The UE Red Warriors in Filoil tourney thus far

The UE Red Warriors in Filoil tourney thus far

by rick olivares

The UE Red Warriors have been struggling in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup in defense of their crown.

They are 0-2 and their next assignments in the elimination round do not look any easier – JRU and University of San Carlos, University of Visayas and Southwestern University all in Cebu.

Of course, the goal is ultimately the UAAP as the summer is used for assessing players as well as implementing the system and philosophies of new head coach Derrick Pumaren. However, even without the summer done, the problems of the Red Warriors though many can be attributed mainly to one thing – a lack of capable support for Roi Sumang and the two-headed monster of Charles Mammie and Moustaph Arafat.

They lost some players to graduation who were more than capable of putting that ball in the basket –

Ralf Olivares: 6.8ppg in Filoil;  11.4ppg in UAAP

Lord Casajeros: 5.6ppg in Filoil;  6.5ppg in UAAP

JM Noble: 6.0ppg in Filoil;  6.4ppg in UAAP

Adrian Santos 6.4ppg in Filoil;  4.4ppg in UAAP

JR Sumido was supposed to be in that bunch but his confidence and game went somewhere only Roy Hibbert knows (from 7.7ppg in Filoil to 2.2 in UAAP).

Charles Mammie averaged 14.2ppg in Filoil and raised it a bit to 15.5 points for his team in the UAAP.

If you noticed, the Red Warriors’ main men mostly saw their points average go up except for Santos and Sumido. What happened to them on their way to a failed Final Four bid is another story altogether.

Nevertheless, collectively that’s a combined 28.7 points from Olivares, Casajeros, Noble and Santos (in the UAAP) that Arafat, Gino Jumao-as, Dan Alberto, and their host of newcomers need to fill in. The players who also graduated were beasts on the defensive end so they played both ends of the floor giving former head coach Boycie Zamar some much-needed stops.

From what we have seen so far, there’s no one to keep the defense from playing honest. We’ve seen Mammie double or triple-teamed. Opponents have used a taller defender on Sumang to some success. As for Arafat, he likes to beat his man off the dribble. I’d say he’s better on the break than a half-court set.

The loss of Olivares and Casajeros is huge because both do not only score and shoot (in the clutch too) but they can also put the ball on the floor and create. It now falls on Gino to replicate that but I haven’t seen that coming from him in UE’s new offense.

Let’s compare the 2013 & 2014 campaigns in Filoil for UE offensive-wise and look at how they developed for the UAAP.

2013 OFFENSE Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup

Team	Pts	FB Pts	2nd Chance Pts	FG%	FT attempts/game	3PTs	Assists
UE	78.5	12.1	11.1	40%	17.4	53-237	13.6
Opponent	68.4	10.9	9.3	35%	14.1	57-252	14.5

2013 OFFENSE UAAP

Team	Pts	FB Pts	2nd Chance Pts	FG%	FT attempts/game	3PTs	Assists
UE	74.4	9.1	10.7	37.8%	24.6	72-285	11.4
Opponent	75.8	10.4	11.1	39.6%	13.5	96-326	16.4

2014 OFFENSE Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup

Team	Pts	FB Pts	2nd Chance Pts	FG%	FT attempts/game	3PTs	Assists
UE	70.0	17.0	14.5	40%	21	6-39	13.5
Opponent	76.0	35.5	15.0	41%	25	11-35	17.0

Now let’s compare the 2013 & 2014 campaigns in Filoil for UE defensive-wise and look at how they developed for the UAAP.

2013 DEFENSE Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup

Team	Rebounds	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers
UE	51.1	4.0	4.8	20.7
Opponent	45.5	3.5	5.1	23.2

2013 DEFENSE UAAP

Team	Rebounds	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers
UE	47.4	4.0	4.4	16.3
Opponent	45.8	3.5	5.1	17.3

2014 DEFENSE Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup

Team	Rebounds	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers
UE	41.5	4.0	4.0	18.0
Opponent	42.5	3.5	1.5	18.0

Thus far, this is how UE’s main men are doing:

Roi Sumang –  (2 games) 15.5 ppg

Charles Mammie – (1 game) 13.0 ppg

Moustaph Arafat – (2 games) 11.0 ppg

Peds Galanza – (2 games) 11.0 ppg

I’ve already pointed out the lack of additional scoring options and creative players has allowed opponents to key their defense on Roi.

The other problem is on the defensive end. In the two matches thus far, they’re getting killed on the boards and giving up an average of 35 fastbreak points!

That’s a lot. Way too much in fact. They need to hustle back on defense.

Coach Derrick has been moving players around to find a line-up/combination that works. If UE is going to play any better this year, they will need Gino Jumao-as, Chris Javier, Ivan Hernandez, Mark Olayon, and Dan Alberto to play solid. It would be too much to ask Roi Sumang or even Charles Mammie/Moustaph Arafat to carry the load.

I know they are trying to use Dan as a back up to Roi so they have some quarterbacking and outside shooting for the second unit but what if the former ran the point while Roi moved to the shooting guard slot? I know they are giving up size there. That means Mark Olayon and Chris Javier will have to move around somewhat. Maybe Chris at the five then Moustaph at the four so he could use his speed in going after the corner shooters.

Yes, it’s the pre-season and it’s a little early to give an accurate assessment on how they will do. But the problems are too obvious. If Coach Derrick had a few more months he could have possibly brought in some help. Right now, this is what they have. They’ll have to live and die with this team.

Hey, Mario Bonleon… if you stayed then you’d have all the playing time you want.

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Here's to my bud CHARLES MAMMIE. Sorry for the last piece. Wishing you and your team all the best, bud. And for Roi Sumang…. one of the best pound-for-pound players in college ball. Hey, Chris… this is the YEAR! Your time. Your time.