Bo ready for chemistry woes
Chemistry would be our initial challenge
Developing chemistry would be the first order of business when University of the Philippines (UP) meets its latest recruits for Season 83 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
Fighting Maroons head coach Bo Perasol said their star-studded roster would be worthless if they won’t have the chemistry needed to prevail over heavyweights like Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas.
He said not all of their recruits would be eligible in the upcoming men’s basketball tournament so they would ease them into rotation and groom them as replacements of their outgoing stars.
“Not all recruits would be eligible to play this season. Some of them will be replacements to our outgoing players. We have seven old-timers and, possibly, nine new guys,” Perasol told Daily Tribune. “Chemistry would be our initial challenge.” UP has been the busiest squad in the off-season. The Fighting Maroons landed some of the country’s brightest young stars like former Gilas Pilipinas youth standouts Carl Tamayo and Gerry Abadiano who would be eligible to play in Season 83.
They also secured the services of RC Calimag of La Salle, Miguel Tan of Xavier, Filipino-American Sam Dowd, Filipino-Canadians Alonso Tan and Anton Eusebio and Filipino-Australian Ethan Kirkness, who is being groomed as one of the future stars of Philippine basketball.
UP also tapped transferees Joel Cagulangan from La Salle, Jancork Cabahug from University of the Visayas and Maodo Malick Diouf from Centro Escolar University.
These stars will join the best players in college basketball like
Kobe Paras, Ricci Rivero, Bright Akhuetie, Noah Webb, Spencer James and David Murell.
Still, Perasol stressed that the biggest challenge is how to make these collection of talents work like a well-oiled machine, especially now that the country is suffering a pandemic.
“It becomes more difficult because of our situation. No practices and no scrimmages,” he said, adding that he remains hopeful over the future of the Fighting Maroons.
“They are the future of our program. The personnel who are going to sustain our team.”