USPF Panthers ‘80% ready’ for 17th CESAFI Men’s Basketball Tourney

AGUSAN DEL SUR, Philippines – The University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) Panthers is finalizing its lineup for this year’s 17th edition of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) men’s basketball tournament.

The Panthers are currently in Bayugan City to see action in the Kim Lope Asis Mayor’s Cup Basketball Invitational 2017 alongside 2016 CESAFI champions University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, UAAP’s University of Sto. Tomas Growling Tigers, the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals and the Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan Crusaders.   

Panthers head coach Albert Alocillo said that he will be finalizing his lineup after the tournament here in Bayugan.

“Kini na tournament mao ni siyay gauge nako sa pagfinalize sa lineup. Gi try pa nako ang uban kung puede ba jud sila, mao na gidala sad nako ang amo mga reserves diri,” said Alocillo.

(This tournament will be my gauge in finalizing the lineup. I am trying the others if they can be in the lineup thus I brought my reserves here.)

Alocillo, who took over as head coach of the Panthers in 2015, said that he already has a core of 12 to 13 players and he needs two or 3 more to complete the team.

The deadline for submissions of this year’s lineup to the CESAFI tournament is July 14.

Opportunities for growth

According to Alocillo, 3 of his players who made it to the CESAFI All-Stars last year – Jawien Wisdom Ceniza, Gilberto Sastrillas, and Brantford Borces – are no longer with team as they have already graduated.

Also, for the first time in the CESAFI league, the USPF Panthers have acquired an import: Nigerian Rich Managor, who stands 6 feet and 8 inches tall. Alocillo said he will either field Managor in the power forward or center position.

Managor has been playing with the team for 4 months now including out of town tournaments. Aside from here in Bayugan, the Panthers also saw action in the St. Isidore Parish Fiesta Cup Inter-Collegiate Basketball Tournament a month ago in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, wherein they placed third. A great booster for the team as they defeated CESAFI first runner-up University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors.

“We are improving as a team, not just individually but as a team,” said Alocillo.

The head coach said that this is the reason why they always accept opportunities to play out of town.

“It is part of our tune-up games where we can make adjustments, getting to know each other more especially nga naay mosulod na duha ka bag-o sa team, duha ang nag graduate. Also for exposure, experience and team building,” he said.

(It is part of our tune-up games where we can make adjustments, getting to know each other more especially that we have two new players in the team because two have also graduated. Also for exposure, experience and team building.) 

The last time the USPF Panthers made it to the top 4 in the league was over 10 years ago, placing third from 2001 to 2005.

When Alocillo took over in 2015, the team did not win any game in that season. Last year, they won 3 out of 12, making it the first time they barged into the win column again since 2011.

This year, the Panthers hope to make it to the top 4.

“First when I took over I understand that it’s a process, from nothing, so that’s why in my first year, we were 0-12, The next year we won 3 and hopefully this year we will try to improve,” said Alocillo.

According to Alocillo, for them to become a contender, they would need another big man. However, he said that for now they will just maximize what they have.

“Kuntento ra sad mi for the meantime bisan ing-ani lang amo team, ganahan mi makita and ma showcase ila individual talents,” Alocillo added. (We are contented with what we have for the meantime, even if this is just our team. We want their individual talents to be showcased.)

Alocillo reiterated that their target this year is to advance to the top 4. Once they get there, he said they won’t know yet what will happen but for sure they will be playing their best.

“Basta ready lang jud mi, daghan mi ug tool box nga magamit namo in any different situation so we can easily adjust, we can easily divert if ever di mo work amo system, basta we have a lot of systems,” Alocillo said.

(As long as we are ready, We have a lot of tool box that we can use in any different situation so we can easily adjust, we can easily divert if ever our system won’t work, but for sure, we have a lot of systems.)

The head coach said that they are 80% ready for the upcoming CESAFI season.

“We’ve tried in our previous games, we are really doing good, physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually, that’s the most important thing,” Alocillo added.

Alocillo said that he has told the players to be contented with what the school is providing them.

“Let’s just enjoy, let’s just be content with what we have, anyway everything will follow, what is important is that they will be able to study, the school’s support is their scholarship, they will learn a lot about sports and especially in life, that is what I always tell the boys,” said the coach.

Kim Lope Asis Mayor’s Cup

This is the second time organizers have invited collegiate teams to see action in this tournament, aimed at entertaining the people of Bayugan City.

For that, the teams will be rewarded generously with the champion to go home with P200,000 while the first runner-up will pocket P150,000. Third, fourth, and fifth place teams will receive P100,000, P75,000, and P50,000, respectively.

The teams will be playing in a single round robin with the top 2 advancing to the championship. The third and fourth ranked teams will contest the third place.

The reigning CESAFI champions, the UV Green Lancers, will try to bag the championship this time after missing out on the title last year when they bowed to the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws.

The Green Lancers will open the tournament on Tuesday, June 27, 9:00 am at the Lope Asis Memorial Gymnasium against the EAC Generals. They will then return in the evening to close out the first day of the tournament against Xavier.

The Panthers, on the other hand, will face Xavier at 1:00 pm while the UST Growling Tigers will have their first game against the EAC Generals at 7:00 pm  – Rappler.com