"Same lineup with a bigger picture and a better vision," said Banal as he looked forward to the 66th UAAP season where the Tamaraws, this early, are being considered one of the teams to beat in the country’s premier collegiate league.
In his fourth season as FEU coach, Banal said the maturity of his players could spell the difference this time as they try to bury last year’s painful stint where they failed to even reach the Final Four.
It was the worst finish for the Tamaraws under Banal, who spent his playing years with San Beda. In 2000, FEU finished second behind La Salle, then placed third the following year.
The 41-year-old Banal said the maturity of his players, most of them in their senior year, could spell the difference this year plus the fact that they were all part of the Viva Mineral Water squad that placed second behind Hapee in the recent PBL Unity Cup.
Except for Arwin Santos, a 6-foot-4 leaper and last year’s top rookie, eight of Banal’s players saw action in the PBL. Among them are starters Gerard Jones, Mark Isip, Cesar Catli, James Sablan and James Razon.
"Sayang nga at wala si Santos sa PBL because he was not eligible. We could have done better. Maganda talaga ang performance namin sa PBL and we will use this as a springboard for this year’s UAAP," added Banal, whose brother Joel will call the shots for defending champion Ateneo.
The FEU coach said Ateneo, being the defending champion and this year’s host, remains the team to beat although he picks University of the East as another stumbling block as well as vastly-improved Adamson.
Former champion and rookie-laden La Salle is no longer the same team under Franz Pumaren but, just the same, shouldn’t be taken for granted with veterans Mark Cardona, Carlo Sharma, BJ Manalo, Joseph Yeo and promising TY Tang.
"Kailangan respetuhin lahat ng teams. Pero isa pang dapat bigyan ng pansin ay ang Adamson. We have to overcome a lot of teams for us to win the title this year. But our immediate goal is to get to the Final Four and take it from there," said Banal.
While looking forward to this year, Banal also recalled a familiar situation a couple of years ago.
"After we finished second to La Salle in 2000, we were tagged as the team to beat the following year with players like Miko Roldan, Ryzal Castro and Leo Avenido. But we only finished third," Banal said.
That, he vowed, will never happen this year.