Team captain Sonny Manucat will provide the firepower, along with returning forwards Dave Bautista and Billy Bansil. But starting center Bryant Punsalan will have to shed his butter fingers and play bigger if the Pats are going to go anywhere.
Coach Jojo Villa has eight new faces to contend with, but their remarkably quick maturation has been impressive. Adding stability to the backcourt are Jonathan de Guzman from the Pampanga Dragons and Matt Makalintal from the Batangas Blades. At the two and three spots are all-around utility man Francis Aquino from the defunct Iloilo MegaVoltz and two-way player Andy de Guzman from Pampanga. Aquino hit a game-winning three-point shot against the Cebu Gems in a tune-up game over a week ago.
Bernard de Guia of the Socsargen Marlins and Oliver Bunyi of the Cagayan de Oro Amigos add some muscle in the frontline, but it won’t be enough to hold off the deeper teams in the north.
What Villa is excited about, though, is how quickly the rookies have made the transition to the pro game. Six-foot six Bob Allen is getting plenty of playing time, and UP’s Dexter Racho has contributed off the bench. UE’s 5’11" guard Cliff Claybrooks has not seen much time, but will get his chance.
For the Patriots to get past their heftier northern rivals, they will have to scarp for every rebound and hustle up the court relentlessly. Questions for this team revolve around leadership, since most of the line-up is made of role players and youngsters. But so far, the signs have been good that Nueva Ecija will grow up fast.