The Varsitarian

WILL PIDO and company shed tears of joy in Season 71?

The heartbreaking image of the Growling Tigers’ mentor and his wards after being eliminated by the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles last year could just be a brief interlude toward earning another stripe of wisdom going into the grilling hour.

“That was a bad experience,” Jarencio told the Varsitarian. “We’ll make sure that it will never happen again.”

After all, the Tigers already showed much heart and composure last Season 70. Despite hitting the cellar of the team standings with two early losses, Jarencio’s pack rose from the slump and repeated its Season 69 turnaround by winning eight of their next 12 games to finish with an 8-6 win-loss card at the end of the eliminations.

The Tigers also made their presence felt in the defensive end, clawing down their opponents’ production from 80 points an outing in Season 69 to just 70 points per game last season.

But the sequel to the Cinderella run was cut short right at its climax by Ateneo, the same team that the Tigers pulverized in the best-of-three Season 69 finals.

Well-rounded line-up

With a failed title-retention bid brought about by the exit of ace Tigers Jojo Duncil and Allan Evangelista last season, Jarencio will be facing a similar challenge this year.

Versatile guard-forward Anthony Espiritu, backup ball-handler Jun Cortez and slotman Jun Dizon had already graduated, leaving a huge vacuum in UST’s rotation which thrives on energy and efficiency off the bench. The departed trio pooled an average of 15 points, six rebounds and five assists per game in a combined 20 minutes of action.

“They are big losses indeed,” Jarencio said. “But I have actually prepared their replacements—the rookies—from way back.”

So, will there be another Khasim Mirza this year?

I think all of them are going to be one,” Jarencio said.

Jarencio’s prized recruits will have to do a Mirza—UST’s Season 70 revelation—and several other Tigers in order to keep up with squads reinforced by so-called “super-rookies” and impact players.

And he remains optimistic that his eight UAAP first-timers will deliver come game time.

Newcomers Clark Bautista, Emilian Vargas, Carlos Fenequito, and Allein Maliksi are expected to give their stoppers a run-around with their respective offensive styles while Jeric Fortuna and Jackson Wong will be tough cookies to crack at the backcourt with their solid defense and playmaking skills.

Upcoming big men Christopher Camus and Carmelo Afuang have also established themselves as go-to-guys during the Tigers’ off-season tune-ups.

But of course, much of the challenge falls on the veterans led by Jervy Cruz. The reigning UAAP Most Valuable Player became UST’s lifeline last year, and his team-best 16.7 scoring and league-best 15.4 rebounding averages will still be the nucleus of the Tigers’ offense.

Joining Cruz is mainstay Dylan Ababou who has fully embraced the art of doing the dirty work for UST alongside a decent offensive game. Ababou was the team’s third leading scorer (10.9) and rebounder (5.4) while pitching in almost two assists, a block and a steal.

Also returning to boost UST’s backcourt is speedy starting point guard Japs Cuan who averaged seven points, six rebounds and a league-leading five assists per outing last season.

Completing UST’s core is do-it-all sophomore Mirza. The rookie spitfire last season ably carried—with his weightless treys and fearless incursions—the huge scoring load left by Duncil. Mirza torched defensive sets from the inside and beyond the arc. His 11 markers per game average last season can only get higher now that he’s expected to play more minutes.

A return trip to the Final Four will also need significant effort from the Tigers’ seasoned enforcers—Francis Allera, Mark Canlas, Melchor Gile, and Chester Taylor who have all added new weapons in their basketball artillery. Last season, UST’s shock troopers put in a combined average of 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Wounded Tigers

Unforeseen events kept on coming.

Cruz and Ababou suffered injuries during their stint at the Philippine Basketball League last summer. Cruz tore his hamstring while Ababou fractured a finger.

“I opted not to field in the team in the off-season tournaments such as the Nike Summer League and the Fil-Oil Flying V pre-season tournament to avoid further injuries,” Jarencio said.

Jarencio was not just talking about his frontline’s one-two punch. Mirza and Allera also got hurt during the summer while the explosive Maliksi recently went down with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury.

Still, Jarencio was optimistic that his wards would shake off the rusts as soon as the UAAP hostilities unfurl next month.

“[The UAAP Men’s Basketball] is a long tournament,” he said. “Anything can happen.”

Jarencio appeared to downplay his team’s chances of reclaiming the championship: “Everyone is a threat, but us. We had injuries. Our off-season was so disoriented and half of the team are newcomers.”

On second thought, it was more of a reality check than pessimism.

“All we need to do is to execute well, and I can guarantee you that we will be in the tournament until the very end,” Jarencio said.