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By Krista Angela M. Montealegre, Reporter
IF other University Athletics Association of the
Philippines coaches will be asked, the quest for a back-to-back
title for De La Salle University is possible but coach Franz Pumaren
is not taking his competitors lightly.
With the other seven teams beefing up their
rosters for the upcoming 71st season, the multi-titled La Salle
coach is expecting a war in every game this tournament.
“It’s so hard to gauge our chances,”
Pumaren said. “We have lost our key players. It’s gonna be hard
on our part to replace them but hopefully the younger guys can
mature right away and assume the responsibility.”
With La Salle losing guards TY Tang and Cholo
Villanueva to the pro league and with JV Casio possibly missing the
first round of eliminations because of hand injury, the Green
Archers will rely on old mainstays Rico Maierhofer, Simon Atkins, PJ
Walsham, Reejay Barua, Bader Malabes, Marco Batricevic and new
recruits, Joshua Webb and LA Revilla to build up their arsenal.
“I’m quite happy with the development of my
rookies. Hopefully, they can sustain what they have been doing in
the summer training and tournaments,” Pumaren said.
Suspended for a year, La Salle was roaring to
get back in contention last season and that suddenly saw them
overpowering the highly favored University of the East in the
finals.
Back then, the Warriors duplicated a rare feat
by the 1993 UAAP champion University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers
when they swept the eliminations, 14-0, and barged to the finals
outright only to be upset by the Green Archers in the end.
Pumaren said archrival Ateneo will be the team
to beat.
“The Blue Eagles’ training stint in the US
and the acquisition of NCAA juniors MVP Ryan Buenafe further boosted
their title campaign,” Pumaren said.
The league will formally open with the
basketball tournament on July 5 at the Araneta Coliseum. The first
game will pit Far Eastern University against Adamson University at 2
p.m. while University of the East and University of Santo Tomas
square off at 4 p.m.
Host University of the Philippines, which is
celebrating its Centennial Year, has prepared a lavish opening
ceremony featuring the traditional palabas carrying the theme
“Filipino Leadership through Sports Excellence.
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