Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup tinkers groupings, sets opening

The Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup tinkered with its groupings just before the start of competition proper on April 23.

The organizers moved San Beda and Letran from Group A to Group B, with Perpetual and JRU taking their place in what had originally been noted as the "group of death:."

The NCAA Season 89 finals protagonists replace the Altas and EAC in Group B, with the Generals moving over to Group C to replace the Bombers.

Revised Filoil Groupings below:

Group A: La Salle, UE, Perpetual, JRU, UV, SWU, and San Carlos
Group B: San Beda, Letran, FEU, Lyceum, Mapua, St. Clare, and RP Youth U-18
Group C: San Sebastian, NU, CEU, EAC, CSB, UP, and Holy Trinity College

The tournament is scheduled to tip off on April 23 with the first game of the quintipleheader being the juniors matchup of the San Sebastian Staglets and the UST Tiger Cubs at 10:45 am. Following that is the first women's matchup of the day, between CEU and UST, at 12:30pm.

Gamedays are scheduled on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays.

The seniors won't start their action until April 26, with San Sebastian facing UP at 9:30am. The first televised matches of the tournament will be later in the afternoon, with the NCAA finals rematch between the Knights and the Red Lions at 2pm, followed by the skirmish of the Green Archers and the Red Warriors at 4pm.

Any televised games (which right now consists of the opening double-header and the seniors' semifinals and finals, which will be on June 6 & 7) will be shown on Sports+Action.

La Salle team manager Raffy Villavicencio views the Premier Cup as an opportunity to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the reigning UAAP champions. They are expected to field a lineup that is to include newcomers like Abu Tratter, Julian Sargent, Prince Rivero and Renzo Subido.

Letran head coach Caloy Garcia sees the tournament as a chance for exposure and to develop team chemistry, as they move forward without last season's MVP (and 3rd overall draft pick) Raymond Almazan. Mark Cruz is expected to lead the charge for the Knights, along with last year's newcomer Rey Nambatac.

UV Lancers head coach Donbel Belano also sees this tournament as an exposure, as the MBA legend believes that facing the best collegiate teams in Manila will help them as they defend their CESAFI title. He adds, “You will learn a lot more from playing the top teams than teams na kayang kaya mo.”