only proved what he knew: that the Jhocson side will be a lot to handle this year.
“Alam naman namin yung capabilities ng team namin eh, so hindi kami nagulat sa nilalaro namin,” said the bold bench technician. “Sabihin na lang natin na napatid lang last UAAP season, pero ito yung inaasahan ko sa team namin.”
Even before the second-place finish in the Filoil tourney, NU already fired warning shots, winning the inaugural University Belt Basketball Cup (UBBC) in April against San Beda and also winding up as runner-up in the Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup in June.
The Soaring Falcons were a more curious pick.
Wallowing in the doldrums in the Filoil tourney, the San Marcelino crew looked different in the other competitions, making it to the semifinals in the UBBC before winning the championship in the aforementioned Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup, Asiabasket International Invitational in July, and the Pinoyliga: The Big Dance in September.
“Siguro, ang iniisip lang namin is to compete,” said coach Nash Racela. “We’re just maximizing the games that we could get and if it helps us gain significant experience and at the same time, yung respeto ng tao, bonus na sa amin yun.”
Up-and-down preseason
Yet as much as there are positives, there’s also those at the other end of the stick –where University of Santo Tomas has found itself.
Though having shown immense promise and have proven to be just as competitive as the best of them, the Growling Tigers seemingly have still to gain that killer instinct needed from a legitimate title contender.
Case in point: the Espana crew’s semifinal exits in both the Filoil tournament and UBBC, both of which against less-heralded teams in the Bulldogs and Red Lions, respectively, as well as a collapse in the Asiabasket final against the Soaring Falcons.
But rather than taking these as signs of impending doom, coach Pido Jarencio has taken these as a challenge for his wards to prove otherwise come the UAAP season proper.
“Yun yung sinasabi ni coach Pido sa amin para magising kami, na papayag ba kami na isipin ng lahat na choker daw kami? Siyempre ayaw namin na ganun, kaya tine-take lang namin lahat ng setbacks na yun as motivation,” said senior Forthsky Padrigao.
It has been a busy preseason in Manila, but if there’s any learning that pundits can get from all of this, it’s that this UAAP season will be a much more open race compared to past seasons.
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