UAAP Basketball

UST coach Manansala looks forward to Tigers’ progress after horror season

JR Isaga

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UST coach Manansala looks forward to Tigers’ progress after horror season

LESSONS LEARNED. UST endures a difficult season filled with blowout losses, and now looks to continue building for the future.

UAAP Season 84 Media Team

After a UAAP Season 84 campaign filled with huge blowout losses, UST continues building for the future with a promising young core

MANILA, Philippines – The UST Growling Tigers were one of the teams expected to struggle in a rebuilding campaign this UAAP Season 84.

Unlike other young teams that still did fairly well like the NU Bulldogs and the Adamson Soaring Falcons, the Tigers failed to defy pre-season projections, and finished seventh in the eight-team field, just ahead of the winless UE Red Warriors.

However, UAAP rookie head coach Jinino Manansala is still looking forward to his team continuing to build for the future, especially after a controversial 2020 that saw a mass exodus of coaches and players like former chief shot-caller Aldin Ayo and ex-team captain CJ Cansino.

“I told the boys to take in these losses, because next season we will work on everyone until the very end of the bench. We will work really, really hard for Season 85,” Manansala said in Filipino after a dreadful 44-point, season-ending loss to the FEU Tamaraws.

“We need to get back our winning ways, at least. We don’t want just three wins, but this is all that’s given to us, so we really need to improve next season.”

Apart from sweeping the Red Warriors, and clipping the Falcons once, UST dropped 11 of its 14 assignments, many in blowout fashion.

These losses included a 25-point opening day defeat to FEU, a 31-point throttling against NU, a 39-point whipping at the hands of La Salle, the aforementioned 44-point blast again by FEU, and finally, a 50-point obliteration by defending champion Ateneo.

“We really need to work on a lot of things,” Manansala continued. “We need to work hard every quarter. This team won’t be good immediately, and won’t perform well quickly. This is a process, and this season is a good experience.”

But the Tigers showed signs of a bright future in the midst of their dark days. Rookie Nic Cabañero finished as the team’s top scorer with 12.4 points in just a little over 25 minutes per game, while three-point specialist Sherwin Concepcion also had a handful of great shooting games.

Although used sparingly, Jordi Gomez de Liaño and Royce Mantua had respectable high school careers with UP and FEU, respectively, and are expected to further grow their games as the years go by. Rookie captain Paul Manalang also showed promise in an expanded role.

Lastly, 6-foot-7 Fil-Am Gani Stevens is coming over to the Tigers’ lair soon as a much-needed inside presence, and is immediately eligible to suit up for Season 85.

It has been a physically and mentally taxing season for UST, but Manansala promises to keep the process going as the Tigers hope for better days ahead.

“I’ve really learned a lot. I will relax for the next few days, but we’ll be ready to get back to work,” he said.

“I told my players and coaches to go home and spend time with their families for now. This will not be easy, but we have no more reasons to not go to work. Our boys will continue the fight.” – Rappler.com

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