MANILA, Philippines--Give it to coach Joel Dualan for putting a positive spin on the Philippine Christian University's late re-entry in the NCAA.

"One advantage we're looking at is they haven't seen us play," said Dualan. "But we've scouted all the other teams."

The Dolphins, a consistent finalist since capturing the 2004 championship, served a one-year suspension last year following an ineligibility case in their junior team.

The league decided to lift the Dolphins' suspension only last month. PCU, however, opted to take an indefinite leave from the league after this season to clean up its ranks.

And the importance of what could be their last season isn't lost on the Dolphins.

"Wala ng tipid-tipid (There's no holding back)," said Dualan. "We're playing all out."

"When the (school) president told me that we're playing this year, I ran to our gym and told the players the news. Everyone felt really happy. I didn't tell them there's a good news and a bad news. I just let them find out for themselves that we're taking a leave after. Hopefully, this will be a big motivation for us. It's a big challenge for our team."

The Dolphins know that their fate will lie greatly on the numbers Beau Belga and Lisztian Amparado will put up.

There will be no more Jason Castro to bail out the Dolphins after the fleet-footed guard signed up recently to play for the Singapore Slingers in the Australian National Basketball League.

Lei Mar Navarro, Kit Santos and Timothy McCoy will also be back for the Dolphins, who will be fielding eight rookies.

"We'll try to be as competitive as before," said Dualan. "All the teams have competed in the summer leagues, that's a plus. We weren't able to do that, so they're already one step ahead. We just have to catch up."