Wide-open race for UAAP supremacy
Games Saturday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City)
12 noon - Opening ceremonies
2 p.m - UE vs UP
4 p.m. - UST vs Adamson
As many as five teams are expected to contend for the title in the UAAP basketball tournament which unfolds this Saturday before another huge crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Last year’s semifinalists – led by eventual champion National University, Far Eastern University, Ateneo and La Salle − are expected to go deep once again although University of Santo Tomas and University of the East are determined to pull off some surprises.
Host University of the Philippines should not be underestimated, too.
NU Coach Eric Altamirano believes that the race for the championship is going be as exciting as last year considering that most teams have firmed up their respective lineups.
“Halos lahat eH. You can never discount anybody, like what happened last season we were under the radar, so you’ll never know,” Altamirano said. “UST can pull off a surprise, I heard UP also got stronger. Ateneo also, of course FEU is still strong because there are a lot of veterans left, and La Salle is always deep on their bench.”
With the exit of prolific forward Troy Rosario, Glenn Khobuntin, Tristan Perez and Henri Betayene, the Bulldogs, will need to work double time if they want to defend their title.
“Tapos na yun eH (the title run). It’s over and done with, this is a new season, we have to have the same approach this season. Obviously we can’t rely on size since we lost many big men but I’m looking at my veterans to carry the team again this year,” Altamirano added.
For FEU coach Nash Racela, it’s going to be championship or bust for his team.
A win away from going all the way last year before being shocked by the Bulldogs in the final two games, Racela hopes that his squad improves from their performance last year.
That means winning the title would mean everything for them - especially with players like Mark Belo and Mike Tolomia still running the show.
“We’re not thinking about that (title) at the moment but the way we approach things, we always want to always improve on our performances. The goal this year is to have a better result than last year,” Racela said.
Racela likewise agreed with Altamirano’s assessment, citing that there will be a wide open race for the title this year, although he’s setting his eyes on Ateneo and La Salle, two teams who have always been on the higher echelon of the tournament and two squads who have done well in the recruitment wars in the summer.
Ateneo will finally be parading controversial guard Jerie Pingoy and the Blue Eaglets pair of Matt and Mike Nieto while La Salle will be having very good guards as their rookies like Lorenzo Navarro, Jollo Go and Andrei Caracut.
“Ateneo and La Salle talaga. Yung blue chip recruits nila are finally playing though they say that they are still young but for me the nu,ber of hours that they played in Manila and international level, di na sila rookies,” Racela added.
Meanwhile, the UAAP board also gave Ateneo rookie Hubert Cani, who played for NU during his high school years, the green light to play this season.