MANILA, Philippines—Putting a first win behind him, De La Salle University coach Franz Pumaren opted to provide an honest—rather than optimistic—assessment on his Archers’ next assignment: The University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers.
“They’re going to be very tough,” said Pumaren of the Tigers, who are mentored by Pido Jarencio, the former UST gunslinger who steered the school to an improbable and dramatic 2006 title run.
“UST has very experienced players. If you look at their lineup, they have several senior guys. If you look at my team right now, it’s only JV (Casio) and Rico (Maierhofer) who played a lot of minutes last season. All my other veterans were role players last season.”
The Archers and the Tigers—the two UAAP champions in the last two seasons—will fight for a share of second place in the men’s basketball tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City, right after the Far Eastern University Tamaraws and the University of the Philippines Maroons aim for the same goal at 2 p.m.
La Salle, UST, FEU and UP all have 1-1 records, behind unbeaten Ateneo de Manila University (3-0) and second-running University of the East (2-1).
As glowing as Pumaren’s description of the Tigers is, Jarencio isn’t one to be flattered.
“We’ll just be ready,” said Jarencio. “We’re not promising anything in any of our games. We just come up with a surprise. Against UP, (rookie Jeric) Fortuna stepped up. Just wait for our surprise in our next game.”
Already, Jarencio has stirred up a neat surprise of his own, peddling a story of a beat-up, injured UST squad to anyone willing to listen only to draw strong performances from his supposedly hurting stars.
The Archers and the Tigers are coming off big wins following their opening-day setbacks.
Casio triggered the Archers’ spirited end-game charge for a career-high 29 points in their 73-62 triumph over the Tamaraws last Saturday.
“Hopefully we can defend well against UST,” said Pumaren. “They really play well and they’re big.”
Jarencio continues to spin the injury yarn, citing reigning Most Valuable Player Jervy Cruz’s injured hamstring and ankle. Cruz hurt his hamstring while playing for Hapee in the recent PBL finals.
Yet, the 6-foot-4 banger continued to dominate the paint, averaging 20.5 points and 13 rebounds in two outings thus far.
Dylan Ababou, whose hand was in a cast just weeks before the start of the season, also came out strong for the Tigers by firing 20 points in their 94-75 crushing of the Maroons over the weekend.
The Tamaraws, meanwhile, will try to recover from their first loss behind Mac Baracael and Mark Barroca.
