Mapua University isn't always the tallest team in the NCAA, but it always had the heart, guts, and hustle.
That has been the case for the Cardinals for a long time now, or at least ever since winning back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991 up until the present.
And Randy Alcantara was lucky enough to witness both generations, as one of the players in that pair of title runs 33 years ago to calling the shots now in Season 100.
"Kasi malaki ‘yung Beda no’n at San Sebastian pati ang Letran so laging maliliit ang player ng Mapua pero ‘yung depensa at hustle laging andiyan ever since," Alcantara told GMA News Online last Sunday.
[Because at the time, Beda and San Sebastián and Letran were all tall and Mapua always had small players but it was the defense and hustle that was there ever since.]
Alcantara, who played as a small forward and a shooting guard for Mapua during those times, was part of what former coach Joel Banal dubbed as their 'Lucky 9' alongside the likes of Benny Cheng and Rizaldy Ramos.
Cheng, of course, was widely known as the one who steered the Cardinals to their 1991 crown after burying the game-winning putback off the missed attempt from Ramos as they ruled Season 67.
"Nasa rotation naman ako and may tinatawag si Coach Joel Banal noon na ‘Lucky 9’ kasi halos buong game, nine lang kami na ginagamit so ayon nabuo ‘yung Lucky 9," Alcantara recalled.
[I was in the rotation and Coach Joel Banal used to have what he called the ‘Lucky 9’ because he would only use nine of us almost the whole game.]
Alcantara said he sees some similarities from the last championship with his current players, who are, incidentally, led by nine players in Clint Escamis, Chris Hubilla, Cyrus Cuenco, Lawrence Mangubat, JC Recto, Yam Concepcion, Jeco Bancale, John Jabonete, and Andrei Igliane.
These nine players were the ones who spearheaded the offense in pulling off a convincing 84-73 win over De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Game 1 of the finals. Escamis, the reigning MVP, eruptied for 30 points to become the first player to post this number in an NCAA finals in the post-pandemic era.
Alcantara admitted the present-day Cardinals are far more skilled.
"Meron (similarities between the 1991 team and current squad) pero syempre, iba na ngayon compared dati. Ngayon mas skilled na ang mga bata kasi sa coaching staff pa lang, dalawa lang sila Coach Joel Banal dati pero ngayon, kita mo naman, matututukan lahat ng players," Alcantara said.
"Sabi ko nga ang swerte ng mga players ngayon kasi parang pwede sila magtig-iisang coach. Kami, hustle at sipag at ubusan ng legs."
[There are similarities but of course, today is very different compared to back then. Today, the players are very skilled because even just with the coaching staff, we used to only have two coaches including Coach Joel Banal. But now, you can see, we can really give attention to each player… I’ve said that the players today are really lucky because they can almost have one coach each. For us, it was all hustle and hard work and giving it your all with your legs.]
But like in 1991, Alcantara said winning a title won't ever come easy as they now set their sight on closing out the series against the Blazers this Saturday.
"Kailangan ‘di na namin pakawalan ngayon, dapat may fresh legs kami at makapahinga kami kasi of course, hindi ‘yan ibibigay sa amin nang madali, marami pa kaming dadaanan sa Game 2," the veteran tactician said.
"Isipin namin knockout game na para sa amin."
[We cannot let it slip away. We should rest and have fresh legs. They won’t just give this to us, we will have to go through a lot in Game 2. We will treat it as a knockout game for us.]
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
