Because of lack of height, USP-F to bank on improved conditioning, cohesiveness
The University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) Panthers will play end-to-end basketball this season to make up for their lack of ceiling.
This was the promise made by head coach Albert Alocillo as they head to the new season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) with renewed hope but not much in the way of a potent arsenal to combat the league’s powerhouse squads.
The Cesafi Men’s basketball tournament starts tomorrow at the Cebu Coliseum. USP-F makes its debut on Tuesday versus the University of Cebu.
“We will have to do it that way. We really can’t play a regular zone since we don’t have any players taller than 6’3. So we’ll have to start our defense further out,” said Alocillo of his team’s tactic.
With USPF’s tallest players being Kenneth Cada and wingman Gilbert Sastrillas, who both stand at 6’3, Alocillo said that they intend to lean on their much improved conditioning and cohesiveness to combat the league’s giants.
“We started our preparations very early. As soon as last season ended, we started practicing right away. So our players’ conditioning is top-notch, and we’re ready to go and do our best,” added the veteran tactician.
The Panthers will claw and fight with the best of them behind their prized find, guard Lyndon Colina, who lit up the Cesafi preseason with one scoring explosion after another.
And even though those outbursts ended up with losses, they were enough to catch the attention of several coaches from the UAAP and the NCAA.
Colina got a brief taste of what’s life like to play under the bright lights as Alocillo recently brought him to the home of NCAA powerhouse San Beda Red Lions, where he trained for five days and also got to take in the action at the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
With Colina set to break out and with a cast of experienced players such as John Alocillo, Clyde Avancena, Jayson Cando, Wisdom Ceniza, Roy Quiatchon and Kimo Bajamunde also expected to raise their games, the Panthers are already raring to roar.
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