Altamirano, who is also making his coaching debut for NU, said it would be unfair to put all the pressure on the 18-year-old Parks when the Bulldogs collide with the Growling Tigers at 1 p.m. on Thursday of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum.
“Let’s talk about the game because Rayray [Parks] is just a rookie and it will be hard for him to feel the pressure,” said Altamirano.
“Look at what happened to Kiefer [Ravena of Ateneo]. Kawawa ’yung bata because the pressure was so tremendous kaya he was not able to play his usual game. Let’s focus on the game and not on one player,” he added.
Ravena had a forgettable debut with the Blue Eagles. He failed to score in 14 minutes on the floor in Ateneo’s 55-51 win over Adamson on Sunday.
Altamirano, who handled Ravena in the national youth team, said Parks is mentally ready to play his first game and will definitely start for the Bulldogs.
University of the Philippines (UP) and University of the East (UE), two teams also with new coaches, collide at 3 p.m.
Ricky Dandan has a gargantuan task of erasing the stigma of a 0-14 stint when Aboy Castro and Boyet Fernandez coached the Fighting Maroons last season.
For the Red Warriors, they are hoping that a champion player in Jerry Codinera, who won for UE its last UAAP crown in 1984 and 1985, could turn their fortunes around this season.
But the focus would definitely be on Parks, as it was on six-foot-11 Greg Slaughter who starred in defending three-time champion Ateneo’s victory over Adamson University on Sunday.
But again, Altamirano stressed it should be the game they are concentrating on, and not one player.
“They [Tigers] are still a team to reckon with despite [them] not being mentioned as one of the teams to be beat this season. They have veterans in Chris Camus and Jeric Fortuna and the MVP of last year’s juniors division Kevin Ferrer,” he said.
UST head coach Pido Jarencio said half of his team are newcomers but is comfortable with the setup.
“Okay lang sa akin ’yung ganoon. Noong 2006 hindi rin kami pinapansin pero nag-champion kami. This season, maraming bago pero nandoon pa rin ’yung puso ng UST na lumalaban every game,” said Jarencio.
The Tigers will be without Clark Bautista (academics) and Aljon Mariano (injury) for this season but Jarencio said the rookies could step up, especially Ferrer, who reportedly was almost recruited by NU last summer.
The school is still working on the papers of Karim Abdul, a six-foot-six Cameroonian. The UAAP board actually is giving UST an option to field Abdul but face the consequence of forfeiting its won games if the school doesn’t produce the Cameroonian’s documents.
Dandan, on the other hand, said UP has submitted to the UAAP board pertinent documents for Alinko Mbah, a big man from Nigeria. He is now cleared to play on Thursday.
The Red Warriors no longer have star player Paul Lee, who wanted to turn pro this year, and reliable forward Ken Acibar.
(Joel Orellana)
