REELING from the departure of its big men, Far Eastern U will turn to its trio of guards to carry the fight when the Tamaraws plunge into action in the 2012 FilOil Flying V Pre-Season Hanes Cup starting April 14.
Guards RR Garcia, Terrence Romeo and Mike Tolomia will be at the forefront of the Tamaraws’ campaign in the tournament presented by Bostik Philippines Inc., after Aldrech Ramos, Pipo Noundou and former skipper JR Cawaling used up their playing years.
“We knew which of the players would not be around since last year, so I think we pretty much know how to play,” said FEU coach Bert Flores.
Another UAAP squad, National U, also hopes to continue its progress in the pre-season tournament with a squad led by UAAP MVP Bobby Ray Parks Jr.
“We all know what we can get from him (Parks),” said NU coach Eric Altamirano. “It’s now about the other players fitting well.”
While Flores and Altamirano have the luxury of having some of their key players back, University of the East coach Jerry Codinera has a tough task at hand as the Warriors continue to rebuild.
Only Lord Casajeros, John Noble, BJ Soza and Roy Sumang are back from from the UAAP side that finished seventh.
“Again, I consider our team to still be underdogs but we’ll do the necessary things to improve our season this time around with more maturity and familiarity,” said Codinera.
The pre-season Filoil Flying V Hanes Cup tournament is held in cooperation with Total Phils and backed by BDO, Bayo and Molten, the official ball.