A king searches for his crown

MANILA—His name rarely cropped up in the list of players to watch this season.   Yet Ryan Roose “RR” Garcia—the plucky guard playing only his second UAAP season—surprisingly emerged as the leader of a Far Eastern University squad stocked with veterans.    FEU coach Glenn Capacio quickly described Garcia as “super,” just two games after his budding 5-foot-10 star logged in an average of 21.5 points in the Tamaraws’ first back-to-back victories.   “As his coach, I really feel confident every time he’s on court,” said Capacio. “He’s like a coach inside the court. He can carry the team.”   Garcia amassed 59.2 statistical points  after averaging a league-best 16.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.0 steal at the end of the 14-game elimination round and went on to capture the Most Valuable Player award of Season 73.   It’s a feat even made more impressive by the fact that Garcia is the first guard in 20 seasons to cop the top individual plum in men’s basketball.   But the 20-year-old Garcia would rather put his team first.   “What’s more important is our goal to win the championship,”  he said.   Capacio expects  Garcia to bring his splendid all-around game anew in the championship series.   “Now that the pressure of winning the MVP is over, we expect RR to play even better,” said Capacio.   Garcia, though, expects a tougher time in the Tamaraws’ best-of-three championship series against back-to-back champion Ateneo Blue Eagles.   “I know that I’m the marked man and their defense will be focused on me,” said Garcia.  “I’ll just help my teammates whatever way I can.”   “I also feel the pressure because it’s my first time in the Finals,” said Garcia, who hails from Zamboanga City.   Ateneo coach Norman Black, though, hardly expects to shackle Garcia.   “I will try everybody,” Black said on his defensive game plan on Garcia.   “All the guards will probably have a shot at it. Whoever does the best job will be assigned. It’s a difficult task. He’s their go-to guy.”   “I don’t expect to stop RR,” admitted Black. “I don’t think that’s going to  happen. He takes a lot of attempts. They really look for him on offense. We just have to play good overall defense if we want to win.”   Garcia is just the second guard in two decades to clinch the MVP title since former FEU ace Johnny Abarrientos reigned in 1991.   James Yap won in 2003 as a University of the East forward before shifting to the guard position in the pro league.   “He makes his teammates better,” said Capacio. “For me, he is the best  guard  in college basketball today.”   Garcia topped the tight statistical race by less than a point as National University’s Cameroonian center Emmanuel Mbe, the league’s top rebounder, earned 59 SP (13.4 points, 11.7 boards, 1.2 blocks).   The former RP Youth Team standout also beat out other top performers including teammate and the league’s top shotblocker Aldrech Ramos  (58.7 SP-11.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks) and the University of the East duo of Paul Lee (57.7 SP-14.4 markers, 6.7 boards,  4.6 assists, 2.0 steals) and Ken Acibar (50.64 SP-11.6 points, third rebounds 9.0, 1.4 blocks).   “It’s great to be in the Finals,” said Garcia.  “It’s a good match for us because we’re going up against the defending champion. We’ll just do our best.”   The Tamaraws, though, aren’t just up against the defending champions, because as they said, this is also a year of  winning after the heartaches of past seasons.   And Garcia will be in the middle of that quest for redemption.