Embattled Chiefs Out To Pull Off Surprises

Without Gio Ciacruz, the Arellano University Chiefs have suddenly turned from an up and coming squad back to a rebuilding team.

Cruz, along with seven other players, won’t be around this time to backstop the squad. Instead, the Chiefs will have to find ways getting it from unlikely sources coming from their Team B squad. These players will make up the bulk of composition of this season’s roster in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Ciriacruz, who made it to the league’s Mythical Team last time around, is undoubtedly the Chiefs’ top gun last season. His departure left a big hole to the squad’s offensive sock.

“With the veterans gone in our team, I think we’re ranked right in the middle of the pack," said assistant coach Junjie Ablan, last season’s head coach, who has to give way for the return of Leo Isaac as the Legarda-based cagers’ mentor.

Isaac, the former Ginebra San Miguel stalwart who became steered the Chiefs to back-to-back titles in the NCRAA in 2007 and 2008 and a grandslam in the Fr. Martin’s Cup preseason tournament from 2007 to 2009, was forced to give up his coaching post after being named by Barako Bull last season as coach in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Isaac will be back this season for the Chiefs and expect the squad to pull off several surprises with the fiery coach back in tow.

“We’re playing with nothing to lose because we’ve become more of a rebuilding squad. There are a lot of new players on the team," said Ablan. “We’re a small team, but we will try make up our frontline deficiency with our speed. We’re a hardworking team."

This year’s composition of the squad is composed of six holdovers and eight newcomers and Ablan believes it’s going to be a tougher task for them this season.

“Without Gio Ciriacruz, I believe our main men right now are Andrian Celada and Isiah Ciriacruz," said Ablan. “We’ve a lot of inexperienced players, which is the reason why we lost a lot of close fights in preseason tournaments. But we promise to give every squad in the NCAA a good fight."

Celada showed a lot of promise in the NCAA last season. He lighted things up for the Chiefs in the first round, but suddenly went cold in the second. He needs to be more consistent this year to keep the team’s hopes going.

The younger Ciriacruz can pose mismatches with his versatility and expect the Chiefs to do that more often while Leonard Anquilo will try to keep a hold of his team with his leadership.

The newcomers on the team are Rocky Acidre, Neri Advincula, John Karlo Casiño, Prince Caperal, Ronnel del Rosario, Gerald Lapuz, Christian Palma, Drake Santos and Vergel Zulueta.

Acidre is a combo guard and shows a lot of promise while Advincula is a frontliner, who had a previous stint with the Philippine Maritime Institute Admirals. Caperal, the tallest player at 6-foot-6, is more of a project player.

Last year, the Chiefs finished fifth in the league with an 8-10 record.

Rey Joble, GMA News TV