Animo La Salle

All good things come to an end. In the case of the Green Archers, four years of lording it over in the UAAP came to its closing stages last year when archrival Ateneo Blue Eagles landed on top of the 65th season and stole the crown. It was tragic because it was an eagerly-anticipated match-up, highly-publicized and highly sensationalized. Not only did the Archers have to deal with the collapse of their dynasty, they also had to face intrigues and hurtful accusations from several camps. For the Taft-dribblers however, life must go on.

"I think this is the right time to start rebuilding the whole system," said head coach Franz Pumaren of this coming 66th UAAP season. This time, he plans to start them young and make superstars out of this set of recruits whom he considers "the best" he has had in his five-year coaching experience in La Salle.

Coach Franz seems to have found a gem in Joseph Casio. This sweet-shooting star of the San Beda Red Cubs led his team to the 2002 NCAA Juniors Basketball Crown, and is definitely showing signs of a promising basketball career in the collegiate ranks. Observers, including PBA coach Derek Pumaren, say his game is reminiscent of feisty Archer Tony Boy Espinosa. The big heart, hustle and aggressiveness are there, plus more. Coach Franz says compared to Espinosa, Casio is more cerebral. He has the ability to think and make good decisions in the hardcourt.

He also displayed determination in making it to the prestigious university. Unlike other recruits who went through the athlete’s program to enter DLSU, the young lad went out of his way to score an application form, fill it out, and take the test. Casio’s parents told coach Franz that their son had always dreamed of studying in La Salle. That’s why even if they didn’t recruit him to play for the Archers, he was ready to submit himself through the process of getting accepted in the school, and trying out for the team. This has undoubtedly impressed Pumaren who admits that more than the talent, he appreciates aggressiveness in a player.

The only thing that the team is worried about is the age factor. At 16, turning 17 only in September, Casio maybe the youngest player ever to play in the UAAP, and definitely the youngest player coach Franz has ever handled in college basketball. With this comes the question of inexperience and lack of maturity. Coaching staff is ready to sit him out until he’s ready, though they are positive that might not be necessary as Casio is showing improvement everyday and has convinced management that he is quite mature for his age. In their recent game against Letran in this year’s Champions’ League, Casio played for 22 minutes and scored 20 points, 5 rebs, 4 assists, and 1 steal.

Another prized find of the Green camp is Ryan Araña. Little is known about this player who studied for two years in Colegio de San Lorenzo, and in a public school previous to that. Nonetheless, this gutsy guard/forward walked in the tryouts of the Green Archers and surprised everyone with his ala-Mac Cardona moves, playing physical, rugged, and with enough hustle to earn the confidence of the team. The Archers also got the 2002 NCAA Juniors MVP OJ Cua and fellow Letran Squire PJ Walsham, promising big men Gerwin Gaco from the DLSU MA program and Mark Benitez and Allen Gatchalian from Jose Rizal University.

Coach Franz is challenged by the fact that this is the youngest team he has ever handled. His players’ ages range from 16-22. Almost half of the team is made up of rookies, fresh high school graduates. "They are kids," added Pumaren. But they have overcome much bigger adversities in the past, they will not give up now. "My concern right now is for them to mature right away because we don’t have time to nurture them or babysit for them," he stressed.

There is no substitute for experience. For the Archers, this area will be covered by holdovers from last season –Mark Cardona, Carlos Sharma, Manny Ramos, Joseph Yeo, and filling in the big void left by the "Cool Cat", Mike Cortez is TY Tang who will be the starting pointguard for coach Franz. BJ Manalo is definitely out for the season because of his injury while Cholo Villanueva and Cris Cabatu were both cut from the team because of poor grades.

As for expectations and strategy this year –"These are rookies, they have a lot of tendencies to commit mistakes. I have to be honest. Right now our main objective is to just be competitive in each game. We will try to keep the game close and maybe pull off some surprises in the end game. I think we’ll be surprising a lot of teams. I see some of my rookies are able to adjust well to the collegiate level, the level of competition in the UAAP. Maybe later on we can think of making it to the final four," revealed coach Franz

The good news is that whatever the new Archers team lacks in talent and experience, they will try to compensate for by being more aggressive and playing hard in every game. According to Pumaren, "This team has a big fighting heart. Compared to my previous teams since 1998, this team would really hustle all-out. If you felt that the previous teams were already pressing 40 minutes, I feel this team would exert more."

The challenge is for the veterans to forget the past and bury its ghosts, for the rookies to mature, step up and play big, in a short span of preparation, and for the whole team to use last year’s heartbreaker as a rallying point. All good things come to an end; perhaps to make way for better things.