The return of juniors star Lorenzo Navarro to his mother school is expected to add more speed into the game of the San Sebastian Stags.
Navarro, who is coming back following a short stint with the La Salle Green Archers will be one of the point guards of the Stags in the 93rd season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.
“Dagdag siya sa mga point guard ko. The way I see it, we will be a fast defensive team,” said coach Egay Macaraya
Navarro, was one of three NCAA players who prayed for the Philippines in the Fiba Under-17 World Championship three years ago.
With Macaraya and members of the team doing a lot of homework during the off-season, they are expected to go places this year.
The team worked on their speed, versatility and aggressive defense, and they did a lot of tweaking during pre-season sorties.
He believes it will not be an easy season for the Stags.
“All teams are competitive. I guess, it will be a tough season,” added Macaray.
Observers feel that this early, the Stags are among the legitimate contenders for the Final Four.
Their pre-season efforts helped negate their size disadvantage, which wasn’t much following the departure of Calvin Abueva and other big players from the team.
This will also be their advantage since they don’t have a foreign player with them.
The Stags boast of the presence of one of their best player since Abueva’s time.
And that’s Michael Calisaan, a 6-6 forward who is now taking and making three-point shots while turning into a facilitator and a leader.
He will be backed up by veterans Ryan Costelo, Jerick Fabian, Alvin Capobres and Jayson David.
And there are also younger players who can step up.
They can now go deeper with the addition of Lorenzo Navarro, a transferee from La Salle who played high school ball for San Sebastian.
Then, second stringers like Alfren Gayosa, Ian Valdez, Allyn Bulanadi and RK Ilagan can step up on behalf of the starters.
"We know we're a smaller team compared to others who have foreign players. What we did was to outrun our opponents, play tougher defense and being versatile," added Macaraya.