Humblebola

By Karl Batungbacal

Opening weekend sure was a doozy – La Salle almost beating the newly crowned champions, UE nearly ending their losing streak, and Ateneo looking very vulnerable for the first time in the Tab Baldwin era.

But for the UST community, they could very well be in the midst of Nic Cabanero’s on-court glow-up.

The sophomore guard logged the second-most minutes on the team (32:29) behind foreign student-athlete Adama Foye’s 36:05 and dropped big numbers in their season-opener against Adamson.

33 points on 72.2 percent shooting from the field.

That was the number of points Cabanero had after their win against the Soaring Falcons and it understandably made headlines. Big numbers for a sophomore guard on the first game of the season.

Very clickable.

Cabanero exploded for a career-high 33 points on 72.2 percent from the field (13/18 shooting) was the number that made headlines and with good reason too.

Off the dribble blow-bys, finishing inside the paint with contact, and pull-up jimbos that would make Kevin Durant blush, “Habanero” Cabanero went deep into his bag of tricks.

Now I can admit that I didn’t catch all of it live (thanks, Saturday traffic), but I did witness the confidence he had in his dagger jumper to give UST a five-point cushion – which looked eerily similar to Devin Booker’s game-winner against the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Bubble.

A season ago, this 18-year-old kid was coming off fresh from an NCAA Juniors title run with the San Beda Red Cubs and averaged 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in his UAAP debut.

“Decent numbers for a rookie,” I said while doing my research.

Cabanero set out on a goal for himself and the Growling Tigers before Season 85 began: to win. He did exactly just that, but it’s also worth mentioning that they were lucky enough to get away unscathed from a Jerom Lastimosa explosion.

To expect Cabanero to drop 33 points a night for the entire season is almost as impossible as to expect the Philippines’ economy to stabilize anytime soon.

This performance is a double-edged sword, though. From here on out, “Yellow Cab” can expect defenses to collapse all over him and try to prevent him from getting a big game. That’s exactly when he needs to step up even more.

I’m still a few games away from fully believing in the hype, but he does have my attention from here on out.

Habanero. Yellow Cab. Regardless of what nickname one’s creative brain with too much time on their hands can come up with, this kid’s in for one hell of a season under head coach Bal David.

UP has all the ingredients to build itself a dynasty.

Close-to-Generational Talent who got better +  New Shiny Parts + Same Core That Got Better = Dynasty

It only made sense that during the offseason, the UP Fighting Maroons were largely considered the odds-on favorites to repeat this UAAP Season 85. Coming from the era of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, the next logical step was to name this incoming era the Age of Diliman. This was UP’s time to dominate, where they’d get to write books, not about second-place finishes, but rather, about a dynasty.

Before grabbing that pen, the La Salle Green Archers told us they had other plans.

UP and La Salle started out their game shaky, which was understandable since it was their first game of the season. But even after getting to take out the cobwebs, the Fighting Maroons still did not look right. On the other side things, La Salle was starting to get its confidence up, especially with Schonny Winston catching fire from mid-range.

Instead of an immediate crowning moment, what the UP Fighting Maroons got during the first half versus La Salle was a slap back to reality. They were no longer the hunters, they were now the hunted. That was especially evident during the second quarter, where the Green Archers overwhelmed UP with its signature Pumaren press to erect an eight-point lead to end the first half. All momentum was on the Green side.

Expectations can be a chore to handle. They have a tendency of breaking the spirits of basketball teams. UP did not look like the dynasty that they could be and that thought could have thrown them off for the rest of the game.

Could have. If they were a team with a weak body, weak mind, and a weak ego, that’s probably what would have happened. But the Fighting Maroons didn’t have any of those things. Coming out of the second half, we were witness to a team with a strong body, strong mind, and no ego. They reminded us why they’ve been the heart and soul of college basketball during the pandemic era.

College Basketball is exciting and passionate. Terrence Fortea stepped up and took over lead play-making duties over an injured JD Cagulangan. Aside from his skill, Carl Tamayo’s passion and confidence helped will UP during their comeback.

College basketball is also flawed, just like UP. Even as they were cutting down La Salle’s lead, their lack of ball-handlers with size kept on biting them in the butt versus the Pumaren press. They also kept on making very basic mistakes that contributed to the lead of the Green Archers.

But the beauty of this UP team, which is something that we learned as early as last season, is how they embrace their flaws. They made mistakes, but they never let them affect how they tried to execute their game plan.

In today’s competitive and deep college basketball landscape, it’s unreasonable to expect teams to play perfect basketball. The best teams are the ones that fight through their mistakes. UP is the team that’s the undisputed best at doing that in the country. It’s why they won Season 84. It’s also why they won their first game this Season 85.

Quite literally, UP picked up right where they left off.

Despite a raucous crowd and an uber-talented opponent breathing down their backs, the UP Fighting Maroons survived their first game of the season, which was capped off by the heroics of their close-to-generational talent, Carl Tamayo. It wasn’t a game where UP could confidently say “I’m better than you, and you know it”. Instead, it was a game that served as a reminder of why they’re even defending champions in the first place.

They’re talented. They’re passionate. They’re flawed. But they’re also grounded, and because of that humility, they’re able to fight past adversity and maximize their strengths so they can rise above the rest.

Hindi sila bumitaw. Hindi pa rin sila bibitaw.

By Eriko dela Cruz

As the Arena barker announced the starting 5 for both Ateneo and FEU, a lot of Ateneo fans were at the edge of their seats.

At point guard, number 15, Forth Padrigao!

It was charting the unknown. How could Padrigao, someone who barely got minutes in Season 84, become Ateneo’s starting point guard? How will he be able to handle the team as a sophomore? Most importantly, how will he be able to fill in the shoes left by SJ Belangel?

If you watched the UAAP juniors tournament, or followed Batang Gilas, you knew who Forthsky Padrigao was. You would also know that skill was not a problem with this guy.

It was consistency.

When he was hot, it was special. You would see crazy shots from deep,  PUJIT3s aplenty. Daredevil drives to the basket, crazy finishes. Pinoy Steph Curry, this kid was called once. When his game is not there, however, your forehead would be red from all the facepalming you were about to do.

Ateneo fans were antsy because they felt he was thrust into a situation he was not ready for yet. After all, he was supposed to have one more year of mentoring under SJ Belangel until Korea came calling, and answering became harder to refuse.

Ateneo has had a streak of having good to outright legendary floor generals since 2002. LA Tenorio, Macky Escalona, Chris Tiu, Yuri Escueta, Jai Reyes, Emman Monfort, Juami Tiongson, Kiefer Ravena, Matt Nieto, and SJ Belangel. Padrigao, as young as he is, has a giant pair of shoes to fill if ever he wants to be mentioned under the same breath as these Ateneo greats.

To put it simply in plain tagalog, hilaw pa si Forth. This showed when FEU pressed him. He replaced his habit of picking up his dribble early with another one; backing down his defender to put his body between the defender and the ball. The thing was, FEU’s guards were soft double teaming him to begin the game, and as he backed down, the soft double became a hard one. This led to turnovers and Ateneo losing the lead. A lot of Ateneo titos had Vietnam war flashbacks of a time when crossing the halfcourt line was something you had to pray for.

In the third quarter, it’s as if a different Forthsky came out of that locker room. He seemed steadier, much more within the flow of the offense. He used picks set to him by Ange Kouame much better. His court vision, his biggest asset, helped him locate Dave Ildefonso and BJ Andrade, among others, and feed them the ball. He was navigating through the paint and challenging guys like Sleat, Sajonia, and Anonuevo to get rebounds. During those last two quarters, he was reassuring everyone; Y’all don’t need to miss SJ that much guys, a new point guard has come Forth (you bet your ass this pun is intended).

Padrigao stepped up against the bigger, more experienced guards of FEU. That was a good showing. A stat line of 19 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and a +20 is nothing to sneeze at. However, how will we stack up against other kinds of presses and traps that Ateneo is sure to face? How will we handle pressure from DLSU’s Evan Nelle and Mark Nonoy? How will he face UP’s Fortea-Cagulangan rotation? Only time will tell.

For now, enjoy the excellent performance, and pray that the second half Forthsky shows up a hell of a lot more than the first half one.