No compromise with UE varsity

MANILA, Philippines - UE coach Derick Pumaren said yesterday while the Red Warriors fell short of making it to the Final Four of the UAAP senior men’s basketball tournament this season, he was consoled by the team’s fighting spirit and the school’s no-compromise policy in relation to dealing with players of questionable attitude.

Pumaren, 52, guided the Warriors to a 6-8 record, tying La Salle for fifth place in the standings. If NU lost to FEU in the defending champion’s last elimination round game, UE would’ve gained a shot at the Final Four via a two-step playoff to break a triple tie among the Bulldogs, Warriors and Archers.

“We came close to a playoff and it would’ve been a great learning experience for our young players to get a feel of a knockout game,” said Pumaren who coached La Salle to two UAAP titles in 1989 and 1990 and Sunkist to two PBA crowns in 1995. “Remember that this season, we played with nine rookies, including seven freshmen. We’re losing only one graduating player Chris Javier so it would’ve also been a nice send-off for him. Overall, we weren’t really consistent offensively. That’s what we need to work on. Our defense carried us, no problem with that, but we must also be consistent on the offensive end.”

Pumaren said UE’s biggest win was over NU this year. “That was in the first round when we won, 76-71,” he said. “Now at hindsight, we’re thinking if we didn’t lose to UP in our first game and if we didn’t lose to Adamson before we beat Ateneo and UP to close out the season, we could’ve made it to the Final Four outright.”

Throughout the season, UE struck fear in opponents’ hearts with its unrelenting pressure defense. “I’m more of a defensive coach,” he said. “My philosophy is I want our defense to dictate the other team’s offense. That’s why we didn’t allow any team to post us up and take advantage of their height. The idea is to not to let the other team set up its offense. This season, it helped that we were a small, quick team. We had to press because we were at a disadvantage, size-wise.”

As a result, UE was No. 1 in the league in forcing opponents’ turnovers with 26 a game, turnover points (21.6), fastbreak points (13.4), steals (6.4), assists (16.9), points in the paint from layups (34.6) and least points allowed per 100 possessions (82.8).

Even as UE overachieved, Pumaren said what makes him prouder is the school’s uncompromising stand on disciplining players. “With our team, you’re first a student and second, a player,” he said. “UE wants to teach values and we’ve been very consistent with that approach. We won’t tolerate players who hold the school hostage.”

During the offseason, UE conducted a random drug test and weeded out six players from both Teams A and B. It was difficult enough to cushion the impact of losing players who had run out of varsity eligibility like Sierra Leone center Charles Mammie. Worse, about three weeks before the season opened, UE struck out Cameroonian import Bertrand Awana from the Warriors roster as a disciplinary sanction. Awana’s loss left UE without an import as another Cameroonian Moustapha Arafat was earlier delisted for using a disguised name to play in a Marikina league in a deliberate violation of residency rules. Only UE and La Salle were import-less last season.

The shake-up left UE without key players from the previous campaign, including Roi Sumang who decided to turn pro, Gino Jumao-as and Mark Olayan. “That’s how it is with UE,” he said. “Some years ago, we benched our star player in the Final Four because of violating a team rule and we lost. We’re very particular when it comes to discipline and instilling values. We’ll never bend the rules for the sake of a winning record. We stick to our principles.”

Pumaren said the challenge for UE is to recruit top prospects away from traditional powerhouse, high-profile schools like Ateneo and La Salle. “We try to recruit from all over,” he said. “In our lineup, we have only two Fil-Ams, the Varilla brothers from Chicago. Paul was already on the team when I joined last season and his brother Jason came in later to try out. We’ve been able to recruit from different high schools and some Team B players. We discovered Edison Batiller playing in the Filoil league with Holy Trinity of General Santos City. We picked up Omar Larupay from Iloilo and next season, we’ve got two 6-7 players, one of them is Rey Mark Acuno of Southwestern University.”

Pumaren said aside from Team A, UE maintains a Team B of eight to 10 players. “I oversee Team B and we make it a point for Teams A and B to practice at the same time so we have no problems in transitioning,” he said. “We’re playing an all-Filipino lineup next season as we don’t have any imports in residence right now. Mammie ended his eligibility last season under the rule of playing only within seven years from high school graduation. Arafat is still studying at UE but we’re not taking him back in.”

Pumaren used 16 players last season and no one started in every game. Javier, who led the team in scoring with an 11.2 clip, started in 11 of 13 games. In all, 12 players started for the Warriors as eight players logged at least 15 minutes a game, none more than 25. UE missed the bus for the Final Four but ended the season on a high note with back-to-back wins over Ateneo and UP and more importantly, with the Warriors proudly delivering a message that the school will never compromise its principles.