At least in the Final Four.
But to achieve that goal, second-year coach Lito Vergara said his wards must be able to learn to play with the proverbial "killer’s instinct," that has been the team’s downside the past few seasons.
Although winning just three games and finishing last season’s tournament at seventh place, UP showed some promise after it stuck it out with the top teams only to flounder towards the end of the campaign.
The same could be said during the State U’s pre-season games where the Maroons compiled 15 victories and seven losses — all of which they led most of the way only to break down at the crunch – including a two-point defeat at the hands of eventual runner-up Adamson U Falcons in the recent Fr. Martin Cup. UP led all throughout only to drop the game in the final seconds.
"The main weakness of this team is playing under pressure," Vergara said. "I want to instill to them the winning attitude. After all, there’s something positive about the close losses we usually had."
The Maroons’ tendency to foldup at endgame is obviously due to their lack of depth in the point guard position with the loss of Tabique and with starting point guard Marvin Cruz in only his first year.
This was evident in their last season’s league-leading 21.6 turnovers a game, with the team also posting the worst assist-turnover ratio of 1:1.95.
On the other hand, the coaching staff and the players "take pride in giving their all-out effort on the court in terms of their defense and their rebounding as a team," said assistant coach Emil Arroyo, whose team’s rebounding is tops in the league last season with 44.6 boards per game.
Still, Vergara remains confident his Fighting Maroons can "realistically go for a Top 4 finish" in the tournament, despite the loss of several of his key players last year and during the off-season.
Among the big names out of this year’s roster are slotman Jay-R Reyes, defensive workhorse Robson Bornancin, and Tabique Jr.
Reyes has since transferred to Kalayaan College, Bornancin has gone abroad while Tabique is still recuperating from lymphatic cancer.
Kenneth Robin – last season’s tournament top rebounder, with 10.1 rpg, and the second highest scorer in the team — is likewise unlikely to suit up until the start of second round since he is still recovering from an MCL injury he sustained last year.
However, the Maroons still look formidable with the return of veterans Abby Santos and Bruce Quebral, who are expected to fill in the slack in the paint and add muscle to the team, respectively.
Despite having an average height of only slightly above 6 feet for this coming season, the Maroons will rely heavily on their control of the boards, with Vergara emphasizing on "gang-rebound" where even the guards are encouraged to contest the board.
Besides underscoring the team’s resiliency during endgames, Vergara also told his boys "to be flexible and play at least two positions" to offset the lack of manpower in several positions, and will be relying on at least a 10-man deep rotation, anchored on PBL standouts Toti Almeda, Josant Cervantes, and Santos, veterans Jireh Ibanez and Jino Ferrer, and ex-UPIS standout Cruz, with Nestor David providing the spark off the bench.
"We’re hoping that this year, we’ve grown and will be able to overlap the ‘invisible barrier’, then come out on top during crunchtime," Arroyo added.
Vergara picks FEU, Adamson, Ateneo, and La Salle as the teams to beat this year. But with hardwork, solid defense and hopefully, the winning attitude, things are looking up indeed for the Diliman-based cagers. — Nathan Lee