2008 UST Growling Tigers basketball team

The 2008 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball team represented University of Santo Tomas in the 71st season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2008-09 began on July 5, 2008 and the host school for the season was the University of the Philippines who were celebrating their centennial year.[1]

2008 UST Growling Tigers men's basketball
Record
Elims rank #5
Final rank#5
2008 record6–8
Head coachPido Jarencio (3rd season)
Assistant coachesSenen Dueñas
Beaujing Acot
CaptainFrancis Allera (5th season)
Seasons
← 2007
2009 →

UST finished fifth at the end of the double round-robin eliminations. They won six games against eight losses. Two of their games went into overtime. The first was an 86–80 win over the Adamson Falcons in the first round, and the other was a 69–74 loss to the FEU Tamaraws in the second round.

The Tigers' second round losses to FEU and to the De La Salle Green Archers meant that they needed to win their last two games to at least tie the UE Red Warriors to gain a playoff for the fourth and final seed heading into the Final Four. They were fifth in the standings at 5 wins and 7 losses, while UE was fourth with a 7–5 record. They were also hoping for the Red Warriors to lose their remaining two games for a playoff to happen.

The game resulted to a two-point loss for UST. The Tigers had struggled throughout the game with errors and inconsistencies. Their opponent had led by 22 points at the end of three quarters. Head coach Pido Jarencio got ejected, but in a display of grit and determination, UST fought back and chipped away at UE's lead, resulting to a 24–1 run. The Tigers who got eliminated ended up scoring 35 points in the fourth quarter.[2]

Season 70 MVP Jervy Cruz was included in the Mythical team selection during the presentation of awards for Season 71. He had played the entire season while nursing a hamstring injury and even led the MVP race at the end of the eliminations with 75.1 statistical points, on top of a double-double average of 19.8 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. He has led the league in rebounds since his first playing year in 2006. The MVP award eventually went to Ateneo's Rabeh Al-Hussaini who was second in running with 71.1 statistical points.[3]

The Growling Tigers was the season's top rebounding team with a 48.4 per game average.

Roster

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UST Growling Tigers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Year High School
SG 5   Clark Daniel Oliver Bautista 5'9" (1.75m) 1st Benedictine International School
SF 6   Dylan Simon Ababou 6'3" (1.91m) 4th Siena College of Quezon City
C 7   Mark Angelo Canlas 6'5" (1.96m) 4th Don Bosco Academy, Pampanga
PG 8   Emilian Vargas 5'11" (1.8m) 2nd
PF 9   Melchor Gile 6'4" (1.93m) 4th
PG 10   Jeric Marco Fortuna 5'7" (1.7m) 1st De La Salle Santiago Zobel School
PF 11   Carmelo Afuang 6'4" (1.93m) 1st San Beda College–Rizal
PF 12   Christopher Camus 6'4" (1.93m) 2nd Sunny Hills High School
SF 14   Khasim Ali Mirza 6'4" (1.93m) 4th La Salle College Antipolo
SG 16   Franciz Philip Allera (C) 6'3" (1.91m) 5th Dole Philippines School
C 17   Chester Lloyd Taylor 6'4" (1.93m) 5th Colegio San Agustin – Makati
PG 18   John Paul Cuan 5'7" (1.7m) 5th University of Santo Tomas
SG 19   Carlos Amador Fenequito 6'0" (1.83m) 3rd
C 20   Jervy Cruz 6'4" (1.93m) 5th Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College
PG 21   Jackson Wong 5'10" (1.78m) 1st Philippine Academy of Sakya-Manila
PF 22   Allein Gail Maliksi   6'4" (1.93m) 3rd Camarin High School
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Rhuel Acot
  • Senen Dueñas
  • Julian Rabbi Tomacruz
  • Rodil Sablan
Strength & conditioning coach(es)
  • Emmanuel Calipes
  • Edwin Escobar
Team manager
  • Clarence Aytona
  • Timmy Chong
  • Rudy Yu

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  •   Injured

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Cruz Taylor Camus
PF Canlas Gile Afuang
SF Ababou Mirza
SG Allera Bautista Fenequito
PG Cuan Fortuna Vargas

Roster changes

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The Growling Tigers have lost three of their veterans in center June Dizon, point guards Jun Cortez and Rum Perry Scott, and team captain Anthony Espiritu to graduation and are parading eight new players composed of rookies, transferees and players from the Team B training pool.[4]

Subtractions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
SG 5   John Hector Badua 5' 11" 2nd University of Santo Tomas Transferred to José Rizal University
SF 8   Anthony Espiritu 6' 4" 5th University of Santo Tomas Graduated
PF 10   June Dizon 6' 4" 5th San Sebastian College-Recoletos Graduated
SG 11   John Darryl Basa 6' 1" 2nd University of Santo Tomas Relegated to Team B
PG 12   Jose Cortez, Jr. 5' 10" 5th University of Santo Tomas Graduated
C 19   Francis Soriano 6' 6" 4th
PG 21   Rum Perry Scott 5' 9" 5th St. Joseph School Graduated

Additions

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Pos. No. Nat. Player Height Year High school Notes
SG 5   Clark Daniel Oliver Bautista 5' 9" 1st Benedictine International School Promoted from Team B
PG 8   Emilian Vargas 5' 11" 2nd Transferred from Emilio Aguinaldo College
PG 10   Jeric Marco Fortuna 5' 7" 1st De La Salle Santiago Zobel School Rookie
PF 11   Carmelo Afuang 6' 4" 1st San Beda College–Rizal Promoted from Team B
PF 12   Christopher Camus 6' 4" 2nd Sunny Hills High School Transferred from San Beda College
SG 19   Carlos Amador Fenequito 6' 0" 3rd Transferred from José Rizal University
PG 21   Jackson Wong 5' 10" 1st Philippine Academy of Sakya-Manila Rookie
PF 22   Allein Gail Maliksi 6' 4" 3rd Camarin High School Transferred from University of Manila

Injuries

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The Growling Tigers did not join any major preseason tournaments on two reasons: their veteran players had been busy playing for their commercial teams in the Philippine Basketball League in the summer; and eight of their players suffered various injures before the UAAP tournament.[5]

  • Jervy Cruz played in all 14 UAAP games while nursing a pulled hamstring which he incurred while playing for the Hapee Fresh Fighters in an out-of-town game in May.[6]
  • Dylan Ababou fractured his right hand while playing for the Harbour Centre Batang Pier. He was healed in time for the opening of the season and played in all of UST's games.
  • Khasim Mirza suffered a broken foot and was also hospitalized before the start of the season due to an improper diet. He missed three games in the first round of eliminations.
  • Japs Cuan, in only the third game of the Tigers suffered a torn meniscus on his knee which required surgery. He was able to return in the second round while playing limited minutes.[7]
  • Allein Maliksi had an ACL injury and was only able to play in one game against the NU Bulldogs in the first round of eliminations.
  • Chester Taylor and Francis Allera had sprained knees during their summer training, while rookie Jeric Fortuna suffered from flu during the season.
  • Other players who missed games were Mel Gile, Chris Camus, Milan Vargas, and Khasim Mirza. They were all given suspensions by the coaching staff during their first-round game against the Adamson Falcons.

Schedule and results

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UAAP games

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Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format and all of UST's games were televised on Studio 23 and Balls.

UAAP Season 71 game log
Elimination round: 6–8
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Jul 5 • 4:00 pm UE Red Warriors L 73–78 0–1 Cruz (26) Cruz (22) Cuan (6) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
2 Jul 12 • 2:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons W 94–75 1–1 Ababou (20) Cuan (9) Cuan (7) PhilSports Arena Pasig
3 Jul 17 • 4:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers L 84–85 1–2 Ababou (23) Cruz (11) Cuan (6) PhilSports Arena Pasig
4 Jul 20 • 4:00 pm FEU Tamaraws L 65–70 1–3 Allera (20) Allera (8) Fortuna (4) PhilSports Arena Pasig
5 Jul 27 • 4:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 86–80OT 2–3 Ababou (26) Ababou (13) Bautista (3) PhilSports Arena Pasig
6 Jul 31 • 2:00 pm NU Bulldogs W 88–77 3–3 Bautista (18) Cruz (10) Canlas (4) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
7 Aug 3 • 4:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles
End of R1 of eliminations
L 57–64 3–4 Ababou (15) Cruz (15) Bautista (3) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
8 Aug 9 • 2:00 pm Adamson Soaring Falcons W 97–83 4–4 Cruz (29) Cruz (15) Fortuna (5) PhilSports Arena Pasig
9 Aug 14 • 4:00 pm Ateneo Blue Eagles L 76–85 4–5 Cruz (23) Cruz (18) Fortuna (4) PhilSports Arena Pasig
10 Aug 17 • 4:00 pm FEU Tamaraws L 69–74OT 4–6 Cruz (30) Cruz (13) Fortuna (4) PhilSports Arena Pasig
11 Aug 23 • 2:00 pm NU Bulldogs W 68–58 5–6 Allera (14) Cruz (10) Cuan (4) PhilSports Arena Pasig
12 Aug 28 • 4:00 pm De La Salle Green Archers L 79–81 5–7 Cruz (28) Cruz (20) Tied (3) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
13 Aug 31 • 4:00 pm UE Red Warriors L 87–89 5–8 Cruz (21) Cruz (23) Cuan (4) PhilSports Arena Pasig
14 Sep 6 • 2:00 pm UP Fighting Maroons
End of R2 of eliminations
W 71–63 6–8 Cruz (21) Cruz (18) Tied (3) Araneta Coliseum Quezon City
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.
Source: inboundPASS

Postseason tournament

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Postseason game log
2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship: 4–1
Game Date • Time Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Location
1 Oct 15 • 12:00 pm St. Clare College Saints
Wildcard qualifying round
W 80–71 1–0 Allera (22) Makati Coliseum Makati
2 Oct 16 • 1:30 pm SFAC Doves
Wildcard qualifying round
W 64–51 2–0 Ababou (30) Makati Coliseum Makati
3 Oct 17 • 1:30 pm LPC Blue Lions
Wildcard qualifying round
W 69–66 3–0 Ababou (24) Canlas (10) Makati Coliseum Makati
4 Nov 4 • 1:30 pm SLU Navigators
Zonal championships
W 102–52 4–0 Tied (11) Mirza (11) Mirza (4) Makati Coliseum Makati
5 Nov 6 • 3:00 pm Arellano Chiefs
Zonal championships
L 59–69 4–1 Ababou (22) Makati Coliseum Makati
(#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in UTC+08:00.

UAAP statistics

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Player GP GS MPG FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TOV PPG
Jervy Cruz 14 32.5 103 188 54.8 0 0 0.0 71 95 74.7 13.7 0.9 0.4 0.9 2.4 19.8
Dylan Ababou 14 28.2 74 163 45.4 14 53 26.4 58 80 72.5 6.6 1.1 0.6 0.3 3.1 15.3
Francis Allera 14 23.4 52 139 37.4 22 78 28.2 13 17 76.5 5.6 1.3 0.3 0.5 1.9 9.9
Tata Bautista 14 15.6 31 98 31.6 25 82 30.5 10 14 71.4 1.4 1.1 0.1 0.0 1.5 6.9
Khasim Mirza 11 16.5 23 74 31.1 12 41 29.3 13 19 68.4 4.0 0.6 0.2 0.1 1.6 6.5
Badong Canlas 14 21.4 32 93 34.4 0 1 0.0 23 41 56.1 4.8 1.3 0.2 0.3 1.7 6.2
Japs Cuan 10 20.3 14 31 45.2 1 6 16.7 9 20 45.0 3.8 4.0 0.6 0.0 1.7 3.8
Jeric Fortuna 14 15.9 15 56 26.8 7 23 30.4 15 24 62.5 1.7 1.7 0.7 0.0 1.9 3.7
Allein Maliksi 1 5.0 1 3 33.3 1 1 100.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 3.0
Chris Camus 12 8.1 14 40 35.0 1 11 9.1 3 4 75.0 1.9 0.3 1.0 0.3 0.3 2.7
Chester Taylor 14 11.2 14 42 33.3 0 2 0.0 2 2 100.0 2.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 2.7
Milan Vargas 7 6.1 6 14 42.9 0 1 0.0 1 5 20.0 0.9 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.6 2.0
Mel Gile 11 10.2 6 18 33.3 1 5 20.0 5 10 50.0 3.3 0.9 0.1 0.4 0.8 1.6
Carlos Fenequito 14 8.0 6 19 31.6 2 7 28.6 5 6 83.3 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.5 1.4
Melo Afuang 5 1.8 0 3 0.0 0 0 0.0 2 4 50.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4
Jackson Wong 3 1.3 0 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 1 2 50.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.3
Total 14 40.7 391 982 39.8 81 296 27.4 231 343 67.3 48.4 12.9 4.0 2.8 17.2 78.1
Opponents 14 40.7 369 943 39.1 80 294 27.2 252 392 64.3 39.0 14.9 4.8 4.3 14.5 75.9
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FGM  Field-goal made  FGA  Field-goal attempts  FG%  Field-goal percentage
 3PM  3-point field-goal made  3PA  3-point field-goal attempts  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage
 FTM  Free-throw made  FTA  Free-throw attempts  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  TOT  Turnovers per game  PPG  Points per game
Source: inboundPASS

Awards

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Name Award Date Ref.
Jervy Cruz Mythical team 24 Sep 2008 [8]
Clark Bautista Tokyo Tokyo All-rookie team

Players drafted into the PBA

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Jervy Cruz was picked fourth in the first round of the 2009 PBA draft by the Caloy Garcia-led Rain or Shine Elasto Painters team on August 2, 2009. Francis Allera was also selected in the same rookie draft as the 13th overall pick by the Yeng Guiao-coached Burger King Whoppers before getting traded to the Coca-Cola Tigers.[9]

Badong Canlas applied for the 2010 PBA draft but went unselected. He was picked up by the Shopinas.com Clickers the following year, where he reunited with former teammates Jojo Duncil and Khasim Mirza under coach Franz Pumaren.[10][11]

Year Round Pick Overall Player PBA team
2009 1 4 4 Jervy Cruz Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
2 4 13 Francis Allera Burger King Whoppers
2011 Signed as a free agent Mark Canlas Shopinas.com Clickers

References

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  1. ^ Villar, Joey. "UAAP 71st season under way". ABS-CBN Sports. Retrieved 5 Jul 2008.
  2. ^ Olivares, Rick. "A Tiger season's end". Bleachers Brew. Retrieved 6 Sep 2008.
  3. ^ Payo, Jasmine. "2-way fight for MVP title shaping up". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 7 Sep 2008.
  4. ^ Brobo, Heinz Jassen. "Beefing up Lair '71". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 30 Jun 2008.
  5. ^ Divinagracia, Anthony Andrew. "A lair in stitches". The Varsitarian. Retrieved 30 Sep 2008.
  6. ^ Payo, Jasmine. "Jervy doubtful; Loyzaga gives Castro advice". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  7. ^ Bustamante, Paolo. "The Graduates: UST point guard Japs Cuan continues to assist". SLAMonline Philippines. Retrieved 3 Sep 2016.
  8. ^ Villar, Joey. "Ateneo sweeps MVP, top rookie honors". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 24 Sep 2008.
  9. ^ "Burger King sticks to plan, picks Aguilar No. 1". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2 Aug 2009.
  10. ^ Henson, Joaquin. "Sportung Chance: Oldest is shortest". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 29 Aug 2010.
  11. ^ Henson, Joaquin. "Shopinas reunites Pumaren, Ritualo". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 9 Sep 2011.