Preparing for Battle: Knights in the Off-Season

[bugleboy]

All right, so far we've gotten confirmations that the following are already in Letran and playing for Team B: Daryl Pascual (ex-La Salle), Josh Barnes (ex-La Salle), Larry Muyang (ex-La Salle), Ivan Villanueva (ex-Squire, ex-Adamson), Raph Atangan (ex-NU), Jeremiah Taladua (ex-Lyceum). Quite a handful, if you ask me. Also spotted was a certain De Villa, who looks like he could be 6'6" or 6'7". If most or all of these guys make it to Team A next year, who could be relegated to Team B?

Sollano, Luib, Apreku and Dela Pena have exhausted their eligibility by then, so I suppose that the big men in Team B (Pascual, Muyang, De Villa) will have the inside track. We need a dead-eye gunner to provide support for Nambatac. Quinto and Calvo have improved a lot this season, but still have to show consistency. Ditto for Balanza. Will Barnes or Taladua be able to provide this? How about Luib's replacement at PG? Aside from Calvo, we still have Bernabe and Sario, both of whom are still raw. Will Atangan be any better? Or will Gedaria make a return to the lineup?

What about Ivan Villanueva? He was a PF/C in high school, but is terribly undersized to play in this position in college. He tried making the transition to wingman in Adamson, but I guess he wasn't able to get the eye of the new coach. Will he have a role in our 2017 team?

Quite definitely, we have some good materials to work with even at this point in time. Coach Napa has his work cut out for him in choosing his players for next year and making sure that they will be able to jell in time for the NCAA.

Nice problem to have, this. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to next year with lot of hope.

Never give up! Never give in! Arriba!

(Note to ESCALERA JR: I decided to make a new thread because our old Knights in the Off-Season thread has been corrupted.)

[ESCALERA JR.]

All good bugle. You jumped the gun on me...was about to start a thread too re:'Next Gen Knights' w/ a similar topic on our new recruits.naunahan mo lang ako. Medyo matagal tagal pa kasi ang next season so this one is good.

Looks like we have a formidable frontline - 3 surplus talents coming from the green side. Thanks to a former knight turned archer coach. Binabatuhan tayo ng mga napagpilian. We convieniently now have a pipeline galing taft, fastbreak saten yung mga na-cut.

So, Prodigal squire Ivan Villanueva has re-joined his old mates nambatac and quinto. We also have a former champion bullpup Atangan teaming up again w his mentor; meron din nag- oberdabakod na pirata and a mix of veteran homegrown talents. Lets see how coach Napa try to will this team into one fighting cohesive unit 10 months from now.

Any jr. squire making the team outright? Eh import??? wala ba hehe✌️

[izon]

Kung nagkataon kung maaga agang napunta si Coach Ayo sa La Salle baka nakuha ng Letran si Mustre, Bolick at Magdayao. Si Sario galing sa La Salle Zobel. Magiging pangalan ng team, San Juan de La Salle. He he he. Joke Lang.

[bugleboy]

Well, none of those ex-La Sallians (Barnes, Pascual, and Muyang) were originally recruited by La Salle anyway. Barnes and Pascual were in San Beda, while Muyang was in San Sebastian. DLSZ grad Sario originally wanted to play for DLSU but couldn't land a spot, then went to practices at UP, then was approached by Coach Napa to play for Letran.

My point is, players will go where they think their talents will be put to better use. I suppose Coach Ayo's contribution was to give these guys a gentle nudge in the direction of Muralla. Was this an act of penance on the part of Ayo, or part of an under-the-table ex-deal with Cojuangco? If I know Letran's Dominicans (and I do, having studied there for 11 years and worked there for a time as college prof), they would not have agreed to any under-the-table deals -- especially not with Danding. May history kasi iyan e, which I don't think the Dominicans have forgotten.

Anyway, all's well that ends well, I suppose. Good luck to these new recruits, and good luck, too, to Coach Ayo.

[ESCALERA JR.]

Bugle, coach Ayo is doing very well as Lasalle coach & still undefeated as of this writing. I wonder how he would have fared had he stayed with Letran even for another season...would the Knights have defended the crown for a b2b championship even sans Kracs and Antman?

Ibang klase talaga yung nanyari last season. We had the shortest lineup but the biggest heart. Our man in the middle is an unknown Sollano from an obscure university in the visayas battling it out with african behemoths. Our best player is the tiniest pg at 5'5" short. Ayo was a nobody in the coaching world until that fateful Octoberfinals in 2015, culminating in his first Ncaa championship as a coach.

Suddenly he became the toast of the town in the coaching world. And with the way he is leading the Archers to a similar magical ride in the Uaap, di malayo maging best collegiate coach yan, eventually becoming a Pba coach or maybe a future Gilas National coach.

Nakapang hihinayang isipin we lost him to another school, but at the same time proud narin as he gave us our best championship ever.His success is also ours.

And to our new coaching staff, we wish coach Napa and co. the best as they prepare our next generation Knights (kahit karaminhan mga hilaw at journeymen sa kung saan-saan). You guys play for a season with us, for us, you get that indelible mark forever...tatak Arriba...dugong arriba! I cant wait till next season.

[bugleboy]

^ESCALERA JR., mahirap sagutin ang tanong mo.

Coach Ayo, as far as I could tell, is not only a technically oriented coach but is a great motivator and teacher as well. Per accounts, his chief contribution to the Knights last season was that he made them believe that they could win. Self-efficacy ang tawag diyan sa sikolohiya.

Of course, it wasn't all "rah-rah-we-will-win blah blah". With the Knights, he installed the House of Chaos system that the boys were able to execute. I always thought that Mark Cruz was terribly under-utilized during the Alas and Garcia regimes. Under Ayo, Cruz blossomed into a go-to guy and became utterly fearless. Conclusion: self-efficacy works!

Would we have won the title without Mark and K-Racs, but with Coach Ayo still on board? I don't know, but as far as I could tell, for his system to work, we would need sure-shot gunners. We had those last year; we weren't that successful from distance this year.

To be fair to Coach Jeff, he took over with barely a quarter of a year to prepare, and he had a depleted Liliputian lineup. The Knights showed a lot of heart, but bench support was not enough.

Next year, though, with these new guys coming in, and with a year's preparation, Coach Jeff should be more than ready. This early, our enemies are already counting us out. Tignan na lang natin.

Bring it on!

[leondealabang2.0]

Well, none of those ex-La Sallians (Barnes, Pascual, and Muyang) were originally recruited by La Salle anyway. Barnes and Pascual were in San Beda, while Muyang was in San Sebastian. DLSZ grad Sario originally wanted to play for DLSU but couldn't land a spot, then went to practices at UP, then was approached by Coach Napa to play for Letran.

My point is, players will go where they think their talents will be put to better use. I suppose Coach Ayo's contribution was to give these guys a gentle nudge in the direction of Muralla. Was this an act of penance on the part of Ayo, or part of an under-the-table ex-deal with Cojuangco? If I know Letran's Dominicans (and I do, having studied there for 11 years and worked there for a time as college prof), they would not have agreed to any under-the-table deals -- especially not with Danding. May history kasi iyan e, which I don't think the Dominicans have forgotten.

Anyway, all's well that ends well, I suppose. Good luck to these new recruits, and good luck, too, to Coach Ayo.

1980 ncaa?

[knightrider]

There will be no sacred cows and all positions for Season 93 are open. The same situation happened when Coach Ayo took over in Season 91. I am sure true red and blue blooded King Knight Nambatac will return for Season 93. Likewise for Quinto, Balanza, and Calvo. Hopefully they will now have the consistency "bugleboy" is looking for in the next season. Their baptism of fire this year as front liners should result in that. The three were essentially role players under Ayo. In Season 92, they had greater responsibilities under Napa as go to players supporting the Grand Knight Singray. K-Racs and Mark Cruz were in similar wobbly mode before they transitioned as main Knights. As for Ambohot, he is a revelation this year, overshadowing Balagasay. This guy has the "Kerby Raymundo" moves, a decent rim protector with eraser qualities. He needs to put more weight and improve on his craft. He'll be in full bloom after one more season transitioning to a player that the team will rely on more heavily.

As a coach with a winning pedigree, there is no doubt to my mind that Coach Napa was frustrated in his initial season's foray into collegiate basketball. I have to say that we need a good coach with a winning DNA and were lucky to have one in Jeff Napa. I thought all the teams in the FF this year had an equal chance of winning the crown. But the team that won had a coach with a string of crowns. Championships create championship mentality. The other coaches didn't seem to have that. I mean, with an Oraeme, an Akhuete, or a Jalalon, how could you be left holding an empty bag? The missing ingredient, if I may be allowed to belabor the fact, is the winning pedigree.

Coach Aldin Ayo was also frustrated and he opined on several occasion that the team could make it to the FF, and from there do a repeat. The lacking ingredient was, as aptly stated by bugle, "self efficacy". But that is not the style of our current coach. However, I see a champion team blossoming under his watch.

Am I unhappy that we didn't make it this season to the FF? Not really, maybe just a wee bit disappointed that I didn't get to see them play more games. As "ESCALERA JR." puts it, we had our "best championship ever" last year. The last second winning shot by Basilio Go in 1960 during the Freddie Webb years, and the Murder Inc. team of Lauro Mumar, Nilo Verona et al, rate as close second and third.

But I would go one further than brod ESCALERA. The way we won it with a rag-tag team that was not even on anyone's FF radar, the way we deflated a history seeking dynasty that had a slew of local talents and two domineering imports, and the way we snatched the crown from their clutches with a game ender "heady" play, make it to my mind, not only CSJL's greatest championship but perhaps NCAA's best ever. The aftermath was unprecedented with the coach and the team the toast of the town for months on end. We shall win many more crowns in the future but the one won in Season 92 is presently the best ever. To me, its equivalent to three crowns, the regular NCAA, the All Filipino, and the best NCAA championship crown, again, ever. Arriba!!!!

[bugleboy]

^I agree with you 110%, knightrider!

@leondealabang2.0 - Yes.

[bugleboy]

Some close games over at the Fr. Martin Cup Division 2; unfortunately, our guys lost narrowly to San Beda-B.

http://www.spin.ph/basketball/news/u...cup-division-2