FIVE YEARS ago, a Tiger held high the MVP award.
It was Benilese center Soulemane Chabi Yo who averaged 16.9 points and 14.7 rebounds.
However, 2019 now seems a distant past as the UST Growling Tigers’ run in the UAAP men’s basketball tilt has been overshadowed by dismal cellar-dwelling performances in the last couple of seasons.
But hopes are high that this will change this time. With four wins under their belt in Round 1 of Season 87, the Tigers have posted their best record since Season 82.
With their team’s improved standing, three Thomasian ballers made their way into UAAP’s MVP race top ten after seven games.
Eagle-turned-Tiger
At the forefront of UST’s revival is one-time UAAP champion guard and former Ateneo Blue Eagle Forthsky Padrigao, sitting at the sixth spot with 62.429 statistical points (SP).
The former Mythical 5 member’s court vision has been the catalyst for the Tigers’ offensive firepower, leading the league with 7.14 assists per game to go along with 9.14 points per game.
Aside from a +21 plus/minus, Padrigao dished out a career-high 11 assists in UST’s win against FEU, further cementing his role as the Tiger’s primary orchestrator.
As a team, UST ranked second in assists with 13.57 per game, only trailing behind UP’s 17.14 assists per contest. This was an improvement from being second-lowest last season despite a 14.07 average.
In their season opener against the UE Red Warriors, the Tigers put up 24 assists that allowed them to find high-percentage shots en route to an opener win, 70-55.
The Tigers have also taken care of the ball, recording the third-fewest turnovers in the league with 99, averaging 14.14 per game. It is a two-spot improvement from last season that saw them commit 16.64 turnovers a game.
Notably, UST committed only seven turnovers in each of its wins against the Ateneo Blue Eagles and FEU.
Dominant presence
Following closely behind Padrigao is UST’s foreign student-athlete (FSA) Mo Tounkara, who ranks seventh in the race with 60.0 SP.
The 6’8 Malian native has been a force to reckon with, averaging 14 points and 8.57 boards per contest.
Tounkara scored 98 total points for the España squad, which is good for second-best league-wide. He just trails behind MVP-favorite Kevin Quiambao’s 115 points of DLSU.
After filling UST’s missing FSA spot, Tounkara made strides with back-to-back career-highs of 21 points against UP and FEU.
Despite the added size, this has not translated well in the rebounding department as the Tigers only ranked sixth in rebounds with an average of 40.14 per game.
Last season, the underperforming Tigers recorded the second-lowest team rebound average with only 41.5 per game.
Their struggles on the boards were evident in their 88-67 loss to the defending champions DLSU Green Archers, where UST only managed to pull down 23 defensive rebounds and six offensive rebounds.
Finally, some help
Completing the triumvirate of UST is King Tiger Nic Cabañero who sits in ninth place with 55.143 SP. He is putting up game averages of 13.57 points on 44.62% from the field, 4.14 rebounds and two assists.
While his numbers have slightly dropped compared to last season’s 60.143 SP, Cabañero remained a steady scoring option with 95 total points–third in scoring behind teammate Tounkara.
However, the captain still struggles with converting his threes and freebies efficiently as he only managed to sink 20.69% from the three-point line and 59.38% from the foul line. This mirrored the team’s shooting clips as well, with a 26.78% rate from deep and 67.23% success rate in the free-throw line.
UST improved from its 24.75% shooting from beyond the arc, which was the league’s worst in Season 86. Meanwhile, free-throw shooting improved from 60.5%, the third-best last season.
The Cebuano cager has seen his team’s lowest of lows, but he willingly insisted on enhancing his defensive abilities this season to boost the team’s competitiveness. But it has yet to reflect well on the team’s defensive efforts as a whole.
Despite the shift in the offensive side this season, the other side of the ball did not take a new route as UST sits at the bottom of the league in blocks with only 12 in total and second-worst in steals with 47 pick-pockets.
The Tigers were likewise awful in defending the hoop last season, placing seventh in blocks with 2.64 in 14 games. However, one positive aspect of their performance was their steals, which ranked fourth with an average of 7.93 per game.
The Tigers will return to action after a one-week break, taking on last season’s runner-ups UP Fighting Maroons, on Sunday, Oct. 13, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. F – Mc Neil Zyh Serrano with reports from Shayne Lee Andreas Macaraeg
