FilOil: Defending champs Ateneo battles Letran; league bares team rosters

Defending FilOil Flying V Pre-season Cup champs and four-peat UAAP titlists Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles hope to begin the new collegiate season with a win over this year's NCAA hosts, the Colegio de San Juan De Letran Knights, when the two clash in the summer tournament's curtain-raiser Saturday at 2 p.m. at The Arena in San Juan City. Ateneo will be led by last season's one-two punch of UAAP Rookie of the Year Kiefer Ravena and 7-foot center Greg Slaughter, plus, sweet-shooting Finals MVP Nico Salva. The Blue Eagles though will play without three super-seniors in Kirk Long, Emman Monfort and Bacon Austria, who have used up their eligibility years. In their stead, the team will hope that Juami Tiongson can make the leap, though they also have point guard prospects from their rival De La Salle, in the form of one-time Green Archer Nico Elorde, and La Salle Zobel alum Junior Archer Isaac Lim. Also making his return from a one-year basketball exile is UAAP Season 73 Finals MVP Ryan Buenafe. Their opponents, the Letran Knights, are mostly intact, save for point guard Franz Dysam. Head coach Louie Alas will likely rely on his explosive backcourt of son Kevin Alas, a member of last season's NCAA Mythical Five, and Mark Cruz, who takes Dysam's spot in the starting line-up. Up front, last season's NCAA Most Improved Player Raymond Almazan will try to go toe-to-toe with Slaughter, with Jam Cortes and Jonathan Belorio providing additional muscle in the post. In the 4 p.m. game, new head coaches might get their fair share of buzz, as both San Beda and La Salle enter the game with different faces at the helm. La Salle brought former Franz Pumaren assistant and former College of St. Benilde head coach Gee Abanilla into the fold to replace Dindo Pumaren, who resigned after the Archers finished their UAAP second round assignments with a 1-6 record. The Archers also have some potent backcourt recruits in the form of one-time Ateneo prospect Mark Tallo from Cebu, Xavier High School standout Jeron Teng and Filipino-American Mustapha Haruna. DLSU lost only Simon Atkins and Maui Villanueva to graduation, so the likes of Norbert Torres, LA Revilla, Joshua Webb, Luigi Dela Paz and Almond Vosotros all due to return. San Beda on the other hand, has former PBA great and Red Cub Ronnie Magsanoc now in charge, after Frankie Lim resigned as well, because in part, of a two-year ban slapped on him by the NCAA. Though the NCAA has also levied suspensions on several Red Lions players, such sanctions will not be in effect in the FilOil tournament, meaning the NCAA back-to-back champions will be able to bring their full might to bear. Despite losing five veterans to graduation, the San Beda line-up is still stacked, with veterans Anjo Caram, Jake Pascual and Rome Dela Rosa expected to handle the bulk of the scoring load. Boosting their ranks are transferees Yvan Ludovice (formerly of National University) and Art Dela Cruz (formerly of Ateneo), elevated Red Cubs Jun Bonsubre and Van Abatayo, and the much-heralded tandem of Fil-Am swingman Julius Armon and Nigerian center Ola Adeogun. In the final game of opening day, National University hopes to eke out revenge on Jose Rizal University at 6 p.m., after the Heavy Bombers eliminated the Bulldogs in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League last November. JRU will still rely on their tenacious defense, but they'll have to look for other scoring options now that sniper Raycon Kabigting and reserve big man Jecskter Apinan have moved on. UAAP MVP Bobby Ray Parks will be at the forefront of this season's UAAP host team, but he expects to bring with him some new recruits, such as RP Youth Under-16 captain JJ Alejandro, former RP U-18 big man Troy Rosario, transferees Mark De Guzman (formerly of CSB) and Henri Betayene (formerly of UE). Meanwhile, majority of the rosters that were initially submitted to the tournament have been posted on the collegiate basketball site Inboundpass.com. As of posting time, the only teams to have not yet submitted their line-ups are Far Eastern University, NU  and JRU. — JVP, GMA News FilOil Preseason Tournament Rosters