UST Growling Tigers. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
What a difference a year makes.
Hard to believe, University of Santo Tomas has a shot to clinch the No. 1 spot this season after winning only five games the previous year.
Add the fact that only a few expected the Growling Tigers to be this good and perhaps no one had them as a top two team — probably with the exception of the players themselves.
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UST earned the first twice-to-beat advantage on Wednesday after a wire-to-wire win over Adamson but the Tigers are far from satisfied.
“It’s still just the start,” said Karim Abdul, UST’s Cameroonian center who has gotten his mojo back after slimming back down to his playing weight. “We’re not aiming for just that [twice-to-beat]. We have to make the finals so we have to practice harder.”
“We don’t get contented with just a twice-to-beat advantage. We only want the championship and nothing less,” said Kevin Ferrer, the Tigers’ graduating skipper, after leading the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
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Injuries compounded the Tigers’ problems last season as Ferrer sat out majority of tournament due to an injury to his shooting hand while Ed Daquioag, who is one of the biggest revelations for UST this year, was also hobbled by an injury leading to a disappointing sixth place finish.
“Personally, last year we were really down. So now that we’ve achieved [the twice-to-beat] in the Final Four we won’t stop there,” said UST head coach Bong dela Cruz.