MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Pido Jarencio is on a mission to bring University of Santo Tomas (UST) out of the doldrums of the UAAP.
And after an offseason spent assembling a crack pack that seems able to doing that, the Growling Tigers’ bid rests rather a lot on some extent guard that has embraced the challenge of taking the title back to España.
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Forth Padrigao, the transferee from Ateneo after Season 85 where he spearheaded the Blue Eagles to their last championship, will play an enormous part in Jarencio’s scheme of things, justifying that by leading the Tigers to a powerful debut on Sunday, a 70-55 demolition of University of the East at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meanwhile, Adamson also got off to a powerful start with a 59-47 trimming of Far Eastern within the second game.
Royce Mantua was a difference-maker for the Soaring Falcons in his return from residency after ending with 14 points.
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“Once I joined Ateneo, there was already a longtime culture. So here at UST, it’s a brand new challenge because we’re attempting to construct a [winning] culture here,” Padrigao told reporters after shooting five points that went with six rebounds and 7 assists while orchestrating the Santo Tomas offense.
Only a select few from the Season 86 roster are left on the squad, because the arrival of a brand new breed of Tigers hand-picked by Jarencio within the offseason look able to make Santo Tomas a legitimate contender again.
‘[H]elp from the center’
And Jarencio liked what he saw after the primary skirmish of the season.
“These players who transferred to us are easy to discuss with in addition to the coaches which can be here with us,” Jarencio, who won a title as a coach in 2006, said. “They need to work, help me and help UST.
“So long as they need to help from the center, they will likely be easy to work with. Those that are listed below are easy to work with and people we faraway from the team had bad vibes.”
“I hope that whatever culture we construct makes us higher in our next few games,” Padrigao said after playing his first UAAP game in two years. “[Winning], though, will not be gonna occur overnight, especially almost everyone of us listed below are recent.”
Despite being in early foul trouble, go-to guy Nic Cabañero still wound up leading the Tigers offensively with 14 points highlighted by two three-pointers within the second quarter.
Malian rookie Mo Tounkara was impressive in performing the duty he was recruited for as he shot 66.7 percent from close range to complete with 13 points.
One other holdover, Christian Manaytay, didn’t miss a shot and finished with 10 points and three rebounds, while Mark Llemit had nine points and 4 rebounds.
The subsequent Santo Tomas game will likely be against Padrigao’s former team on Wednesday, however the heady point guard is not going to treat this one any different.
“Like how we prepared for the sport earlier may also be how we’re gonna prepare in our next games irrespective of whoever that’s.,” he said. “We’re just gonna be prepared. I just wanna win and help the team.” INQ
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