Pulling the trigger: Caidic praises UE as Warriors fight for lost culture, pride

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time in more than two years, the UE Red Warriors can call themselves winners in UAAP men’s basketball following a historic 53-47 win over Adamson on Saturday, November 7.

Although making “history” in this case is far from what the proud, 18-time champion program was used to back in their glory days, history is history nonetheless as the Red Warriors ended a massive 30-game losing streak dating back to October 2024 in Season 87.

When the buzzer rang across the Araneta Coliseum, there was no dry eye nor quiet mouth from the ranks of the UE players and coaching staff, including new head coach Paulo Hubalde and team consultant Allan Caidic.

Plenty of legends have come and gone through UE’s halls and played proudly for the red and white, but Caidic is on another tier of his own.

One of the greatest stars in Filipino basketball history, the “Triggerman” is UE culture incarnate. With three UAAP titles, three UAAP MVPs, five PBA titles, and eight PBA All-Star selections, Caidic treated wins as par for the course and always set his sights on the bigger picture.

Yet on that fateful Saturday afternoon, he was not one to dismiss the value of what a solitary victory can do to a program, particularly one that has been struggling the way his alma mater is.

“I hope this win will erase all doubts with the players, and they feel that they can actually compete and we can win games,” Caidic said after the game, where he proudly raised his fist with the rest of the squad while singing the “Pamantasan Ka Naming Mahal”school hymn.

“That’s important for the players coming into next year, and for our last three games. If we can play the way we did, holding [Adamson] to 47 points and 17% shooting, it’s a big credit to the players themselves. This is a great morale boost. They just have to believe in themselves.”

Two cultures, one goal

Despite UE dealing with multiple star departures and transfers over the years that all but gutted the roster to unheralded prospects, the next men up have fought for the red and white day in and day out like new league-leading scorer Toper Lagat and Mo Tañedo.

Although Tañedo was not wrong in mentioning in the postgame presser that UE has fallen into a losing culture, Caidic was adamant in fighting for the culture they have lost — a culture that struck fear to the rest of the UAAP teams upon seeing the letters “UE” on their schedules.

“I challenged them the other day, especially the third- and second-year players. I told them ‘Do you want to go your entire career without a win?’ If we were swept this year, they would have gone 0-28. Others have gone longer, so that’s about 0-34,” the legend continued.

“So I really told them we have to stop the bleeding. The effort is there and you can see it, but you just see the inexperience. These players were just relievers last year, or didn’t even play at all. So it’s really a process, and slowly they have been able to adapt.”

Lagat, in fact, just averaged 6.8 points in UAAP Season 88, while Tañedo normed 2.5 points in a roster dominated by Precious Momowei, John Abate, and Wello Lingolingo — all of whom are now either out of collegiate basketball or playing elsewhere.

Caidic understands that nurturing this program in this current state of constant upheaval is a whole different challenge than just drilling the Xs and Os on the sideline, which is why he is even more motivated to bring out the best in every single player, regardless of results.

“I just have to keep on pushing them and lifting them, because these are not professional players whom you can tell off to adjust after just one talk. These are kids whom you have to guide and advise to be consistent,” Caidic continued.

“They’re all good kids. They follow, they work hard in practice, and you can really see prior to this game, that they have been really improving. A few of our games have come close to winning, in fact. They just really have to believe in themselves and work hard consistently.”

The UE Red Warriors are a legendary, championship-laden program. The UE Red Warriors are also one of the most prominent losing programs in modern UAAP history.

Two things can be true at once, but what matters is what the program’s players wish to be known for.

If Saturday’s game and their recent outings were any indicators, these new-age UE Red Warriors are certainly sick and tired of all the negativity.

That’s all the motivation they need. – Rappler.com