MANILA, Philippines – Bleeding red at the sidelines for the last 5 years, Dindo Pumaren has undoubtedly turned the University of the East (UE) into a Janus-faced apparition through time.

To most UE die-hards, the fancied Warriors of the Pumaren era are perennial Final Four contenders. But that doesn’t stop there.

The most memorable yet forgettable image that the Pumaren-led Warriors have projected since posting a 14-game sweep of the eliminations only to bust out on Judgment Day remains a novelty to behold among UAAP cage pundits.

Two words: Finals chokers. And UE fans hope that Pumaren jinx of old will rub on to his new team when the De La Salle Green Archers battle the Warriors on Sunday in the 73rd UAAP men’s basketball tournament at the PhilSports Arena.

Pumaren, who took the coaching reins from his brother Franz over the summer, faces his former team in the 4 p.m. main game when he pilots the green-and-white think-tank over the still winless UE Red Warriors, now under the tutelage of another La Salle alumnus, Lawrence Chongson.

The Archers are coming off a 55-59 biting from a dangerous National University side on Thursday. UE, meanwhile opened its campaign with a 67-80 loss to the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigers.

Prior to the UE-La Salle tiff, the defending champion Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles and the Tigers tangle in the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser.

To chalk up win No. 2, the Archers must put the defensive cuffs on UE main man Paul Lee and the sweet-shooting James Martinez right from the opening tip.

But that may be easier said than done as the Archers’ relatively young backcourt – with only team captain Simon Atkins matching up UE’s 1-2 punch in terms of experience – stand to crack in pressure-packed situations once more especially against the scrappy plays of the more veteran UE court generals which also include Raffy Reyes and Paul Zamar.

Upfront, the Archers enjoy a deeper and more seasoned rotation with Maui Villanueva, Jovet Mendoza, Yutein Andrada, Ferdinand Damanik and Joshua Webb patrolling the lane, posing UE and its Ken Acibar-led frontline a difficult time to score inside.

Ateneo, for its part, will be capitalizing on its vaunted height advantage over the guard-heavy Tigers.

Offensively, the Tigers have enough firepower to engage the Eagles in a shoot out but their ability to hold the fort on the defensive end remains suspect as UST is known for giving up a lot of second-chance points and committing unnecessary turnovers in its head-to-head match up with Ateneo since last season.

The Eagles will be leaving the quarterbacking chores to holdovers Emman Monfort, Eric Salamat, Bacon Austria and Kirk Long while banking on Nico Salva, Ryan Buenafe, Justine Chua and rookies Art dela Cruz, JP Erram and Jason Escueta down low.

UST, meanwhile, parades a rookie-laden crew led by Season 72 top newcomer Jeric Teng, and veterans Jeric Fortuna, Clark Bautista, Carmelo Afuang and Chris Camus. – by Anthony Divinagracia

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