Beefed-up Bulldogs aim to impress in Filoil cagefest

MANILA, Philippines – The new-look National University Bulldogs are looking to make bigger strides this coming Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup. According to assistant coach Ricky Reyes, the Bulldogs have shored up their squad offensively and defensively.

During the last UAAP campaign, the Bulldogs were third in scoring as JJ Alejandro led the squad with a 17.4-point-per-game average followed by Issa Gaye’s 14.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Matt Salem, who like Alejandro has already graduated, added a shade under 10-points an outing.

Head coach Jamike Jarin, in his second year at the helm, has added Chiang Kai Shek College’s John Galinato, Ateneo’s Dave Ildefonso and Mapua refugee, Darrell Menina. Shooting guard JV Gallego, small forward Joshua Sinclair, and power forward Meds Salim also return after a year off due to academics and injuries. All three look to add to NU’s scoring sock and defensive prowess.

“Our new additions, including Shaun Ildefonso who also transferred from Ateneo, add another dimension to our team as they play very good defense,” noted Reyes, who was also an assistant to Jarin during their RP Youth Team days.

However, it is in the latter department where Jarin and NU hope to make its biggest improvement. During UAAP Season 80, the Bulldogs were ranked seventh in the league.

The defense will be anchored by the Ghanaian Gaye, who will be in his second year with the Bulldogs. Matt Aquino and Tzaddy Rangel will back-stop him and also platoon with Jonas Tibayan at the four-spot.

There are two holdovers from their UAAP title winning squad of four seasons ago in Rev Diputado and Dave Yu. A lot of the new additions have championship experience in the juniors ranks with John Lloyd Clemente — who is finally making his NU debut after redshirting last season — the Ildefonso brothers, Shaun and Dave with Ateneo, and John Galinato with Chiang Kai Shek College.

“I think that is a key element,” added Reyes. “We have players who know how to win.”

Some of the other holdovers, including Enzo Joson, JV Gallego, Meds Salim, Joshua Sinclair, Chino Mosqueda, Jonas Tibayan and Tzaddy Rangel, have all won in the high school division.

“We’ve spread out the minutes because everyone can contribute,” summed up Reyes. “I believe we have a better team.”

For his part, Ildefonso said he is eagerly looking forward to the country’s premier pre-season tournament that will be partially televised over ESPN5 and Aksyon TV.

“This is my third tournament for NU as we are currently playing in the TIP Invitational as well as the Milcu Got Skills tournament. But we all know what the Filoil tourney is. Plus, it’s televised,” said the youngest son of all-pro great Danny. “I will get to play with and against players who I only get to watch on television as well. I am still doing a lot of adapting to college ball which is different from high school basketball. But I really hope to be able to contribute more.”

The Bulldogs open their Filoil bid against defending tournament and NCAA champion San Beda on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The NU Bulldogs’ Filoil lineup: Darrell Menina, John Lloyd Clemente, Dave Ildefonso, Shaun Ildefonso, Issa Gaye, Enzo Joson, JV Gallego, Dave Yu, Jonas Tibayan, Matthew Aquino, Chino Mosqueda, Rev Diputado, Meds Salim, Manny Mangayao, Tzaddy Rangel, Joshua Sinclair and John Galinato.