By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - July 1, 2008
UAAP coaches are convinced that the coming UAAP wars will be an evenly-matched competition but made mention yesterday of around four to five teams that are likely to contend for the title in the men’s basketball tournament.
Among the teams that the eight bench tacticians considered as the teams to watch are preseason champions University of the East and Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, and Far Eastern University.
Coaches Dindo Pumaren of UE and Pido Jarencio of UST, disagree with the majority.
"I don’t think we are one of the contenders," said Pumaren. "We really have a small team compared to the taller teams around."
"Medyo di kami mabuo sa practice dahil madaming baldado sa amin," Jarencio said referring to reigning league MVP Jervy Cruz and Dylan Ababou as among the injured players on the Tigers side. "Basta mabuo lang kami sana maganda mapakita namin."
While defending champion De La Salle is also regarded as a favorite, head coach Franz Pumaren dismissed such idea.
"I think other teams have the advantage against us," Pumaren said. "We lost some key players in TY (Tang) and Cholo (Villanueva), but we still have some of our veterans from last year while developing our rookies this year."
The coaches also agreed that Adamson will be the darkhorse with the return of Leo Austria.
"I think kami ang dark horse team this year," Austria said. "Sa nakita kong performance namin during the preseason tournaments, we suddenly became a threat to the other teams."
On the other hand, National University and host University of the Philippines are out to put up a fight for the cage wars which would start on Saturday at the Big Dome following an expected festive opening ceremony.
The Tamaraws battles the Falcons in the opening game at 2 p.m. followed by the 4 p.m. tussle between the Warriors and Tigers.
But expect a bigger crowd the following day when bitter rivals La Salle and Ateneo clash also at the same venue. The host team will tackle NU also in the same day.
Also during the two-hour press conference held at the ELJ building inside the ABS-CBN grounds, the UAAP board formally announced the implementation of new rules for the upcoming season.
The main rule change this season is the added bonus to a team that sweeps the elimination round.
If there’s a team that could sweep the two-round elims, it will not only enter the finals outright but also gain a one-game bonus in a best-of-five title series.
"There is something to be lost (with the old ruling) because they have to wait a lot longer," said UAAP president Dr Sergio Cao of UP. "We considered this rule because it’s a very rare thing to happen and they deserve to be granted an incentive."
Last season, the Red Warriors recorded a perfect elimination round record to get the outright finals seat only to be swept by the Green Archers in a best-of-three finals after resting for almost a month.
Another rule to be implemented is a challenge regarding the three-point shot, in which any team can contest a shot made during that said quarter if it is a three-pointer or a two-pointer.
The commissioner or his deputies will review the contested shot using ABS-CBN’s OB-Van before the final verdict can be made.
The team can use this challenge only once per game.
Also approved is suspension of possession arrow rule in the last two minutes of the game and in the overtime. The league also prohibits the use of Pro-grip, which would result in a technical foul for a first offense, a one-game suspension for a second infraction, and a ban for the rest of a round on a third violation.
Games will be played at the Araneta Coliseum and the Philsports Arena while women’s and juniors basketball competitions at the Ateneo Blue Eagle gym.
"We considered the venues because of the accessibility, security, and parking concerns," said Herc Callanta, UAAP secretary-treasurer and also from host UP.
The league also revealed its plans to send a large delegate for the upcoming Asian University Games in Kuala Lumpur in various sports such as basketball, swimming, football, athletics, table tennis, taekwondo, and chess.
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