WITH A lineup left begging for both experience and veteran leadership, the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats are in for a rough ride in the upcoming Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) collegiate basketball wars.
This much head coach Bembem Alcaraz readily admitted to Cebu Daily News when he spoke of his expectations for the team this season.
“You already know of the players we lost. We don’t have Joshua dela Cerna and Mark Kong who both have academic troubles. Plus a lot of players also graduated. So what I am left with is nine rookies and five players with experience,” said Alcaraz, whose team will miss the services of arguably the league’s most versatile offensive force in Dela Cerna.
“But I keep on telling my players in each practice to play together and from there, anything can happen,” said Alcaraz.
The veteran coach singled out his backcourt of Marlo Pono and Wilkins Sanchez, both of whom are playing in their final year, as the barometer to their success this year.
“Our system begins and ends with our guard play so if they play well, we’ll have a good chance of winning.”
Fighting spirit
On a team devoid of veteran talent, the Wildcats will be armed with “rookie-veteran” Reclear Navarro, a 24-year old frontcourt player who shone for CIT-U during the Partner’s Cup. He will pair up with wingman-turned forward Karl Lucena to make a decent frontcourt tandem.
Still, Alcaraz was candid enough to admit that his team was in over their heads this season.
“We’re certainly not in the same league as the SWUs and the UVs,” said Alcaraz. “But we’ll fight. We’ll really fight.”