Knights gird for revenge

It’ll be a battle royale at the Mall of Asia Arena this Saturday as defending senior men’s basketball champion San Beda College takes on Letran with pole position on the line in the 89th NCAA season. Both teams are on top of the standings with identical 7-1 records and they’re facing off for the first time in the league since their best-of-three Finals duel last season.

For Letran coach Caloy Garcia, the game is a toss-up. “It’s 50-50,” he said yesterday. “A lot will depend on which team is able to break out in the first period and dictate. San Beda is on a six-game winning streak while we’re coming off a loss to Perpetual. We hope they get complacent and we play our game. I think defensively, we’re okay. If we get our offense going and run, we’ll be in good shape. San Beda is a tough team to beat, they’re bigger and taller than us. Ola (Adeogun) is dominating the boards and we have to find a way to take him out of the paint. Then, we’ve got to limit Baser (Amer) who’s been playing so well.”

No doubt, Garcia said the Letran veterans will be out to prove something. “The guys who played for us when San Beda won the title last year want payback, that’s Raymund (Almazan), Kevin (Racal) and Mark (Cruz),” said Garcia. “They’ll get their minutes because they want to prove something. All eyes will be on both teams. I expect MOA to be packed so it’ll be a test for our new guys, whether they can play in this situation. I keep reminding our guys to just play their game, not to feel the pressure.”

Last season, San Beda beat Letran, 2-1, in the Finals. The Red Lions drew first blood, 62-60, then the Knights evened the count, 64-55. In the rubber match, San Beda mowed down Letran, 67-39.

Garcia, 38, got a call early this year to ask if he could coach Letran. “I know Larry (Albano) was their first choice but I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I started Feb. 1 and the next day, we played St. Benidle in the Fr. Martin’s Cup. Luckily, we won. It’s been a challenge. Raymund was playing in the D-League and he wasn’t sure to play his last year in the NCAA this season. He was in contention for MVP in the D-League so his focus was not with us. I asked if he could come to practice even once a week. His cousin Kerby (Raymundo) spoke with him and convinced Raymund to play one more year because it would be a good preparation for the PBA draft. Raymund could only focus with us after the D-League ended and that was in June. Kevin was injured and couldn’t play with us in the FilOil tournament so we were really short-handed.”

Garcia said he asked Letran officials if he could bring over three assistants Mike Buendia, Ricky Umayam and Elvis Tolentino. “Ronjay (Enrile) and Gerard (Francisco) were already in the staff but I felt I needed additional help with the things we planned to do,” he said. “I signed a two-year contract and Letran agreed to the composition of the staff. Rebuilding the team was our priority. We wanted to create chemistry around Raymund, Kevin and Mark. We recruited eight new guys, including Team B players like (Fidel) Castro and (Kevin) Buenaflor who’re talented but were never given a chance before. Then, we convinced Rey (Nambatac) to join us even though he was being offered by NU, Adamson and La Salle.”

One of the first things Garcia did when he accepted the Letran job was to contact former coach Louie Alas. “I called up Louie and asked about his son Kevin,” he said. “Kevin was busy with Gilas. I was hoping he would play for Letran as he has two more years left of eligibility. I never got to talk to Kevin until the beginning of the season and it was too late to line him up. I know Kevin has a great career ahead of him.”

A player whom Garcia will miss in the next few games is Franz Dysam, a recent ambush victim. “He just texted me,” said Garcia. “We didn’t play him much in the early games because we wanted to give minutes to the new guys. But in two games, he provided the spark for our team with his experience. We planned to use him more late in the season. I still don’t know if he can rejoin us. He told me he wasn’t hit in any vital part that could affect his playing. This week, he starts jogging so he might be able to catch up.”

Garcia, who once played on Letran’s NCAA junior football champion team with his two brothers, said his goal is to qualify for the Final Four. “We were second last season but I don’t want to pressure the guys right now into thinking we’ll be back in the Finals,” he said. “I never imagined we would be in the top two at this stage of the tournament. It’s a long season and we’ll play 18 games. I’ve been mixing up combinations to get everyone ready for the long season. I’ve played Mark and Rey together and they’re a good combination. We’re a small team. After Raymund, we don’t have any really big guys. We want to give everyone a chance to play so they’re ready. When I got to Letran, I saw the defense was already in place. So I worked on offense, giving everyone the license to shoot, like what we do with coach Yeng (Guiao) at Rain Or Shine. It’s an equal opportunity offense.”

Garcia coached St. Benilde in 2006-08 and is back in the NCAA with Letran. “I studied college at Letran for three years and played in Team B,” he said. “Then I moved to St. Benidle where I graduated.” As for Letran’s only loss so far this season, Garcia said the Knights paid the price for not playing any tune-ups during the two-week break for the FIBA-Asia Championships. “The guys had mid-term exams so we gave them the chance to catch up with their studies,” he said. “They were okay at practice, in good condition, but without any tune-ups, we got off slowly against Perpetual and were down, 31-9, in the first quarter. We’ll learn from that mistake. We can’t afford to start flat against San Beda this Saturday.”