All powered UP
FROM days of long ago, but necessarily from an uncharted region of Diliman, I played hoops with n now University of the Philippine F Fighting Maroons coach Dolreich ““Bo” Perasol.
It wasn’t a fair fight. We were five. B Bo played with another player just to t throw in the basketball or we probably a just played five vs. one. We still g got creamed, nonetheless.
Now, my old college dormmate h has reached the heights of the c coaching ranks, from leading a ragtag t Powerade team to a Cinderella r runner-up finish in the 2011 Fiesta C Cup in the PBA, serving as head c coach to UP’s Katipunan rival Ateneo, e to finally leading the Fighting M Maroons to its first UAAP finals b berth back in 2018, something the D Diliman dribblers haven’t done s since Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, s Eric Altamirano and Joey G Guanio won it all in 1986.
Why, pray tell, am I all of a sudden d writing about coach Bo in this w week’s column? Well, the other day I congratulated coach Bo for masterfully f engineering a coup that netted G Gilas youth standouts Carl Tamayo a and Gerry Abadiano.
Coach Bo said the two greenhorns h from back-to-back champions N Nazareth School of National University v will undoubtedly comprise U UP’s most potent offensive five along w with Season 81 MVP Bright Akhuetie, K Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero.
“Just like any other rookies, both C Carl and Gerry have to acclimatize t themselves with college ball. The g good thing is they have championship s experience and came from a v very competitive program. So, they’re ready. They have five playing years too so it’s a boost to our future,” he told me during a short chat over social media.
Aside from the 6’7” Tamayo and 6’0” Abadiano, the Fighting Maroons also loaded up with other recruits from the high school ranks like Xavier School’s Miguel Tan and La Salle-Greenhills’ RC Calimag, who like Tamayo and Abadiano is a former Gilas Youth member.
They’ve also taken the overseas route by signing Filipino Canadians Alonso Tan and Anton Eusebio, Filipino American guard Sam Dowd, and 6’10” Filipino Australian project Ethan Kirkness.
As if those are not enough, coach Bo secured the services of Jancork Cabahug from the University of the Visayas and Joel Cagulangan from La Salle as well. However, they will have to sit out a year as part of the UAAP eligibility requirements. Ditto for former Centro Escolar University big man Malick Diouf, who will succeed Akhuetie in the middle when the Nigerian graduates next year.
So, from an almost bare cupboard with the graduation of starting point guard Jun Manzo and defensive stalwart Jaydee Tungcab and brothers Juan and Javi Gomez de Liaño’s decision to take the year off, coach Bo has seemingly rebuilt the roster with a lineup that oozes superstar potential.
Last year, UP seemed to be a shoo- in for the finals with the arrival of Kobe Paras and to a lesser extent Rivero, who also had to sit out a year after transferring from the Green Archers. But it was for naught, as it appeared coach Bo had some problems meshing the two new recruits’ talents and skills with Juan Gomez de Liaño and the rest of the holdovers of the Season 81 Final Four team. JDL deferred too much, Paras shot too much, and Rivero was feeling his way too much throughout the season, culminating in that heartbreaking Final Four loss to UST ( Buti na lang graduate na si Renzo Subido).
Coach Bo said he would be banking on the three mainstays on the starting five to provide the muchneeded leadership for the UP Fighting Maroons when Season 83 rolls around early next year.
“Kobe, Ricci and Bright are experienced players. They already know what it takes to compete and win. They have to be accountable to the team in terms of their individual performance and their leadership.”
So, here’s hoping that once the world finally beats this Covid-19 menace, UP will become UAAP champions once more. Then we will finally see the mother of all bonfires.
MarkRabagoisaformerreporter at The Manila Times. Hehascontinued butremainsatrue-blueNBAand PBAfan.Hecanbereachedatmakyo73@