Sports: Dissecting the Oblation (UP Maroons Basketball)

Sports: Dissecting the Oblation (UP Maroons Basketball)

Part II-Out of the Crisis, Renewal

Not Ready for the Next Level:College

     If there is a hallmark of the Woody Co-era Maroon team, its their lack of improvement. Or to put it in a better terms, consistency. Woody Co is such a player. He was really a good player in high school winning many accolades at Xavier in the Tionglian basketball tourney. As a freshman in 2006, he bagged the Rookie of the Year award playing aside spitfire point guard Marvin Cruz. But 2007 would be a tough year as the Maroons experienced their first 0-14 sweep in their history (a feat they would repeat in their last year). There are possible factors that could be considered. One is the coaching. I've watched one PBL game and I saw Coach Aboy Castro for taking an ill-advised three-point shot. This kid has lots of weapons in his arsenal. Offense, three-points and streaky shooting. He could have been ripe for a Mythical Five nod but the opposite happens.

     Other players too are like this. Martin Reyes, Mikee Reyes, Mark Lopez, Mike Silungan and my pet-peeve Mark Juruena (UAAP Juniors MVP). So where the problem lies? A lot could be blame. Conditioning (there are a lot of games that UP squandered a big lead), coaching motivation (Aboy Castro doesn't rotate his players much) and maybe academics (Typical way UP people ward off a basketball loss)? 

    I also think we picked the wrong players for the basketball system (if there is any). The criticism that had been thrown against the team is that they picked any blue-chip (star players) yet neglected their development knowing the level of competition between college and high school is different.

Hope for Next Year

     The Season 74 team was actually weaker in comparison with their predecessor. They lost some key players through injuries and other problems. Padilla, Mikee Reyes, Raul Suyod and Joshua Saret. One could predict they are bound to repeat another ignominious 0-14 slate. They remove that possibility when they won their first game against UE (a rebuilding team). The biggest suprise was their upset of FEU.

     I see in the team the grittiness of former Maroons. And player development. For the first time, a UP player  that is Jet Manuel came out of his former self to develop as an off-the-bench two-guard. Despite their low scoring output, their games have been far from blowout. In fact, they could have won some games.

Keys for Improvement

1. Find a better big men- Paolo Romero is good but for us to win, we need to protect our paint from the opposing team centers. Mark Juruena, Martin Pascual and to a certain extent Mbah were easily bullied.
2. Conditioning- There are certain games we could have won. It's just that we don't know how to finish it. 
3. Veteran Leadership- I am hoping Michael Silungan finally exploded in his final year. His stats shows he is an all-around player