MANILA, Philippines - With a team built around prized recruit Bobby Ray Parks Jr. and dependable Cameroonian big man Emmanuel Mbe, National University appears to have transformed itself into a real contender this year.
Now, it’s time for the souped-up Bulldogs to start showing they have the bite to back up their bark.
“It’s hard to say if we’re already ‘Final Four material’ this season,” said NU coach Eric Altamirano, whose wards take on University of Santo Tomas at 1 p.m. today in Day 2 of the UAAP Season 74 men’s basketball tourney at the Araneta Coliseum.
“First of all, it’s a young team. We have players like Mbe who are only on their second year and yet they’re already our veterans. They did a good showing last year but again compared to the other teams that have more senior players, it’s going to be a challenge for us,” he added.
Much of the attention will be focused on the celebrated Parks Jr., who got cleared to play in Season 74 only last week.
“I expect him to be ready just like our other players,” said Altamirano, whose present bunch gave a glimpse of their stuff by copping the Fr. Martin Cup title in the summer.
“I think there’s no pressure on Ray and the team, said Bobby Parks Sr., also assistant athletic director at NU. “If there’s pressure, it’s on the team that’s expected to be champions. But we do expect the boys to play hard and try to get into the Final Four.”
NU is up against an improved UST team that coach Pido Jarencio labelled as one that “growls like a tiger.” And this is not lost on Altamirano.
“UST is no pushover, they have much better team this year compared to last year. It’s our first game so we have to be relaxed, focused and ready against them,” Altamirano said of UST’s 6-6 Karim Abdul, former juniors MVPs Kevin Ferrer and Louie Vigil, and holdovers Jeric Teng, Jeric Fortuna, and Chris Camus.
The other featured match at 3 p.m. pits University of the East against University of Philippines, two teams on a rebuilding mode.
The Warriors lost top gunner Paul Lee and seven others but debuting coach Jerry Codiñera believes his crew of Paul Zamar, Lucas Tagarda and Biboy Enguio, Adrian Santos and JM Noble are up to the challenge.
“We’ve prepared the team during the off-season and I’m confident we can beat the other teams, whether they are strong or average,” said Codiñera.
The Maroons seek to rebound from a 0-14 season, anchoring its bid on returning Mike Silungan, Carlo Gomez, Mike Gamboa, and Miggy Maniego and Nigerian rookie Alinko Mbah.
“We expect a better performance compared to last year,” said new coach Ricky Dandan, who instilled a change in the UP mindset into a “positive” outlook this year.