THROUGH his first four games as head coach of the Growling Tigers, Boy Sablan has one thing to be thankful for—the grit his depleted team has been displaying so far.
Left with a roster of mostly second-stringers and benchwarmers, Sablan is facing a more difficult task than his predecessor Bong dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz had Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioag and Karim Abdul at his disposal.
The “Big Three” took the scoring load last season, averaging 46.9 points of the Tigers’ 73.9 points per game(ppg).
This year, the Tigers have found a new identity under Sablan.
“There is no superstar here. Everybody has equal opportunities, there will be no player who would say, ‘I am the scorer’. I don’t like that. There is equal distribution for everyone,” he told the Varsitarian in a previous interview.
The Tigers, which is expected to have a sluggish season, are currently at fourth place tied with the Far Eastern University and the Ateneo de Manila University at 2-2.
But a number of Tigers have risen to the occasion.
Renzo Subido, who averaged a measly 2.1 ppg the past two years, is leading the scoring for the Tigers with 14 ppg. The minute guard had 26 points in their win against University of the East last Sept. 10.
Joco Macasaet and Jeepy Faundo, who rode the bench for three years as backups for Abdul, also had their moments in the past four games.
Scoreless in the past two seasons, Macasaet is now averaging 5.75 points and 6.5 rebounds. Faundo is norming 5.5 points and 6.5 boards, an improvement from his 0.9 point and 0.9 rebound average in the last three years.
Team captain Louie Vigil is having a versatile production of 13.5 points, 5.75 boards, and 3.75 assists.
Jamil Sheriff, who has always been deemed an offensive liability for the Tigers, is averaging 8 points and 3 assists, an improvement from his production the past four seasons.
“All of them will have their time to shine, though we still have a lot of improvement to do especially in developing their different aspects of play,” Sablan said.
Regie Basibas and rookie Oliver de Guzman are showing glimpses of their potential after anchoring the Tigers’ fourth-quarter surge in their 83-77 victory over the University of the Philippines last Sept. 17. Basibas and de Guzman had 11 points apiece.
By the numbers
But the Tigers have been careless with the ball, averaging 25.5 turnovers in four outings, a far cry from their league-best 16.4 turnovers per game last year.
Top-seed De La Salle University exploited UST’s weakness as it forced the Tigers to 40 turnovers en route to a 100-64 win.
The Tigers 84.3 ppg is the league’s worst, with their zone defense easily abused by opposing teams. UST allowed only 64.9 ppg last year and its zone defense, which opens up uncontested perimeter shots, perhaps needs to be revisited.
But UST has become a better rebounding and passing team.
After a league-worst 40.6 rebounds per game (rpg) last season, the Tigers are now one of the top rebounding squads in the league with 46.3 rpg.
The Tigers are also sharing the ball more, dishing out 14.3 assists per game (apg), an improvement from their 11.9 apg last year.
