MANILA, Philippines – The former bench players of the University of Santo Tomas are moving up as the Growling Tigers explore life without superstars in UAAP Season 79.
Newly installed coach Boy Sablan, who replaced controversial Bong Dela Cruz over the offseason, will be steering a new-look UST squad led by last year's second stringers Louie Vigil and Kent Lao. Now, they'll be without main guns Kevin Ferrer and Karim Abdul.
The transition, Sablan said, was pleasantly smooth.
"Wala kaming superstar. Lahat role players (We don't have a superstar. All are role players). Everyone is unselfishly willing to do their job, sacrifice for the team," he said.
"'Yun 'yung gusto ko mangyari kasi noon may mga superstar eh. Ngayon dumating ako, sabi ko wala tayong superstar. (That’s what I want to happen because in the past there have been superstars. Now I told them we won't have superstars.) Let's be unselfish, let's sacrifice for the benefit of the whole team."
(READ: Yay or nay? Predicting the UAAP Season 79 basketball tournament)
The Tigers again made a surprise run to the Finals last season, finishing as the top seed only to absorb a fresh Finals heartache, this time at the hands of Far Eastern University in a full 3-game series.
Things turned even more sour in the following months when Dela Cruz was investigated by the school for unspecified reasons. Reports surfaced of alleged physical and verbal abuse on players. Dela Cruz was reportedly sacked and the team was disbanded as a fresh round of tryouts ensued, leaving Sablan with only 3 months to prepare.
"Wala naman expectation sa akin 'yung university (The university has no expectations from me). In the first place, 3 months preparation is so limited time. Let's face it, napakaiksi (It's very short)," he rued.
"Not unlike other teams that had longer preparation, I had to maximize all the time I had. In 3 months time we were able to set the system for the team. At the same time, they are smart, very bright boys, and they can follow the system I want," he added in a mix of Filipino and English.
This year, host school UST is entering a rebuilding phase with little expectations of reaching the Final Four. With the material he has, Sablan is eyeing more distributed playing time and scoring among his players.
He also wants better defense and will be employing a running game for his team, which means the focus for the last 3 months has mostly been on conditioning.
"Ang dami rin teams na 'yung type of game nila they will run, they will press kaya sabi ko nga tignan na lang natin kung sino mabilis tumakbo," said the first-time head coach, who had been an assistant to coach Pido Jarencio from 2006 to 2012 in UST and for coach Leo Isaac at Blackwater in the D-League and the PBA for the last 4 years.
(Plenty of teams also run, they will press and so I said let's just see who runs faster.)
Despite the echoes of controversy still lingering, Sablan is proud of the chemistry his team built over the past months.
"Ako ha, this year mas maganda 'yung samahan, 'yung teamwork ngayon (For me I think the chemistry and teamwork this year is better)," he said.
The Tigers traveled to Cebu for the Recoletos Cup and to Taiwan for a series of tune-up games in the offseason. UST finished second in Cebu and had a 1-3 record in Taiwan.
During that time, veteran guard Vigil likewise grew into himself, and the entire team has noticed.
"Iba 'yung leadership na binigay ni Louie this year compared to last year (The leadership Louie brings this year is different compared to last year)," Sablan said.
(READ: The lonely Vigil along España: UST captain Louie Vigil talks about this season of discontent)
UST's first task will be the similarly rebuilding Ateneo Blue Eagles on Sunday, September 4, at 4 pm, when the men's basketball tournament begins at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (SCHEDULE: UAAP Season 79 basketball first round) – Rappler.com