NCAA Season 93 Preview: Run-and-gun Chiefs continue chase for title

Head coach: Jerry Codiñera
Last Season: 14-4 (Runner-up)
Holdovers: Kent Salado, Lervin Flores, Zach Nicholls
Key Losses: Jio Jalalon, Dioncee Holts, Donald Gumaru

Finishing as runner-up for two of the last three seasons, Arellano is motivated to finally break the glass ceiling and win it all this year.

But coach Jerry Codiñera knows that pulling off the feat will be a tough challenge for the Chiefs, especially with the departure of lead playmaker Jio Jalalon.

“Every year, that’s always the case, that we want to win the championship,” he said. “We want to make it to the Final Four and we want to continue to do better every game in spite of the fact that year-in and year-out, there are players who leave the team. We continue to recruit and do well.”

Jalalon’s backcourt partner Kent Salado has been thrust to the spotlight along with seniors Lervin Flores and Zach Nicholls.

“Salado will have a bigger role for us this year, same as with the veterans we have in our team,” said the PBA great.

Codiñera acknowledged his team is expected to take a hit from the graduation of key guys from last season. But as always, he has his full confidence that there will be players ready to emerge out of the shadows and deliver for the Chiefs.

“Like what we’ve been doing for the past four years, we just have to deliver and do what we’re supposed to do, make use of what we have, believe on our players and continue to motivate them to bring their A-game every game,” he said.

But Codiñera promises that even without Jalalon, Arellano will still be the exciting fast-paced team which is ready to run the competition out of the building any given day.

“We will still continue to do the running type of ball game and give our 100-percent effort every game. We’ll continue to excite the fans,” he said.