ALTHOUGH defending champion University of the Philippines will be the odds-on favorite in the 85th UAAP basketball tournament, coach Goldwin Monteverde insisted the Fighting Maroons have their work cut out for them.
“Last season we didn’t have time para mahasa iyong team. Siguro isang focus namin is to get them play more games together kasi nawala si Noah (Webb), who was the team captain, and Ricci (Rivero). Unfortunately, si CJ Cansino ay galing sa surgery sa kanyang knee so iyong veteran presence (will be missed),” Monteverde said last Saturday on the Power and Play program hosted by former PBA commissioner and now Philippine Sports Commission chairman Noli Eala.
The Maroons collide with the Green Archers in the match kicking off the league’s second straight season this year at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Adamson University faces University of Santo Tomas in the other game.
“We played in the championship last season but karamihan sa kanila ay rookies. More than half of the players sa team ngayon ay sophomores. I believe if they play more games, makakakuha sila ng experience,” he added.
The Katipunan-based five wound up with a 12-2 card after the eliminations in the last cage wars for the No. 2 seed and hurdled La Salle in the Final Four.
Then the unthinkable happened.
Facing tall odds, UP ended Ateneo’s three-year reign in the Big Dance in three grueling games to bag its first crown since 1986.
Monteverde said having pre-season tournaments should boost the Maroons’ campaign in the new season kicking off on Saturday.
“When it comes to preparations siguro from last season, iyong panahon would be parang the same din but the difference for us now is the exposure na nakuha namin as a team and we had some pre-season tournaments,” he said.
“We really tried to get as many (pre-season games) as possible para mag-jell kami as a team through competing with other schools. We’re still a work in progress.”
Prized big man Carl Tamayo, finals MVP Malick Diouf, Zavier Lucero, and JD Cagulangan will be counted upon by UP in its title-retention bid.
