WHEN Alfredo “Pido” Jarencio was appointed coach the UST Growling Tigers last March, he neither promised a banner season nor did he lash out at those who laughed at him and his three P’s Pride, Puso, Palaban, when the Tigers finished last after the first round of the UAAP’s basketball wars.
As the number of the team’s supporters began to dwindle and his critics’ voices started to get louder, the Tigers’ rookie coach did not crumble. Instead, he exhausted all efforts to get his team out of the cellar and into the pinnacle of UAAP men’s basketball.
“I never quit,”Jarencio told the Varsitarian. “I always wanted to show everyone that they should not count us out and we made it happen even if we went through the eye of the needle to reach the top.”
Leading the Tiger pack
Although many perceived the Tigers’ title run as a fairy tale, Jarencio said they were destined to be champions because they prepared hard for it.
“Everything began during the summer training because everybody saw how the team poorly performed in the previous season,”he said. “We concentrated on developing basketball fundamentals such as dribbling, passing, and shooting because for a basketball team to improve, the players should have a good grasp of the basics.”
In his coaching debut, Jarencio said he had no trouble adjusting to the team’s needs and style because there was mutual trust, resulting in good chemistry between him and the rest of the basketball club.
He said he treats his players like younger siblings, even offering advice not related to basketball. He, however, stressed that he still enforces the rules to the letter during practices and games.
“I shout at them, but I only do that to maintain their focus,” Jarencio explained.
There may have been a lot of people who scoffed at his battle cry, the three Ps, but Jarencio said it was that strategy, coupled with the intense training, determination, talent and motivation of the whole squad, that ended the Tigers’ championship drought of 10 years.
True enough, the motto fueled UST to a scintillating 87-71 comeback in Game 2, bouncing back from a heart-breaking one-point loss to Ateneo in the first game due to the Eagles’ crisp execution of their coach’s draw-out play.
Aside from the battle cry, Jarencio said motivating his wards every game greatly contributed to the team’s miracle run.
“I always tell my players that they could always do well in the game if they just believe they could do it,” he said. “It is just a matter of using their strengths to UST’s advantage.”
Indeed, Jarencio’s words of encouragement worked wonders. One-by-one, the players stepped up just when the team needed it most. Anthony Espiritu registered a career-best 31 points during a crucial 77-75 victory over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws in the second round, while team captain Allan Evangelista also scored a career-best 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Tigers’ 88-80 upset of the Eagles that also snapped Ateneo’s eight-game winning streak.
In the last game of the finals series, it was Dylan Ababou and Jojo Duncil who showed nerves of steel, making clutch baskets and playing good defense, to seal the championship for the Tigers.
Leadership by example
During his heyday, Jarencio enjoyed superstardom as a Glowing Goldie, averaging 30 points per game. However, his impressive collegiate career lacked a UAAP title.
In the final game of the UAAP finals series in 1986, Jarencio scored 48 points in a losing effort against the Allan Caidic-lead University of the East Red Warriors. This loss eventually motivated him to improve his craft.
Jarencio won one championship with the Gordon’s Gin Boars (now Ginebra Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings) in the Philippine Basketball Association, where he was a deadly long-range bomber, thus earning the monicker, “The Fireman.” He also acquired the “never-say-die” attitude in his stint with the Gordon’s Gin, which he infused into the Growling Tigers this year.
“I don’t mind people putting us down,” Jarencio said. “We play to win the game, not to please them.”
Dynasty in the making?
Although his team is different from the Growling Tigers that won four consecutive titles a decade ago, Jarencio believes that his boys are capable of repeating as champions.
“I will not promise anything because I only show what I am capable of through actions instead of words,” he said.
Although Jemal Vizcarra and Evangelista will leave the team, Jarencio said the Tigers will still remain competitive.
“We will have the same core of players until 2009 or 2010, that’s a guarantee.” he said. “As I have said before, we will always be ready to face our opponents.”
With the Tiger’s championship already etched in the annals of history, Jarencio’s dream of a dynasty might not be a wishful thinking as long as the “Fireman” and his wards continue to play all heart against all odds.
