MANILA, Philippines – The Letran-UST match, the third offering during the second day of the 2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup, was keenly awaited.
The Bedans wanted to see how Letran has built themselves and if they will be a threat to their crown. The UAAP schools wanted to see if UST was going to be a reflection of Aldin Ayo’s previous Letran and La Salle teams.
And the UST faithful wanted to see if there is hope in the air after years of futility.
What do the two teams have in common? First and foremost, this was the “Dominican Derby” as both schools are run by the Dominican Order. Second, Letran was also coached by Aldin Ayo, and his assistant with the Growling Tigers, McJour Luib, was a part of the Knights’ last NCAA title squad of three seasons ago (that was Aldin’s coaching debut).
The match saw UST fend off Letran in the early goings and they even led, 40-38, going into the halftime break. Come the third period, Letran’s do-it-all player Bong Quinto got the rally started and once they led, they never coughed it up for a 95-90 win.
What can we take from the match? First thoughts, impressions and analysis?
Jeff Napa has a team that will compete
There are three holdovers from Letran’s title team of three seasons ago in Bong Quinto, Jerrick Balanza and JP Calvo. Napa has Jeo Ambohot, who is in the Gilas pool, and this augurs well for the school and the program. With the addition of Larry Muyang ang a revitalized Christian Fajarito, who transferred from College of St. Benilde (along with Christian Balagasay), Letran has a good frontcourt that is relentless.
They added some scorers in Bonbon Batiller and RJ Agbong (who along with Jason Celis, and Sham Ibanes came from the Chiang Kai Shek Blue Dragons). They steadied the backcourt with Celis and Fran Yu, who like Batiller, transferred from the University of the East (Yu is also an alum of CKSC).
Jeremiah Taladua has received a ton of PBA D-League experience. And all of a sudden, Letran has a good team.
Napa has built a veteran team of homegrown talent, talented transferees with a lot of motivation, and good rookies from a solid high school program. Now he has to make sure that they play good music together. The onus is also on Batiller to adjust as he isn’t the first option here and doesn’t hold on to the ball much.
What I liked from their 95-90 win over UST is their quick strike mentality — rebound, forward pass, touchdown. Not since they had Kevin Racal, Rey Nambatac and Jom Sollano did they have this good a front court that gives them the ability to run.
This lineup should cheer up Letran alumni. Now hopefully, they will come out and watch after having been absent from the last few years.
UST has potential but remains a work in progress
In the locker room, comebacking point guard Renzo Subido pointed out that the Growling Tigers finished with 11 turnovers. Last UAAP Season 80, UST was the worst in the league in that negative category with 24.9 a game.
Missing some key players in Steve Akomo (Ayo isn’t sure he will be back from an injury or whatever disciplinary problems he has), Jeepy Faundo, Wendell De Guzman, Carlos Escalambre, Jorem Soriano, Joco Macasaet and Justin Arana, UST performed creditably well. When Letran looked like they were going to blow out UST, they came roaring back and even cut the deficit to two.
Without Akomo, this team is severely undersized. Zach Huang played well (15 points and 6 rebounds). As Ayo pointed out, he has to keep this up. They can crash the boards but they will have a hard time against the much taller teams.
“Offensively we were good but kulang sa execution,” pointed out Ayo. “We have to work on our defense especially in the final stretch. Nakipagpalitan lang kami ng score. We needed to make stops. At least offense nandoon.”
Regarding execution, UST finished with 16 assists. That was a shade above their UAAP average. So they have to improve on that.
Last season, the Growling Tigers relied a lot on 3-point shooting. They attempted 25 times from beyond the arc. Still a lot but not the most for the opening weekend of Filoil matches. They did however, show a willingness to go inside.
Much ballyhooed rookie CJ Cansino struggled in 20 minutes of play. Joshua Marcos did all right but had a tougher time against the taller and bigger players. It will be all about adjustment for them.
There’s much to like for fans of either team. But right now, UST needs help up front.