think rainbows

The UAAP season is on again! It’s that time of the year once more where schools battle it out for the most coveted title of all, the Men’s Seniors Basketball Championship. What’s with basketball anyway? Why does everyone in the UAAP want that top spot?

They say that the most popular sport here in the Philippines, before Manny Pacquiao started winning his world titles, is basketball. That explains the recognition of the sport. But other than that, it’s the bragging rights and the title that you gain after winning the UAAP Men’s Basketball Championship. Besides, it’s the most covered game in the UAAP, and it’s the first sport played at the start of the season. Fortunately now, other sports are being covered by the television network, giving them more popularity as time passes by.

The UAAP season 73 officially started last July 10, with the opening ceremony held at the historic Araneta Coliseum. I’m sure many have been excited for that date to come, most especially the host school, the De La Salle University. It was a simple yet very energetic opening rites, with the different school’s ‘heroes’ as the highlight and the theme for this UAAP season. Four basketball teams saw action on the opening day itself.

The DLSU Green Archers went up against the UP Fighting Maroons at 2pm, and then the UST Growling Tigers went up against the UE Red Warriors at 4pm. The Green Archers and the Growling Tigers were able to win their first assignments of the season, with the UST Tigers giving everyone a shocker with how they played. Prior to this season of the UAAP, there were off-season tournaments going on, where some teams from the UAAP joined in. The UST Growling Tigers didn’t join any of the off-season tournaments, making them very unpredictable for this UAAP season.

Other teams on the other hand saw action in the different off-season tournaments, letting everyone see what they can expect, and what they will be facing come the UAAP season. The Ateneo Blue Eagles and the FEU Tamaraws are always on the top 2 spots whenever there are reviews being done for the upcoming UAAP season. These two teams, most analysts say, are almost sure of the two spots in the Final Four, with most of their line-up from last season still intact, and the Tamaraws having more veteran players still, and the Blue Eagles having the championship title. The other two spots however will be battled out by the remaining 6 teams. Many teams have new reinforcements, most especially the NU Bulldogs, what with being equaled with the name MVP.

The Green Archers, still a young team but are not being left out for sure, while the UP Fighting Maroons, being a sort of a young team as well, are on their way of seeking a spot in the Final Four. The Adamson Soaring Falcons is also a team to watch out for, while the UE Red Warriors are looking forward to getting back on track with James Martinez back in their line-up, and a bunch of players still intact from last season.

UST was always at the bottom of the rankings, with the big roles left by Ababou and Mirza, but Coach Pido Jarencio and probably the rest of the team didn’t take this as a bad sign. Instead, the coach himself has put his team at the bottom place as well, quoting that when you’re at the bottom, there’s no other way to go but up. UST’s line-up is not to be ignored either, with last season’s ROY Jeric Teng, and veterans Bautista, Camus, Fortuna, Afuang, and also a number of new, talented faces in the team.

Coaches have said that in every UAAP season, the teams always improve in one way or another. You always face new challenges, and you always have to work on new strategies to be able to perform better than how you performed the last season. Improved players and new players arise and you have to learn how the other team’s doing to be able to know how you’ll play when you face them. With the new season now up and running, and with all of the teams having faced their first assignments, and having seen how they play, the UAAP Season 73 is sure to be an exciting ride once more for all teams, players, coaches, schools, students, alumni, and other sports fans out there. Let’s all wait and see how these teams will fair in this season of the UAAP, and of course support our schools.