Tamaraws, Eagles take first step in road to redemption
Far Eastern University and Ateneo square off to usher in the start of the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball tournament on Saturday, with one team hoping to shrug off the massive loss of its star player and the other hoping to bounce back from a rare absence in the Final Four.
Their game is set at 2 p.m. at the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Pavilion, with the Tamaraws optimistic of their season chances even with Veejay Pre’s much-publicized transfer to defending champion University of the Philippines.
Coach Sean Chambers said his Tamaraws have moved on from Pre, and he believes there’s reason to be confident that the Morayta-based side can even do well despite winning just five games the previous season.
“At first, it was a sting to everybody, but after that, we were back to business,” said Chambers, who brought the team to Sacramento, California, as part of the buildup that yielded nothing but beneficial results.
“I like how Luke [Felipe] played, I like how Kirby’s [Mongcopa] playing and adding CJ [Amos] and Neil Owens (one-and-done recruit) made us way, way more talented than last year,” he added. “And more than the talent, we’re more experienced than last year.”
Mo Konateh is Far Eastern’s foreign student athlete, and Chambers is seeing him with the highest regard going into the season.
Being better is something Ateneo is also eyeing to become after winning one less game than FEU in Season 87, marking the first time that the Loyola squad failed to make the Final Four under coach Tab Baldwin.
It was Ateneo’s lowest win output since a similar 4-10 slate in 1993 or Season 56.
“We don’t care about last year, that’s water under the bridge,” Baldwin said. “This team will build their own identity and they’ll make their own mark and we have nothing to do about last year.”
Leading the Blue Eagles will be incoming sophomore guard Jared Bahay, who Baldwin challenged to be a more impactful player than the previous season.
The second game at 4:30 p.m. has La Salle launching its quest to regain the title against Adamson, the team it eliminated in the Final Four last season.
The Green Archers are starting life without Kevin Quiambao, but Mike Phillips is seen as someone who is going to play a prominent role for coach Topex Robinson.
