Nine things we learned from the FilOil Cup

Every year, collegiate basketball teams risk injury and heartbreak during the preseason to shake off the rust of the offseason, and give themselves (and their foes) an idea of what they're made of, come their mother tournaments.

Here’s a list of things that caught our eye at GMA News Online Sports:

1) Roi Sumang is a point god among men...

It’s hard to get noticed when you were playing on the second-worst team in the UAAP last season, but Roi Sumang finally got his due during the FilOil Finals. He’s one of those Steve Nash/Chris Paul-types with a good handle on the ball and deadeye shooting, combined with a body capable of acrobatic finishes at the rim. He’s one of the biggest reasons why there’s a lot of noise about the Warriors making the Final Four this upcoming UAAP season, their first time since Paul Lee, Elmer Espiritu and Pari Llagas pushed the Ateneo Blue Eagles to three games in the 2009 UAAP finals.

Sumang’s not without faults, though. Lengthier defenders like Ray Ray Parks can bother him and pick off his dribble. He occasionally deals with mild injuries that dampen his explosiveness. But the Warriors are going to be a handful to stop as long as he’s up and running with his tribe.

2) ... although that's also because coach Boysie Zamar is a wizard

Quick, when was the last time a team, with most of the same moving parts, went from league afterthought to Final Four contender? That’s exactly what coach Boysie Zamar has done for the UE Red Warriors since taking over the team midway through Season 75. Judging from some tough choices he made during the FilOil Cup, this guy means business. He kept Sierra Leonean center Charles Mammie out of their opening game over a disciplinary issue. Bong Gallanza, who was in last year’s rotation, has taken a backseat to gems in the rough like Ralf Olivarez and JR Sumido.

The result is a FilOil championship and an impressive list of foes they slew along the way. The DLSU Green Archers. The UST Growling Tigers. The AdU Soaring Falcons. The NU Bulldogs. That’s four wins against quality league rivals, and after seven months of collectively being referred to as "Sumang and Friends," Zamar's on a war path to make sure you learn his Warriors' names.

3) The UAAP has gotten a lot bigger...

Mammie is just a glimpse at the UAAP's evolution towards a bigger style of play. Out of the eight teams in the league, four (or seven, if you count the Fil-Ams Anthony Hargrove, Jason Perkins and Chris Ball suiting up for FEU, DLSU and UP, respectively) are fielding players of African descent to play at power forward or center. I don’t want to turn this into a nationalistic debate whether that’s a good thing for Filipino players, but it’s worth noticing that this era of college basketball places such a premium on upgrading (or containing) a post presence.

4) ... but Ateneo’s showing us how to beat them.

It's important to note that in most of these teams' cases, none of them are the focal point of their team's offense, even for Adamson or UE, where Ingrid Sewa and Mammie are number two options at best. As bigs are relied on to shore up rebounding and shot-blocking deficiencies, the pressure is on for teams to score from the outside.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles have done just that during the preseason despite, or because of, their depleted line-up. Teams had best emulate their blueprint for good floor spacing and ball movement in order to stack the deck in their favor, and it doesn’t hurt either to have a human pogo stick like Chris Newsome take charge of  rebounding duties. In all, the addition of size doesn't slow down the UAAP game, but challenges it to become more innovative and exciting.

5) Fighting Maroons: (still) under construction

Mico Halili scooped the details with this great article about Maroons head coach Ricky Dandan and the pains of rebuilding. They finished the FilOil Cup with two wins after losing six straight, so hopefully that's a sign of better things to come. Last year they proved they wouldn't be pushovers. This year, in the face of a bigger and badder league, these Maroons just have to keep on fighting.

6) Jeron Teng is a limited scorer, and La Salle should be concerned

Jeron Teng does two things incredibly well: drive to the rim for two, and draw contact to get to the free throw line. He's a freight train in the lane, and he barreled his way to win last season's Rookie of the Year award.

At first glance, Teng normed a respectable 12.3 points per outing this summer. Championship expectations however demand that he diversify his game this second year, and his numbers have not shown that he's done so. The younger Teng brother hit just 36 percent of his shots inside the arc in this tournament. In comparison, Parks and Kiefer Ravena shoot 44 and 45 percent, respectively. Nobody tracks shot charts in Philippine basketball so we can't parse how many of those attempts were jump shots or lay-ups, but in either case, Teng should be putting up more points for the amount of shots he takes.

Does he draw enough contact inside? Yes, more than one of every three shots he takes is from the free throw line. But even so, a free throw percentage of 61 percent from your star wingman is unacceptable. Teng is limited because teams can afford to foul him when he drives and he can't hurt defenses otherwise. Free throw shooting has been a problem for La Salle as a team, so why this pressure on Teng? Because the La Salle faithful demand a championship, and that's the bar the competition demands him to meet. And if the Archers want to get back into the UAAP Finals this year, Teng can't afford to be a one-dimensional guy.

7) UST is going to miss Jeric Fortuna

Even with the graduation of their veteran point guard, the Tigers have no lack of offense from the position he vacated. Ed Daquioag has been a decent shooter over the summer and has earned coach Pido Jarencio's trust to play for extended minutes. He's also quite adept at forcing turnovers and scoring in transition. But what UST really needs is to better take care of the ball.

The Tigers have survived high-turnover games and opponents scoring off those turnovers, but the lack of a steady ball handler may have cost them a podium finish during the playoff’s key moments. They lost narrowly to the Warriors in the semifinals when they gave up a 14-3 run in the fourth period, putting the Warriors ahead for good. Against the San Beda in the battle for third, the Red Lions did the same with a 9-0 rally, eventually forcing some more late game heroics from Jeric Teng, Karim Abdul and Clark Bautista that ultimately fell short. Had Fortuna's steady hand been taking care of the ball, the odds are those runs don't happen.

8) The NCAA crown is San Beda’s to lose...

It’s not just because the Red Lions proved to be the last NCAA team standing. The team’s eschewed three-point shooting for heady play, and it’s worked wonders for the squad bannered by Baser Amer, Rome Dela Rosa and Art Dela Cruz.

Can they be stopped? Possibly. Coach Koy Banal has pointed the Arellano Chiefs to the rim with frightening frequency. Rey Nambatac cushions the loss of Kevin Alas a bit for Letran, who’ll have a fighting chance as long as Mark Cruz is healthy. Plus, if CJ Perez can add some control to his game, the San Sebastian Stag is fully capable of stuffing the stats sheet ala Calvin Abueva. But the Red Lions’ core makes them clearly the first horse out of the gates, and it’s up to the defending champions to maintain that advantage.

9) ... but there are no favorites to win the UAAP.

Just how good are the UE Warriors? Will UST overcome its ball-handling problem? Can Ateneo hang with the big boys? Is Alfred Aroga the missing piece for the Bulldogs? Will Terrence Romeo and RR Garcia learn to share the ball? Can Jericho Cruz be Adamson’s go-to guy? We’re never going to know until the UAAP kicks off on June 29. - AMD, GMA News