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| Will Ateneo be celebrating anew this time next year? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
After the Jump: A review of Season 74 and a preview of Season 75 possibilities for each team.
Each team will be broken down according to the following aspects:
- This season's best: The best thing that happened in S74 for that team -- can be a performance, a game, a streak or a player/coach.
- This season's worst: The complete inverse of the above.
- Next season's big opportunity: Something the team can build on for next season.
- Next season's threat: Something that might dampen the team's chances next season.
*Each aspect will be discussed briefly.
**Teams are arranged according to final placings (from last to first).
UP Fighting Maroons:
S74's Best: Beating FEU in the first round and making their fans entertain thoughts of a winning record.
S74's Worst: Losing all of their 9 games after beating FEU. They seemed to get worse as the season wound up.
S75's Big Opportunity: Jett Manuel and Jelo Montecastro proved to be a terrific tandem at times. Should they find some measure of consistency, UP might continue to enjoy another 200% increase in their win column (that would make just 6, though).
S75's Big Threat: If UP's history is be the chief basis, then nobody should really get his/her hopes up that the players will develop (look at what happened to Woody Co, Martin Reyes, and Mike Gamboa) into big time stars. Then again, coach Ricky Dandan seems to be resilient enough to turn things around.
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| Can Jett Manuel become the leader UP so badly needs? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
UE Red Warriors:
S74's Best: Winning 2 more wins than most people thought they would, which is to say winning exactly 2 games.
S74's Worst: Ken Acibar leaving in the middle of the summer.
S75's Big Opportunity: Roi Sumang, Chris Javier, and Adrian Santos lead a promising young core that should still be better than most of UP's veterans.
S75's Big Threat: Trigger-happy JM Noble will be the de facto leader, which might mean he'll take even more shots than he ought to.
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| Will JM Noble be the leader of a promising UE team, or just the leading scorer? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
DLSU Green Archers:
S74's Best: Welcome back LA Revilla!
S74's Worst: Getting bashed by many of their own fans.
S75's Big Opportunity: New coach. New system. New recruits. New backer. New beginnings. Nowhere to go but up.
S75's Big Threat: The way they played this past season, it seems no Archer has a sure slot next year, which could be a good thing, because it seems some players haven't lived up to expectations the past few seasons (Hey, I don't mean Joshua Webb or Sam Marata! Really! Cross my heart!).
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| Can Jarelan Tampus help the Green Archers rebound from yet another disappointing campaign? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
NU Bulldogs:
S74's Best: Ray Parks winning the MVP award by filling up the stat sheet practically on a daily basis.
S74's Worst: Ray Parks winning the MVP award and NU STILL missing the Final Four.
S75's Big Opportunity: Nobody's leaving. They'll all be back, and they'll all be tougher.
S75's Big Threat: NU will be hosting Season 75 -- the pressure to have a breakout season might be too much.
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| Ray Parks and the NU Bulldogs will shoulder a ton of pressure in Season 75. (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
UST Growling Tigers:
S74's Best: Jeric Teng shooting the lights out in some of the season's biggest games.
S74's Worst: Jeric Teng doing the "bang-bang" gesture after every big shot in some of the season's biggest games.
S75's Big Opportunity: Like NU, UST's core will be solid next season, and coach Pido Jarencio seems to have actually improved as a bench tactician.
S75's Big Threat: Clark Bautista will be back, but there will still only be one ball to share. Can UST handle yet another volume shooter?
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| With the return of some key players, Jeric Teng and the UST Growling Tigers are poised to be title contenders in Season 75. (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
AdU Soaring Falcons:
S74's Best: Beating Ateneo! Finally!
S74's Worst: Twice-to-beat. Twice beaten.
S75's Big Opportunity: Rodney Brondial had some shining moments, and he should see more daylight with the graduation of Jan Colina.
S75's Big Threat: Aside from Colina, Adamson's whole backcourt core won't return (Janus Lozada, Lester Alvarez and Jerick Cañada). It seems the Falcons' best days are now behind them.
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| Can Alex Nuyles propel Adamson to loftier heights after the exodus of key pieces? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
FEU Tamaraws:
S74's Best: Overwhelming Adamson in the Final Four despite the absence of key players (JR Cawaling, Pipo Noundou, and Christian Sentcheu).
S74's Worst: Losing Noundou to an ACL injury before the season even started.
S75's Big Opportunity: Another Bringas is coming to town. He should make a big difference.
S75's Big Threat: I don't think even two Bringases can fill an Aldrech Ramos-sized hole.
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| Will adding another Bringas help, or hamper, FEU's chances next season? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
AdMU Blue Eagles:
S74's Best: Four-peat.
S74's Worst: No sweep, and no Ryan Buenafe.
S75's Big Opportunity: Buenafe SHOULD be back, and another dose of championship experience always helps.
S75's Big Threat: Greg Slaughter can opt to forego his final year of eligibility, and nobody knows for sure what his choice will be until perhaps a few months into 2012.
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| Can Nico Salva bring home an unprecedented 5th straight title to Loyola? (image by Arvin Lim/UAAPSports.tv) |
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