According to a report done by Ms. Jasmine Payo, from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Adamson Soaring Falcons’ management have relieved 1997 PBA Most Valuable Player, Kenneth Duremdes, as the head coach of their men’s basketball team.
The source of the report came from none other than the team’s manager, Gilbert Cruz. The “formal announcement” of the release will happen in the upcoming days and that no candidates to fill up the vacancy has been discussed.
This is a surprising move for the upstart squad as Coach Kenneth Duremdes has been upbeat with the current crop of Soaring Falcons that are going to don the Adamson colors for the 78th season of the UAAP. Moreover, according to our sources, the incoming rookies for the team, namely JD Tungcab, Nico Capote, Alwin Margallo, Kevin Barrera, and Harold Ng, were all personal recruits of Duremdes.
Beyond the on-going FilOil Flying V Hanes Premiere Cup tournament, Duremdes seemed ready for the UAAP. In a postgame interview we had with him during the team’s win against the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals last May 29, he quipped that his rotation for the upcoming UAAP season had already been set, and that he was looking forward to former CESAFI Juniors MVP, Dawn Ochea, to be the vocal leader of the team.
In retrospect, Duremdes’ Adamson team compiled a 1-13 record in the 77th season of the UAAP. The team was dead last in the men’s basketball tournament as the UP Fighting Maroons, who also had a 1-13 record, held a superior quotient over them. The team also lost by a margin of 13.58 points per game, tops in the league. In addition, last year’s Adamson men’s basketball squad holds the worst scoring output record in UAAP history in a match-up against the NU Bulldogs. Here is an excerpt of the recap done by our very own Matthew Gana about the said game.
Falcons crash and burn against Bulldogs, post worst offensive output in UAAP History, July 30, 2014
The ADU Soaring Falcons came within a point of toppling the UST Growling Tigers over the weekend. This game was not nearly as close. The NU Bulldogs handed the miserable Falcons a historic beat-down, 62-25. Adamson’s 25 points and 16% FG shooting set new records for offensive futility in the tournament. The lopsided result sees the 4-1 Bulldogs cruise to the top of the standings, while the flightless Falcons remain pinned to the bottom at 0-4, with little hope in sight.
Despite the thrashing, the Adamson fans remained lively throughout the match, cheering the rare points of their over-matched team, and at the end of the game they still delivered a heartfelt ovation for their defeated team.
In the on-going 2015 Premier Cup tournament, the team has compiled a 2-5 slate in Group A. The two wins Adamson has gathered from the tournament came against the USJ-R Jaguars (1-7, 62-59) and against the EAC Generals (1-6, 84-73) The team has one more game remaining in the tournament – against the JRU Heavy Bombers on Friday, June 5 at 3:15pm.
Now, the next step for this young Adamson squad, who’s oldest player is third year forward Dawn Ochea, is to find a suitable head coach, who would serve as a mentor and a father-figure to the team. Our best guess as to who will replace Duremdes is current Adamson Assistant Coach, Michael Fermin, who guided the team in their win against USJ-R, and has been the lead assistant coach for the team during the Premier Cup.
