Scouting Report - #UAAP77 Week 1

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

UAAP Season 77 is finally upon us! The opening weekend saw three blowouts and an intense clash between contenders FEU and La Salle. At this stage, all of those preseason predictions and rankings [I am guilty of doing one. Or two. Come on! Its part of my job!] are proven futile and should be thrown out of the window.

And with two playdates already done, lets take a quick look on the early achievers of this young collegiate basketball season and give credit to the boys who deserve it. Here we go!

WHAT YOU MISSED

July 12, 2014 - Saturday - Araneta

UE def. UP, 87-59.

FEU def. La Salle, 82-77.

July 13, 2014 - Sunday - Araneta

Ateneo def. Adamson, 79-57.

NU def. UST, 59-40.

POWER RANKINGS

1. FEU (1-0)

Terrence who? RR who? The Tamaraws showed no signs of missing last year's star guards as Mike Tolomia, Mac Belo, and the returning Russel Escoto towed FEU to a hard-fought opening day upset win against the favored La Salle team.

2. NU (1-0)

It wasn't pretty, but the Bulldogs ushered in its post-Bobby Ray Parks era with a statement win versus their tormentors last season UST, blasting their rivals with ease in a total team effort.

3. UE (1-0)

"Thunder" Dan Alberto zapped UP with five treys to set the wheels in motion for the Red Warriors' trek to the Final Four. The bench production for UE allowed coach Derrick Pumaren to go easy on Roi Sumang's exposure in opening day.

4. ADMU (1-0)

Sign of things to come? Kiefer Ravena might just have opened Chapter 1 of his "Eff-You" season this year, torching the lowly Falcons and posterizing defenders not once, but twice. "Eff-You" indeed.

5. DLSU (0-1)

The Green Archers might be stunned with an opening day loss against FEU, but it just wasn't their game to win. Expect the defending champs to bounce back in their next game – against rivals Ateneo.

6. UST (0-1)

Its just not the same without coach Pido. That's not a dig towards new coach Bong dela Cruz, but in the Tigers' first outing, the runner-ups seemed to be discombobulated [Did I spell it right?] against a more ready NU squad. The good thing is its just their first game; the bad thing is that they have to get it fast.

7. ADU (0-1)

With 11 rookies, even coach Kenneth Duremdes didn't expect the mugging they would get from Ateneo in their opener. He hoped that they would at least compete, but the team's immaturity surfaced, forcing "Captain Marbel" to reassess his plans, even if it needs him to exit the dugout in the fourth quarter of the succeeding game.

8. UP (0-1)

I'll just let this meme do the talking.

(c) UAAP-NCAA Memes

MVP WATCH

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

(weekly production/ averages in parentheses)

1. Mike Tolomia (23 points, 4/6 3PT FGs, 3 rebounds, 5 assists in W vs DLSU): The fourth-year guard made the most of his extended responsibility, bucking a slow first half and torching La Salle with 20 second half points, as the defending champs struggled to find an answer against the Tams in the endgame.

2. Kiefer Ravena (22 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals in W vs ADU): It was a statement game for the elder Ravena sibling as Kiefer really showed the way for Ateneo. It also won't hurt that he had two slam dunks which sent Mika Reyes wildly cheering from her seat.

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

3. Mac Belo (20 points, 4 rebounds in W vs DLSU): Belo has shown tremendous improvements from his days in the Sinag Pilipinas squad, and the forward has been a workhorse in the paint against taller counterparts.

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

4. Dan Alberto (15 points, 5/6 3PT FGs, 2 assists in W vs UP): Whoever said that Dan Alberto will be an early season MVP candidate, please raise your hands. Nobody? Exactly.

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

5. Gelo Alolino (13 points, 6/10 FGs, 3 rebounds, 3 steals in W vs UST): It all starts with Alolino, as the NU playmaker anchored the all-around assault for the Bulldogs in exorcising the demons of their bitter UST losses last season.

BEST FIVE

G - Mike Tolomia (FEU)

G - Kiefer Ravena (ADMU)

F - Mac Belo (FEU)

F - Russel Escoto (FEU)

C - Troy Rosario (NU)

ROOKIE WATCH

(c) spin.ph/ UAAP-NCAA memes

(weekly production/ averages in parentheses)

1. Ivan Villanueva (15 points, 6/9 FGs, 9 rebounds in L vs ADMU): Extra Rice Jr.? The former Letran Squire showed his soft shooting touch even as the Falcons struggled in its first game of the season.

2. Arvin Tolentino (12 points, 2/6 3PT FGs, 5/12 FGs in W vs ADU): The ex-San Beda Red Cub lived up to his hype as he joined forces with Kiefer Ravena in the early Ateneo pullaway, draining threes amd setting the tone for the W.

3. Rev Diputado (8 points, 2/2 3PT FGs in W vs UST): Diputado, a former Bullpup, showed that his spot in coach Eric Altamirano's rotation is safe as he was solid in his time on the floor while Alolino is resting on the bench, drilling occasional threes while setting his teammates up in offense.

WHAT THEY SAID

"We're playing undersized. Si Carl Bryan Cruz nasa kili-kili na ni AVO. Sacrifice." - Nash Racela on FEU's bigs matching up with La Salle's big men.

"Maganda ba or di maganda? Kung maganda, itutuloy namin. Kung ayaw nyo eh di palitan namin. Baka mas maging topic nyo pa yung outfit namin than the result." - Juno Sauler on the coaching staff's coat-and-tie uniforms

"I didn't do anything. I'm a good boy." - Kiefer Ravena on the unsportsmanlike foul whistled on him in their Adamson game.

WEEKLY NOTABLE

The La Salle coaching staff donned these uniforms which set the Twitter world ablaze last Saturday. What do you think?

UNI-WATCH

Just a quick word on the opening day uniforms.

The Nike jerseys (Ateneo, La Salle, FEU) are still the usual, but I observed one thing which bugs me until now. The school's names, regularly emblazoned on the shirt's chest, is now placed on a lower position, particularly the "tummy area." We believe that this space is alloted for the advertising patches, but isn't it too spacious for a certain patch to be placed in the center of the uniform?

Unless... they are pushing for a sponsor's logo to be placed above the school's name in the jerseys (which just further hammers a discreet belief on the league's commercialization, if its not yet that commercialized).

NU and UST, for me, had the best opening day uniforms.

Without any biases, I liked the loudness of the UST golden yellow uniform bearing a tiger print lining in both sides.

I also liked the simplicity of NU's white uniforms, going away from the usual "big U" NU logo and the one bearing a bulldog, and rather opting with the simple "National University" text upfront. Plus points for the style of the numbers at the back, which is the same font face of those of San Mig Coffee's. [Quick tangent: NU assistant coach Mon Jose also served as a video coordinator and later, an assistant coach for the Coffee Mixers during the 2014 PBA Governors' Cup.]

Still not digging UP's threads. Its nice that you have the word "Pilipinas" written on your jersey's front (with a little "Unibersidad ng" text written above it), but the white "bibs" that hug the maroon jersey just doesn't make the cut. And I'm using that term lightly. It really resembles an infant's bib, right?

The author covers the UAAP for Balls Channel, Solar Sports Desk, and occasionally, for Inquirer Libre.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the author's employers.

A new lesson for the UE Red Warriors

Originally posted on the Solar Sports Desk on July 9, 2014

It's once again the start of the school year and as expected, eager freshmen are up to claim their fresh set of athletics shirt and jogging pants.

Up on the fifth floor of the P.E. Building, students slowly filled up the bleachers as new head coach Derrick Pumaren mapped out plays for the Red Warriors. Curiously, 6-foot-8 big man Charles Mammie is seen sitting on the sidelines, not participating in practice.

I asked him what was he doing as he sat and watched his teammates make the whiteboard plays into reality. I also wondered if he was late again, if his tardiness was what made the coach decide to sit him out just like in the past. After all, Mammie had the reputation of being a hard-head, which forced coaches to discipline the Sierra Leone-born center by keeping him on the bench.

But Charles said, “I just went from therapy and coach is reserving me for the season,” pointing to his knees.

Two elementary students soon approached Mammie and exchanged pleasantries with the big man. “They're my friends,” Mammie said, while telling stories about the kids cheering for him loudly whenever they watch the UE games.

“One of them is Ken, and the other one, I don't really know his name,” said Charles, trying to contain his laughter. He soon found out the other kid's name was Joriel. The children sat at the bleachers near Charles until an assistant coach waved them off to the other side of the court.

Later on, Pumaren asked his first and second group to proceed with their press, as the energy level in the gym got a notch higher.

Mammie stood up near Pumaren and looked on as the play transpired on the other end of the court. The 22-year-old, with a white towel draped on his hulking shoulders, barked instructions like a coach to help his teammates go to their spots.

Moments later, Pumaren blew his whistle and called his players to center court and prayed.

For some, this might signal that the practice is over. But Pumaren is no ordinary coach. The team went to one corner of the court where a whiteboard was waiting for them.

With brother and assistant coach Dindo standing, the players sat and listened as coach Derrick slowly drew arrows and circles with a marker.

Coach Derrick is now Professor Derrick.

One by one, he picked a few Red Warriors to go up and take a shot at the whiteboard. One of them was Charles. He took the marker from coach Dindo, mapped out the play, and explained what happens where. He looked at his coach waiting for a response, and the eye-glassed mentor said, “Correct.” Mammie did a little bit of showboating, looking to his teammates and pointed his index finger to his head, saying, “I know this! I'm listening,” which triggered laughs among the squad.

“Coach is a perfectionist and we have to prove that we fully understand what he is teaching to us,” Mammie said. “He's more focused on me, because when you get it wrong, you have to keep on doing your assignments.”

For coach Derrick, basketball is more than just being physically prepared for the games. That's why he has subjected the team to these post-game classes.

“I just want the players to get involved,” he said.

“I am trying to find out if they really know the plays. Its more of getting their minds ready,” the seasoned mentor said, admitting that this is the first time he has done this exercise with any squad he has coached in his almost three decades of experience.

Taking the head role in the UE fray has been quite a ride for the 51-year-old, baring that when he first took the job, he didn't even know the players' names, including the spitfire Roi Sumang.

Now? “Roi will be our number one point guard. He's one of the best point guards out there in the UAAP,” said Pumaren.

Looking at it, Pumaren's coaching career has really been a wild ride ever since he first took hold of this capacity, serving as an apprentice of Ron Jacobs with the national team in the '80s.

Through the course of his illustrious coaching career, he has seen days in La Salle, Magnolia in the PABL, and had stints in the PBA with Pepsi, Sunkist, Sta. Lucia, Purefoods, Tanduay, FedEx, and Talk 'N Text.

Before taking the UE appointment, Pumaren has been more involved in coaching consultancy duties, namely with JRU and La Salle, before lending his inputs to the Hong Kong national team for the past three years. “Sa Hong Kong, it’s like half-baked coaching. I've been in touch with basketball, but I really want coaching talaga – full-time coaching.”

And now, he's back in the collegiate circles, reinstating the patented Pumaren press in the amateurs - something the UAAP had not seen since his brothers Franz and Dindo left La Salle.

“So far, I'm very happy with how the team accepted it,” he said. “We know that we will be a pressing team. We know that our defense will be our number one offense.”

“The team is very, very into it. They're embracing the system and they are probably 60-to-70-percent there. They are not familiar with it, but they're getting there.”

Also, Pumaren said he has brought a little more than his signature press in this tour of duty with the Red Warriors.

“Discipline,” he said, as he explained how he used this technique in handling UE. “I really instilled discipline because we're going to play disciplined basketball for 40 minutes.”

“It's not just on the floor, but in and out of the court. We need to have that discipline because we have to carry that. I'm not saying that they didn't have discipline then, but I am very hard on that so we can carry that to the games.”

“For example, coming in on time. When I say nine o'clock, we start at nine. If they don't come here at nine, there will be repercussions. When its nine o'clock, its nine o'clock,” the stern coach channeling in his inner five-star general. “I don't allow players walking around on slippers, not wearing jerseys, talking, things like that. Syempre, it’s still hard. They still have their habits before, but it will take some time and we'll get there naman.”

He added, “We will be under control. We're not just going to be run-and-gun like the other teams, but we're going to play a disciplined brand of basketball.”

Though it seems like Pumaren is a hard shell to crack, you might be surprised. He is also a character. He put on a wacky smile when he gamely posed with Mammie and Moustapha Arafat for a photo. He even joked around with his players.

And maybe that’s how the UE Red Warriors will be this season: a bunch of characters.

From coach Derrick, to Roi Sumang and Chris Javier mimicking Gregg Popovich’s quotes, Bong Galanza saying he’s not Bong Galanza, Arafat striding around the court like a bird out of its cage, to Charles Mammie vowing to be mature while fooling around with his little buddies.

“I practice every day, trying to be the best I can so I can improve myself for the team,” he said. “I’ll still play with a lot of emotions, but I’m still gonna be me – Charles Mammie.  I’m more matured now and more responsible. I’ll be good.”

The only certain thing is uncertainty, like if coach Derrick really lives up to his call for his players to be matured, or if Charles can really contain his emotions this season.

But for now, the only truth is that the players will have another play to study for tomorrow’s practice-slash-lesson.

UAAP Season 77 Primer: UE Red Warriors

Originally posted on the Balls Channel website

Head Coach: Derrick Pumaren (1st season)

Last Season: Sixth Place (7-7 in the eliminations)

Key Losses: Coach Boycie Zamar, Lord Casajeros, Ralf Olivares, Adrian Santos, JM Noble, Jai Flores, JR Sumido

Holdovers: Roi Sumang, Charles Mammie, Chris Javier, Bong Galanza, Gino Jumao-as, Mark Olayon, Dan Alberto, Ivan Hernandez

Key Acquisitions: Moustapha Arafat, RR de Leon (returnee), Paul Varilla, Daryl Guiang, Junard Caparida, Renz Palma, Edgar Charcos

The Coach Says:

“I expect them to play hard every game. That’s the target right now. What we put in is what we harvest at the end. What we’re gonna do right now is step-by-step, one game at a time, quarter-by-quarter, things like that. Of course, we want to win. I didn’t come here and accept this job for the sake of coaching. I came here to win. Everybody knows that, the whole team knows that and it’s the attitude that we have. Hopefully the players will be able to know the system already by the time of the opening.” – coach Derrick Pumaren

The Players Say:

“Ayaw kong sabihin na target namin ang Final Four. Ita-try namin yung best namin para makapunta sa Finals.” – Roi Sumang, guard

“I improved a lot. I practice everyday, trying to be the best I can so I can improve myself for the team. I’ll still play with a lot of emotions, but I’m still gonna be me – Charles Mammie. I’m more matured now and more responsible. I’ll be good.” – Charles Mammie, center

“My role is to double my work more on defense. I can play for offense, but I need to play for the team. My goal is to bring the championship.” – Moustapha Arafat, forward

X-Factor: Bong Galanza

If you’re the unanimous choice of your coach and your teammates to be the impact player for this coming season, you have to have the guts to take the challenge head on, right?

Galanza is facing this quandary, but the 6-foot-3 swingman is looking to deliver the goods for UE, more that he’ll be playing his final season this year.

The 21-year-old will fill the void left by Lord Casajeros and Ralf Olivares in the wings, and Pumaren hopes that his outside sniping will space the floor more, giving the main bullets Sumang, Mammie, and Arafat room to operate in the perimeter.

“Big shoes yung kailangan kong punan. Ako yung naiwan na veteran na wing. Pressure din kasi di ako masyadong nagamit the last two years pero may tiwala naman sa akin yung mga kasama ko eh,” Galanza said.

Prognosis:

A lot of rival coaches think that UE will be a force to be reckoned with this season, as the Red Warriors are set to parade Arafat with Mammie in their rotation. But Pumaren said that this also works as a disadvantage in their part, as he cannot utilize his prized foreign players at the same time.

The bigger problem for Pumaren is how the squad would adapt to his patented press, more that UE has shone last year with the brilliance of Sumang setting his teammates up on the floor.

Pumaren, who has been an ardent believer of discipline, has infused his strict demeanor to the squad, and will be hoping to get huge minutes from his cast of team B players and rookies to support his stars’ production.

Aside from Galanza, veterans Gino Jumao-as, Dan Alberto, and Chris Javier will be pressed to support the trio of Sumang, Mammie, and Arafat as UE’s focal point on offense.

You don’t have to doubt Sumang if he can deliver the goods for the Red Warriors, as many are expecting a breakout season from the Tondo native.

But for Pumaren, their season will lie more on the concept of teamplay, on how successful will the other guys step up come Season 77, and not just on an individual’s performance.

*****

UAAP Previews: Adamson | Ateneo | La Salle | FEU | NU | UE | UP | UST

Mammie's missing Daddy

(c) Sherwin Vardeleon

"Sa mga Pilipino, you’re dealing with 16 types of egos, and Charles Mammie - he has a lot of egos."

"I’m dealing with him daily per game basis, per half basis, per quarter basis, per minute basis. Kung sana lang mas marami pa akong factory na pasensya."

"He has gone through a lot: suspensions, bago mag-opening, yung documents nya, and now, we really had this time together to get back-to-back wins after we had back-to-back losses."

"I have to deal with him everyday. Pero sabi ko nga, buti nang Rufina Patis, wag lang toyo."

"I think Charles Mammie is an emotional, 20-year-old, 6-foot-9, 300-plus pounds and cries like a baby."