By MARK REY MONTEJO
Even after successfully ending a five-year playoff jinx, University of Sto. Tomas is under no illusion that its return to the Final Four would come easy.
Not against a fancied University of the Philippines. And definitely not when the Growling Tigers are going up against a team with a twice-to-beat advantage.
But UST remains unperturbed.
The wards of head coach Pido Jarencio are ready to face the challenges head off despite the tag of being underdogs.
“Basta kami after this. We’re here in the playoffs, trabaho na ulit, gawa tayo ng gameplan kung pa’no talunin ang UP,” said Jarencio who was refusing to get too carried away by his team’s 75-49 win over the Adamson to catch the last bus to the semis.
“Parang ‘David and Goliath’ ‘yan, medyo maganda ‘tong labanan na ‘to. Basta kami laban lang kami, prepared lang kami… importante healthy kaming lahat,” he added.
While UP came out on top in their two meetings in the eliminations, first an 81-70 victory and then an 83-73 romp in the second round, UST actually showed some fight behind strong starts but just couldn’t sustain it until the end.
And for Jarencio, that only suggests that they can hold their ground against the Fighting Maroon and a chance – no matter how small – is still an opportunity the Tigers can pounce on to pull off the massive upset.
“Twice to beat sila, malay mo, diba? Bilog ang bola, may tyansa, basta dito lang kami tignan natin, pagtrabahuhan lang namin lahat,” said Jarencio who is banking on his crew’s resiliency and character which they showed during their second round run.
“No’ng second round, medyo nag-struggle kami, puro talo [kami no’n]. Akala ko made in Taiwan lang ang mga players ko eh, [no’ng] nagpapanalo na kami made in USA pala, matibay din,” the Capiz native tactician quipped.
Tough mountain to climb for UST but Jarencio’s stars Forthsky Padrigao and Nic Cabanero vowed to give it their all.
“Mas mahihirap na ‘yong mga laro namin from now on… UP na naman eh, mahirap talunin ng dalawang beses ‘yon, kailangan talaga naming paghandaan ‘yon,” said Padrigao.
“We’re going to be prepared, but we need to have the right mentality. Like what coach Pido said, we can write our own story,” Cabañero echoed.
