Coaches see competitive field in Season 75

Anybody can beat anybody.

That’s the assessment of practically all the head coaches of the eight UAAP teams when asked about how they saw Season 75, which gets going this weekend at the Mall of Asia Arena.

While majority of the coaches tabbed defending champion Ateneo and host National University as the strongest teams, with University of Sto. Tomas in the mix as well, they were all in agreement that this season’s field will be more competitive.

Adamson coach Leo Austria, whose Falcons blew a twice-to-beat advantage against Far Eastern University in last season’s Final Four, picked the Tamaraws and Tigers as strong contenders.

“FEU is good,” Austria said. “UST also. Every time mayroon surpresa si Coach Pido. For me, contender ang team niya as long as nandiyan sina Abdul at ang comebacking na si (Aljon) Mariano. UP at UE, hindi niyo puwedeng biruin. For me, any team can beat any team this season. For me, this is a very exciting season.”

The Blue Eagles will be trying to do what no team has done in nearly 50 years, and Coach Norman Black is optimistic his team will be up to the task.

“We’re looking forward to a good year again,” said Black, who will be stepping down after this season. “Of course, we’re trying to accomplish something that hasn’t been done recently, and that is to try to win five championships in a row. We know it’s gonna be difficult.

“We have some question marks in our team because we lost some key players last year, especially on the perimeter. Our perimeter defense will be certainly tested this year by the other teams. Just like Coach Leo, I think any team can be beat on any given night. I expect all the games to be tough. I don’t expect them to be easy at all. NU had a great summer. La Salle improved a lot. And I think UST is gonna be very tough this year. I’ll put some pressure on Coach Pido. I think he has a very good team. He has a good center and a lot of veterans.”

Black added he isn’t thinking too much about this being what will likely be his last season as coach of Ateneo, and is focused on the here and now.

“Right now, it’s not an issue,” said the multi-titled mentor, who took over the coaching chores in Loyola in 2005. “I’m just treating this like my job that I have to do. Whatever the future holds, I’ll think about the future when I get there. Everything I’m focusing on right now is all about Ateneo and to beat Adamson on the first day.”

The new coach on the block, De La Salle’s Gee Abanilla, simply wants to bring his team back to the Final Four, something they failed to do in two of the past three seasons.

“Our goals for this season are really modest,” Abanilla said. “We’ve been out of the Final Four the last year, so our goal is to return to the Final Four. If we do that, then we’ll be very happy. And just like what the other coaches said, I think it’s an open race. Anybody can beat anybody. I think Ateneo is really strong, together with NU.”

The Green Archers will be parading this season’s most celebrated rookie in Jeron Teng, and this early Abanilla is trying to temper expectations.

“I think Jeron is a very talented player. A lot of good things have been said about the boy. But in actuality and in reality, this young man is very coachable, and I think he has a good future ahead of him. In terms of blending in to our kind of system, our focus right now is putting players in a position where they can be successful. I think he’s responding really well. Right now we are trying exploit the strength of each and every one.”

Bert Flores and his Tamaraws have finished runners-up for the past two seasons, and with the improvement of the other teams, he isn’t too sure if they can make it three years in a row.

“Malakas ang NU. Of course, Ateneo. First game ko, si Coach Pido. Hindi siya nawalan. Nadagdagan pa. At maganda ang gym niya. Sa amin, ginigiba. Para sa akin, malakas lahat. Kami ang first five namin, nawalan ng rebounder (Aldrech Ramos).

The Bulldogs were the talk of the summer after they swept all their 11 games in the Fil-Oil pre-season tournament, a feat that established them as the team to beat this season, but naturally Eric Altamirano isn’t buying all the hype just yet.

“We had a good summer tournament,” he admitted. “I just hope that our good summer record, madadala namin sa UAAP. But the UAAP is a different league. I think each team has the same amount of chances of winning it. Tulad ng sinabi ng ibang coaches, everybody has a chance of making it. Our modest goal is to make it to the Final Four first. We’re very optimistic about this season. We have to put Ateneo, UST, FEU, Adamson as the teams to beat this coming season.”

As host of the diamond season of the league and boasting of a strong line-up, there is some pressure on the Bulldogs to win the school’s first title since 1954. Altamirano is aware of this, and he wants to make sure his players don’t get too caught up in the moment.

“In terms of that record, it would be nice to make history for the school. But we will taking it one game at a time, be relaxed when we play, and not put too much pressure on ourselves. But of course, it would be nice for the community and the school to be able to achieve that feat.”

UE coach Jerry Codinera, always a man of few words, simply promised his team would do its best in each game. After a slow start last season, the Warriors came together down the stretch and pulled off a few surprises in the second round.

“I cannot really make any predictions as to who will land in the top four. Of course, the big boys, La Salle, Ateneo, they’re all there. Highly competitive sila. But we will continue to go out there fighting. We will take it one game at a time.”

The Fighting Maroons have been the butt of UAAP jokes for several seasons already, and Coach Ricky Dandan is sick of it. While he admitted his team isn’t as loaded as the top contenders, he promised they would be a more dangerous unit this year.

“Coach Gee and Coach Eric beat me to using the word ‘modest’, because we also have modest goals this year,” said Dandan. “Playing UP this year is not an automatic ‘W’. Even with a depleted lineup, we will be there fighting until the last second. If we get victories, that’s fine. There’s no doubt that Ateneo and NU are the two contenders. Nobody will disagree with that. But of course, the rest of the field will have something to say about that.”

As always, Pido Jarencio was in a joking mood and wouldn’t really give away too much. This year, he chose to focus on UST’s brand-new gymnasium.

“Maganda ang MOA Arena,” said Jarencio. “Second lang sa gym ng UST. Maganda ang gym namin, kaya kailangan maganda din ang performance namin. We have three rookies, four comebacking players, and the rest are veterans. Bahala na kayo mag-isip. Basta kami, basta nasa lupa ang tigre, matapang at deadly.”

Season 75’s opening weekend will see the Bulldogs meet the Warriors in the 2PM opening match on Saturday, followed by the clash between UST and FEU. On Sunday, the Green Archers tangle with the Fighting Maroons in the first game, after which Ateneo opens up its drive for five against Adamson.