The FilOil Flying V Preseason Cup opens on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan City, kicking off a summer of hoops and a summer of hope for its 18 participating squads from the UAAP and the NCAA.

For part one of the preview, which features the Group A teams, click here

National University Bulldogs
Fifth placers in the UAAP
Key losses: Joseph Terso

This season's UAAP hosts were out to make a big splash fast last season, but they fell short of the Final Four, thanks to an offense that saw them attempt the fewest shots of any UAAP team due to a ridiculous amount of turnovers and a lack of second-chance opportunities.

They can, however, take some solace in Bobby Ray Parks' MVP performance, and the fact that he's back to try again to tow his squad to victory.

Parks was part of a very exhaustive roster revamp that saw very few holdovers from Season 72 to Season 73. They've apparently done so again this year, with an eye towards adding in guys like Troy Rosario, Mark de Guzman, Henri Betayene from their Team B and rookie JJ Alejandro.

While the upgrade in talent could help, it also makes them even younger, which could affect how they play in tight situations. Regardless, if they can get out to an early lead, they could be very deadly, especially in the less formal summer-league setting.

Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers
Lost in the NCAA Final Four to San Beda
Key losses: Raycon Kabigting, Jeckster Apinan, John Montemayor

JRU started slow in last year's NCAA tourney, but came on strong late with six straight wins to clinch a Final Four spot, as Vergel "Aerial Voyager" Meneses' players found their niche, forcing a league-best 21.58 turnovers per game for 18.37 points and shutting down the three-point shot. Based on its success, it's highly unlikely they'll make a ton of adjustments to the system, headed into the new basketball year.

But despite the system being intact, their line-up definitely isn't, as the Heavy Bombers lost sniper Raycon Kabigting and big men Jeckster Apinan and John Montemayor to graduation. Sixth man Apinan's loss will probably hurt the most, as he was probably their second best post player behind John Lopez. Kabigting's absence will also definitely be felt, seeing as how with him, they were already the worst three-point shooting team by far.

They'll forge ahead behind guys like Alex Almario, the aforementioned Lopez, Nate Matute and John Villarias, but they'll likely be leaning more on their defense to score points, which means ball handlers ought to beware.

Adamson University Soaring Falcons
Lost in the UAAP Final Four to FEU
Key losses: Jan Colina, Lester Alvarez, Jerick Canada, Janus Lozada
 
The Adamson Falcons had their best chance to win a UAAP title last season with a stacked line-up that controlled the boards and the perimeter, but on offense, their league-best three-point shooting abandoned them when they needed it the most, as they lost to FEU despite a twice-to-beat advantage in the semis.

Now the Falcons find themselves in a tough spot, having lost four key veterans, including their two point guards who made the team tick. It's now anyone's guess as to how the team will play like, which is why they're must-watch in this tournament. One thing's for sure though, their scoring is going to come from their two main holdovers, the high-flying Alex Nuyles and the steady-handed Eric Camson. Anything beyond them though, remains a question mark.

Arellano University Chiefs
Seventh placers in the NCAA
Key losses: Andrian Celada, Gerald Lapuz

Speaking of teams that underwent a makeover, the Arellano Chiefs went through a pretty exhaustive one. Not only did they lose several mainstays, including former Mythical Five member Andrian Celada and their head coach, Leo Isaac, the university responded by bringing in Koy Banal, a man who has won in both the NCAA and the UAAP, and a slew of new recruits, highlighted by several Filipino-foreign players.

Under Isaac, the Chiefs relied much too heavily on a zone defense that didn't quite work. They hauled in a league-low 32.83 rebounds per game, and gave up 45.8 percent field goal shooting to their opponents off 19.06 assists.

Banal will certainly jump-start those moribund numbers, while doing the same to an offense that relied too heavily on their starting five (just 20 bench points a game). The upgrades in talent and coaching make this squad a dark horse, and coming off a Finals stint in the Fr. Martin Cup, they'll certainly be looking to make similar appearances in other tourneys.

Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals
Tenth placers in the NCAA
Key losses: Claude Cubo

The Generals squad that played in last season's FilOil tournament looked nothing like the one that took to the floor in the NCAA, bringing on Fil-Ams Joshua Torralba and Igee King, former FEU-FERN Baby Tam Jolas Paguia, and a healthy Milan Vargas. But despite those additions, EAC still landed last place, thanks to a cellar finish in assists, points allowed, rebounds allowed, and fast breaks allowed.

The Generals head into this summer looking to regroup, and hopefully, share the ball more. They lost their only real post player, Claude Cubo, making them even more reliant on jump shots, which means ball movement leading to an open man will be even more important.

The addition of a defensive-minded big man like Noube Happi could help, in the sense that a player of his type could get the team some second-looks, but still a lot needs to go right for the Generals, if they're to compete in the FIlOil and beyond.

Far Eastern University Tamaraws
Lost in the UAAP Finals to Ateneo
Key losses: Aldrech Ramos, Pipo Noundou, JR Cawaling, Ping Exciminiano, Jens Knuttel

FEU has been tormented time and time again by Ateneo, getting swept twice in the past two UAAP Finals, and being forced to settle for third in last year's FilOil. They took and made the most field goal attempts in the recent UAAP season and lorded it over the second-chance points category, but they couldn't deal with Ateneo's second-half explosions, forcing them to accept second-best yet again.

This season, Tamaraw fans are hoping for a different outcome, with a largely different cast. FEU essentially lost a starting-five caliber unit, though Noundou and Cawaling spent large parts of the UAAP season.

In their place will be former Green Archer Arvie Bringas, as well as several intriguing recruits like NCAA juniors division standouts Archie Inigo and Gino Juamo-as. But more than last season, when the team could turn to Ramos to give them a veteran presence, FEU's chances will largely fall on the one-two punch of RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo, a duo that still hasn't quite gotten the hang of going beyond "you shoot, I shoot" into "let's make each other better." If they can solve that puzzle, FEU will be deadly, but that's a big "if."

Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates
Sixth placers in the NCAA
Key losses: Onofre Napiza, Jan Lacap

The big surprise of the last NCAA season was the guest team Lyceum Pirates. Though they went winless in their maiden FilOil voyage, the Bonnie Tan-helmed squad managed to shock many who felt that they would wind up at the bottom of the NCAA standings, placing sixth instead thanks to some plucky play. Injuries and the in-season dismissal of spark plug center Allan Santos held them back, but a hopefully controversy-free season will mean smoother sailing for the team.

Returning for the Pirates are their big three of scorers, point guard Shane Ko and swingmen Chris Cayabyab and Floricel Guevarra. But a team cannot win on just guards alone, and this was Lyceum's biggest problem, especially when Santos was no longer with the team. They averaged the fewest blocks in the NCAA because of their lack of height.

That same weakness often forced them to foul opponents, a fact that led to them leading the league in fouls given up and opponents' free throw attempts. They have a couple of big man prospects such as Daniel Garcia and Joseph Ambohot but none are near polished, which means Lyceum will have to rely on scrappy and hustle plays once more to accumulate wins.

San Sebastian College Golden Stags
Lost in the NCAA Finals to San Beda
Key losses: Anthony Del Rio, Jonathan Semira

The Stags looked for most of the early part of the last NCAA season like the odds-on favorites, overcoming an early injury to guard Jonathan Semira. Though they unraveled late, failing to clinch the overall number one seed, needing their twice-to-beat advantage to dispatch Letran, and then ultimately looking unimpressive in the Finals versus San Beda, the squad rebounded through even tougher odds, the ACL-injury of Ronald Pascual, to lift the PCCL trophy in December.

Behind the 'Pampanga Trio' of Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang and the aforementioned Pascual, the Stags dominated the boards on route to victory, pulling down 50.65 a game, and exploding for a league-best 19.91 fourth quarter points. But again, that was with Pascual, and his injury came late enough in the PCCL that they were able to gut out his absence.

This preseason, they've lost their two point guards, have Abueva and Sangalang sharing time with the D-League, and again, do not have Pascual. Head coach Topex Robinson will certainly have his squad playing hard, but this tourney might see them experiment with quirky line-ups and give playing time to some of their role players. That said, if Abueva comes to play, all bets are off.

College of Saint Benilde Blazers
Eighth placers in the NCAA
Key losses: Mark Romero, Tim McCoy

The Blazers were another team that caught a couple of bad breaks at the cost of a possible Final Four berth. The first came when forward Mark Romero left in the middle of the season to migrate with his family to the United States, costing the Blazers a player who averaged 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds (he is in their FilOil roster, however.

More spectacularly, there was the in-season drama that saw Carlo Lastimosa leave the team, only to return a few games later. As a result, they lost five of their last six for another losing season.

While it was another gloomy season for CSB, it must be said that the squad had undergone quite a revamp from their Season 86 NCAA squad last summer, and that their 6-12 record came on the heels of a winless FilOil campaign.

Furthermore, the squad developed the personality of getting to the line as often as possible, making 19 charities on average on 29.28 attempts, the former being a league-best. On the flip side, the Blazers struggled to pull down defensive rebounds and as a result, conceded the most second chance points.

They do have a large Team B, a squad that has guys like Tyler Fikowski, Joel Tolentino and Roberto Bartolo, to draw from, and if their array of swingmen, Lastimosa, Jonathan Grey, and Paolo Taha take a step forward, they could do some damage. — JVP, GMA News