It’s red-letter Thursday in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup!
The San Beda College Red Lions take on the University of the East Red Warriors in their Premier Cup debut at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan, Thursday, May 19.
San Beda will unveil a younger and smaller but more athletic and deeper team that is suited to the pressing style that head coach Jamike Jarin wishes his team to play.
Old reliables Ranbil Tongco and Dan Sara will be back along with last year’s revelations Donald Tankoua, AC Soberano, and Javvee Mocon.
Jarin will also count on Robert Bolick who transferred from La Salle, 6’3” high-leaping Cameroonian Arnold Noah, sweet-shooting Davon Potts, and 6’4” Calvin Ofpana from Acsat Dumaguete among the team’s newcomers.
However, Jarin and his coaching staff may want to take note at how the Red Warriors dismantled Lyceum of the Philippines with its full court press in their last outing.
UE turned up the jets in the second half by forcing LPU into 19 turnovers for 31 overall that they converted into 27 points. The LPU Pirates are a smaller but athletic team yet even with solid guards in Jesper Ayaay, Dexter Zamora, and Shaq Alanes, they combined for 11 of the turnovers (with reserve guard Edcor Marata adding three of his own).
Red Lions team manager Jude Roque noted that the coaching staff plans to utilize anywhere from 12-13 players per match given their style of play. “It will be a spread out offense with the team on the floor based on match-ups and need. You won’t find a designated scorer because in what we want, anyone can shoot as the play dictates it,” he said.
One team by the end of this explosive match-up set for 3:15pm will be seeing red.
In the day’s other big match up, the 2-0 De La Salle University Green Archers, after taking down Adamson and UE that run similar pressing systems in succession, shoot for their third win against the dangerous Mapua Cardinals that relentlessly hammered Letran in their last outing in the main match at 5:00pm.
