by rick olivares
When I took my first look at this year’s Jose Rizal University
Heavy Bombers, my first thought was, “What if Jaycee Asuncion, Michael Mabulac,
and Philip Paniamogan were still on this team?” Or better yet, “What if Jordan
Dela Paz, Paolo Pontejos, and Abdel Poutouochi played on last year’s squad?”
JRU finished third last season. I really thought that Asuncion and
Paniamogan pulled their fat out of the fire on many an occasion. Had they a few
more parts to boost their chances, I would wager they would have made it as far
as the finals.
And that brings me to this year.
Before I break that down further, the Heavy Bombers shoot for their
third win in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup when take on the University
of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars at 11:45am at the San Juan Arena on Wednesday, April 29. The Vergel Meneses-coached JRU squad edged FEU, 57-55, in their
Group A opener then held off the College of Saint Benilde, 72-66, last Monday.
Meneses now counts on its pair of high-scoring guards Paolo
Pontejos and Teytey Teodoro, forward Marco Balagtas, and center Abdel
Poutouochi to lead their team.
However, here comes that obligatory “but”…
FEU wasn’t complete as Mark Belo didn’t play. Maybe the Tamaraws
were feeling their way around but they sure didn’t look as fluid as they were
when they had Carl Cruz, Roger Pogoy, Ron Dennison, and Anthony Hargrove (when
the spirit moved him) in uniform.
College of Saint Benilde is good but have had problems closing out
endgames.
Yes, it is early in the season, but they need some players to
really step up. In the past two matches, Meneses would sometimes go to a
four-guard line-up with Pontejos, Teodoro, Gio Lasquety, and Dave Sanchez. You
can pull that off against teams like Perpetual Help or even Benilde but not
against a front-line heavy San Beda squad that is going for six straight NCAA
Seniors crowns.
Marco Balagtas is contributing. But they miss their
back-to-the-basket player in Mabulac. Balagtas, Poutouochi, and Abdul Razak
simply aren’t post-up players. That showed in their nerve-wracking win over the
College of Saint Benilde as the Heavy Bombers curiously kept flubbing
possessions by giving the ball to their African players when they have either
poor dribbling skills or suspect decision making. They shouldn’t make their
Africans the option on offense. Let them scavenge for the ball and put them
back. That makes it more difficult to guard them.
The Heavy Bombers already lack ceiling and they are missing Jed
Salaveria from the lineup. Nick Abanto and Ervin Grospe should help but they
seem to more natural threes than fours or fives. Jordan Dela Paz? Haven’t seen
the all-around form that he flashed last summer before he got cut due to
grades. Maybe Meneses should call for an all-points bulletin because Dela Paz
has gone missing (or at least his game has).
Like I said about Perpetual Help’s Fab Four last year, you can
steal a game here and there against some taller and heavily-favored teams but
in a long series? No way. And I think that their barometer should be San Beda.
I don’t think making the finals is a victory or a high-point. San Beda is
vulnerable still. They don’t have that great a bench. Just a very good starting
five with some key players off the bench who are mainly guards. JRU can match
up there but it’s in the frontline where they will have problems.
But that is why you play the pre-season – to get better and to
tinker around. Like I said last season, it is great to see Vergel Meneses grow
as a coach. Maybe this team will learn from last season’s mistakes.
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