The Far Eastern University Tamaraws have on paper the best team. The addition of Mark Bringas (Arvie's bro who is also from San Sebastian) and Terence Romeo will greatly add a lot to this team. They go 10-men deep -- there's Al Ramos, JR Cawaling, RR Garcia, Reil Cervantes, Paul Sanga, Jens Knuttel, Chris Exciminiano, Pipo Noundou, and Bringas and Romeo.
In a move that will recall the past season, the Tamaraw coaching staff slid RR Garcia to the 2-spot (they did that with Mark Barroca) while Romeo moved to the point.
You have to put their loss to UE in perspective. They are rivals. That's the U-Belt's version of Ateneo-La Salle. They are pretty even when it comes to games on the court. Yet as I've said before, the problem with the Tams is their mental framework.
Are they tough enough to win the big games? They rack up huge leads them give them up. As for their bench moves, I wonder why Sanga was kept in the freezer too long. He was shooting well early on. Looks like they forgot him. By the time he returned, UE had the momentum. And for all the questions about the team's mental toughness and smart play, they do run a variation of the triangle offense (not all the time though). That isn't an easy offensive pattern to run since it's predicated on smart play and reading defenses. Nevertheless, I thought it was fun to watch them execute it. On some plays it worked on others it did not. Bringas looks well suited for it though and yet it would be interesting to see them run it when Cawaling and Ramos return. Who anchors that post play and who cuts? Cawaling?
Now you have to wonder if the UE Red Warriors are in their heads. They have beaten FEU four straight games now dating back to the second round of the last UAAP season. As UAAP history has shown us, the road to the championship goes to Recto. Since the Tams are around the corner at Morayta, can they drive right through?
I have a great shot of UE's Adrian Santos blocking RR Garcia's drive off Paul Lee (who had a great match up with Garcia). Will send it to my editor at Business Mirror for printing in tomorrow's paper.
How about UE's uniform? Those guys are a walking billboard for the Lucio Tan Group of Companies. Guess they need it after all their recent financial troubles.
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