Thoughts: UST and that darned three-year plan

If a want to believe the 3-year process Boy Sablan stated on a recent Spin.ph article, then I would just flap my wings and go to the Antarctic city of Eastcountyman.

 

I don’t have wings and there is no such place as the Antarctic city of Easycountryman.

 

So…

 

Lalalalalalalaaaaaaahhhh!!!

 

I remember three years ago when Kenneth Duremdes was sacked as head coach of the Adamson Soaring Falcons. Captain Marbel may be Pinoy basketball elite, but any time a team scores a measly 25 points in a game, then expect a pink slip directed to said coach.

 

It’s the same thing with a 0-13 season. If a coach can’t get the best high school prospects to play for him despite the rich winning tradition of the school, then he needs to go.

 

Aric del Rosario left UST and in came Nel Parado. Pido Jarencio stepped out and in came Bong dela Cruz.

 

I was hoping for at least a well-known grad to pump life to UST’s poor state after the departure of Dela Cruz. Estong Ballesteros? Bal David? Gerard Francisco? Japs Cuan?

 

Boy Sablan isn’t working as coach.

 

But I didn’t want to say anything… even if it’s a chore to watch the Tigers.

 

The thing I hate is the three-year wait.

 

First of all, what’s with the three-year wait? A typical college player’s maximum stay is five years. It takes less for transferees and this excludes the lowered eligibility age. Also, just imagine the selling point of some teams. When CJ Perez has sent off by Ateneo, he reunited with his former San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson in Lyceum. Just imagine if Robinson was asked by the Tigers to helm their basketball team. Moreover, what about the other Ateneo cast-offs? Jerie Pingoy, Clint Doliguez, Hubert Cani, and Arvin Tolentino could have started and otherwise main evented a shallow UST core.

 

And what about the best UAAP Juniors? Is Sablan a big enough name to land these pups to his Tiger troop?

 

If a core has at least three years to develop, then these players could embrace a losing attitude. Even during the Parado stint, the biggest problem of the team was their lack of height. But if they partnered Don Villamin, Jemal Vizcarra, Christian Luanzon, and a couple of others with let’s say… a Karim Abdul play alike, I bet they would have landed at least a finals spot. With this team, I am not as sure.

 

For a championship-driven squad to sink this low, I would rather have a ton of finals chokers.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is that more than anything else, UST needs a Pied Piper. This may be a form of a coach… or probably a sponsor. But with the team’s on-court and off-court situation tested, perhaps the team needs a new motivator more than ever.