Jed Manguera – The Lockdown Specialist.

A masked Jed Bryan Manguera enters the court with four other white shirts ready for another tour of duty.

This time around he has to guard one of the league’s top offensive guns and last year’s Rookie of the Year, Kiefer Ravena.

Ravena receives the leather on the right wing. Driving hard, he found DLSU Green Archer Manguera shadowing him every step of the way.

When the Ateneo Blue Eagles’ “Phenom” receives the pick from his teammate Greg Slaughter, Manguera was still with him, denying plays, and prompting the Eagle to pass the ball or take a shot out of his comfort zone.

The 6’1 guard, who earned his nose fracture after employing a leechlike defense on FEU’s RR Garcia, is one of the few defensive specialists in the Archers’ slate and in the league as well.

Second chance

After his rookie year in season 72, where he averaged 1.5 minutes in four games, 0.25 rebounds with no baskets, and a coaching change, Manguera was demoted to Archers’ Team D.

It was a disappointing time for the former RP Youth Team member.

“I wanted like every year I would be part of the team to continually improve. I was frustrated at first, but I took it as a challenge so eventually I got better,” Manguera shared.

A season after, he was cut again from the roster, which made him almost throw the white towel for his basketball dream.

“Sabi ko I’d stop playing basketball muna. (I said I would stop playing basketball for the moment.) So I was [in] team B for one year and the second year I didn’t play; I decided to study,” Jed relates.

“Well, actually when I stopped playing I didn’t have plans on playing for La Salle anymore. I was thinking of playing in the D-League or in other commercial leagues.”

When Coach Gee Abanilla and his wards took over, Jed found new hope and started practicing again.

“He’s a good guy, very coachable. As a teammate, he listens also and is open for suggestions. Off the court he is fun to be around, and gets along with everyone easily, down to earth too,” describes Team D teammate LA Revilla.

“He is a hardworking athlete who didn’t give up on his dream. This second chance was never handed to him, he earned it,” former teammate Garren Elorde added.

From D to defense

After training in Team D, Jed Manguera made his comeback this year as the Archers’ designated defensive specialist.

This De La Salle Zobel standout, who was part of the Zobel team that won the UAAP Juniors crown in 2007 together with Joshua Webb, was a known scorer.

As Manguera shares, “Actually I was more of a scorer back in high school. In a way, I wasn’t really committed to playing defense in high school.”

But when he joined the Green Archers in 2009, the team was stacked with scorers in Joshua Webb, James Mangahas and Peejay Barua.

The same is true for this season as the team has LA Revilla, Norbert Torres and Jeron Teng on the offensive end.

“I wasn’t really a defensive player pero (but) I realized that I wanted to play…So if I play as a scorer, wala akong spot sa team (I would not have a spot on the team). So I had to find a way to contribute,” Jed shares.

On defense for Season 75

Guarding the best players in collegiate basketball is both a privilege and a challenge for Jed.

During his stint, he has added a couple of victims to his list with the likes of UE’s Roi Sumang, whom he held to 36 percent in the two-point field and Tamaraw Garcia, who was limited to 2 out of 12 field goal attempts.

Manguera, however, was not that successful with Ravena as the Blue Eagle shot a convincing 67 percent from the 2-point field, albeit Ravena was at zero for two beyond the arc.

Going deeper in the season, Jed believes in the team’s chances of winning this year. Their roles are clearly defined in the team, and everyone knows what they have to do.

“It’s just really up to the players. All we have to do is to do our part. Play to win and play hard.”

And for his offense, Jed shared, “I just try to focus every time I’m on the court.”

4:04 remaining in regulation, Manguera was called back to the court, shutting down Ravena, before burying another rainbow shot in deep during the last three minutes to keep the Archers within four.

Manguera thumps his fists to his chest three times.