While scouting the FilOil Flying V Premier Cup last summer, I pointed out Jeric Teng to a colleague, telling

him the sharpshooter would be a revelation this coming season. He brushed me off, saying Watch out, this will be Aljon Marianos team this year. As summer unfolded, Mariano dropped double-digit game after another as he and Teng brought the Tigers all the way to the semis, eventually falling to fourth place after the UE Red Warriors outplayed them for a Finals berth. This would have been their second straight championship post-UAAP Season 75, after bagging the PCCL crown a few months after that painful Finals loss. The 63 forward finished seventh in the league in scoring at 16.8 PPG to go along with seven rebounds per contest, carrying his team as Teng recovered from an ankle injury while Karim Abdul struggled to come back to form. This season, Mariano norms just 10.8 points per game, but he picked up for the injured Teng against UE, scoring 24 points, hauling down 11 rebounds, and making the crucial baskets in the process. He showed flashes of summer in that match-up, driving to the hoop with the same vigor and picking the UE defense with that ball fake, before banking the ball in. If and when he gets the call, expect him to flex with with a pout and an awkward stomping motion. There isnt much of that version of Mariano this season after he purportedly sprained the same ankle that he fractured, the same ankle that caused him to miss the entire Season 74. With Teng out again after tearing a shoulder ligament, there was hope that Mariano would explode, but alas, the basketball gods have looked down favorably on the Tamaraws, while last years Finals contenders continue to find go back to the pink of health. Barring that injury, Marianos moveset would have been on full display, and those spin moves and those pump fakes wouldve been death for any defender thrown at him. The cocktail of defenders Boycie Zamar heaped at him looked helpless, repeatedly falling for those ball fakes that turned into and-one opportunities. How do you guard a healthy Aljon Mariano? A pattern revealed itself during the summer. For starters, Mariano is an adequate jump shooter. Mariano can hit a triple and from within the arc, and your best bet is keeping a hand to his face or to keep him far away from the basket as much as possible. He will NOT shoot if he is not open, and chances are that he shakes off his defender to drive to the hoop. Mariano drives to the basket, spins, and lures his defenders. They bite, and if they hold their ground, Mariano goes for a quick lay-up on the second try, or he passes to Abdul if two defenders swarm him. If they jump, count on an and-one opportunity, and thats three points off your lead in seven seconds or less; in UEs case, he slahed six points within the first three minutes of the third canto. All this is theoretical, and its obvious that Mariano and his coach have been hiding the hurt behind production from Abdul, Clark Bautista, and Kevin Ferrer, on whose shoulders the Tigers current fate rests. No timetable has been set to tag him at 100 percent, and you get the sense that these Tigers arent playing at full strength without him and Teng on the wings. If and when that day comes and I am looking forward to it expect them to go at their opponents with a rare gusto that only a scorned title contender possesses.