Lack of experience hampered young Adamson squad, says Pumaren

Adamson Falcons fail to advance to the UAAP Final Four this season. Photo by Tristna Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Adamson University went from title contenders to spectators in just a span of one season and head coach Franz Pumaren said it was his team’s inexperience that ultimately bit them.

The Soaring Falcons finished the UAAP Season 82 men’s basketball tournament with a 4-10 record for the sixth seed, six less wins than what they have in Season 81 when they were at No. 2.

Pumaren’s team in Season 81, however, had the veteran stability of Sean Manganti, Papi Sarr, Jonathan Espelate, and Jerrie Pingoy while the Soaring Falcons in 2019 had five players listed as rookies.

“The way I look at it, the reason we struggled was because we lacked experience leading us to fall into mental lapses,” said Pumaren after the Soaring Falcons’ 89-63 loss to De La Salle in their final game Wednesday at Mall of Asia Arena.

“At the end of the day experience will really benefit the team,” added Pumare,  who singled out Ateneo and University of the Philippines as the two most seasoned teams.

The Blue Eagles earned an automatic finals bye after a 14-0 sweep of the eliminations while the Fighting Maroons are at second seed with a 9-5 card.

Ateneo’s lineup is virtually intact from last season’s with Anton Asistio the only player who graduated from the team while UP added Kobe Paras, already an experienced player from the United States NCAA, and Ricci Rivero from De La Salle.

The Fighting Maroons’ core of Bright Akhuetie, Jun Manzo, and Gomez de Liaño brothers Juan and Javi are still in the team.

“If you look at the top two teams, Ateneo and UP, they don’t have fresh high school graduates playing for them but they have transferees,” said Pumaren. “Those two teams can handle pressure and that’s the advantage of having a mature team. Unlike them, we lost games down the stretch.”

Adamson had three losses decided by four points or less and two of those defeats were against UP.

The Soaring Falcons’ last matchup against UP was a total collapse wherein they allowed the Fighting Maroons close the game out with a 21-5 run and take the 81-77 win.

“A year of experience in the UAAP will help us,” said Pumaren. “I think this being such a young team somehow affected us during the crunch time.”

“Just like any normal corporation or what, after a bad year you move forward, and you try to gather all the good things that happened that will help you down the road. I guess we just have to regroup and assess everything.”