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| The 1985 BLUE EAGLES |
THE 1985 ATENEO BLUE EAGLES
Season 48 of the Men’s UAAP Basketball tournament was one of the most anticipated seasons of the Ateneo Community. Finally, the team has the needed boost to contend and if ever go all the way. The Blue Eagles are now the team that seniors Mike Facundo and Rey Rances will lead together with the new kids on the block – Jun Reyes, Joseph Canlas, Jet Nieto and Alex Araneta. In a sudden twist of fate, Chot Reyes decided to forego his last year of eligibility and HS standout JV Gayoso decided to try his luck with the DLSU team where his older brother Mike found refuge. But then again not all is lost as Nonoy Chuatico came back to the team and the Blue Eagles added another rookie standout from La Salle Greenhills as the 6’0 swingman Llwellyn “Len” Mumar found his way to Katipunan. The stage was set, the Blue Eagles are ready and what made the season more exciting was the introduction of the three-point line. Fresh from their monumental encounter the previous season, Allan Caidic of the UE Red Warriors and Pido Jarencio of the UST Glowing Goldies came back for their final year for another UAAP showdown. Both UE and UST were favorites to meet again in the finals with the Red Warriors supporting cast that includes Jerry Codinera, Boysie Zamar and Carlos Fermin while adding Vilmer Banares and Alfredo Bartolome. UST on the other hand had Bennet Palad, Alfrancis Chua and their triple towers in Gido Babilonia, Julian Tomacruz and Bobby Jose. This year the league also accepted the application of De La Salle as the eighth member of the UAAP and will be on probation for two years starting 1986.
ROBOCOP Mike Facundo
The 1985 season was the first time the Blue Eagles came out with a team that can run the floor, shoot and mix it up inside. This time the Blue Eagles were able to stand up against the defending champion UE team and the league leading UST Glowing Goldies. The Blue Eagles ended up with a 7 - 5 slate as they beat UE, UST, UP once with two wins against Adamson and NU. FEU was the only team they did not beat. The only good news came after the UAAP season when the Blue Eagles placed second in the MMBL tournament behind the San Sebastian Stags.
Picture above: Paras vs. Codinera
THE 1986 ATENEO BLUE EAGLES
After that phenomenal juniors championship, team captain Randy Sevilla, Albert Mendoza, Raymund Morales, PAYA juniors stud Billy Reyes (the youngest of the Reyes brothers) and the returning JV Gayoso were admitted as reserves to the 1986 Ateneo Blue Eagles team. Albert is a 6-2 forward –center who is physical and also has a good medium range jumper. He can be a valuable back-up to the 4 and 5 positions and eventually a starter when his time comes. Raymund is a 6’0 defensive specialist who can also drive to the hoop with a decent perimeter game. Randy on the other hand is a speed demon, can jump up high for an occasional rebound and rarely misses a jumper. Billy on the other hand is a score first point guard who can drive and dish and shoots well from the three-point area.
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| Eric Reyes vs. Benjie Paras in HS action Photo from Joey Guanio's FB Page |
Eric Reyes eventually committed to the Ateneo and the 1986 Blue Eagles were raring to dominate the UAAP. Unfortunately, the other teams also got stronger and even though it was the last year of Mike Facundo and Rey Rances, the team faltered once again as they could not get off the hump after being outplayed by the eventual champs UP Maroons, the deposed champs UE Warriors and Adamson Falcons. The Maroons got the best thing that came out of High school - the Tower of Power Venancio "Benjie" Paras the 6'4 power playing center of the San Beda Red Cubs. Again, the NCAA's loss is the UAAP's gain. Aside from Paras, UP also got another proven scorer in Joey Guanio who will challenge the defending champion UE Warriors. Although Allan Caidic has used up his eligibility, the rest of the Warriors are still dependable specially Jerry Codinera. This time the league was prepared against the Blue Eagles and the big guns matched up well with them. The Blue Eagles snuck out a win against both UST and FEU while beating the NU Bulldogs and newcomers DLSU Green Archers twice to have a 6 – 8 record at the end of the season. The Blue Eagles beat the Archers 77 - 65 in the first round and 81- 80 in the second round with Franz Pumaren playing out his last year in college basketball.
After this season, Jun Reyes further enhanced his resume by joining the first legitimate RP Youth 19 and under team. Jun battled with the best of Asia and was joined by Eric Reyes, UP Maroons Benjie Paras and Joey Guanio, DLSU’s Dickie Bachmann, Adamson’s Mulong Orillosa, UST’s Bobby Jose, San Sebastian’s Paul Alvarez. Other teammates included Zaldy Realubit and Nelson Asaytono while their coach was Joe Lipa. This team would eventually be the core of the National team and it was Jun Reyes’ team to lead. The Philippines beat Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong and South Korea. In the finals the RP team lost to the Song Ligang and Ma Jian led China team 81 - 67 to settle for the silver medal of the 9th ABC Junior Championships. The team is the first Philippine 19 years and under team that had no overaged player and had only a month to prepare. Coach Joe Lipa called the shots for the Nationals. Jun Reyes' brilliance was shown in this competition which eventually prepared him for the 1987 UAAP season. Eric Reyes on the other hand gained a lot of knowledge from Joe Lipa that he brought with him to the next UAAP season.
1986 RP Youth Team
Photo from Joey Guanio's FB Page
After this season, Jun Reyes further enhanced his resume by joining the first legitimate RP Youth 19 and under team. Jun battled with the best of Asia and was joined by Eric Reyes, UP Maroons Benjie Paras and Joey Guanio, DLSU’s Dickie Bachmann, Adamson’s Mulong Orillosa, UST’s Bobby Jose, San Sebastian’s Paul Alvarez. Other teammates included Zaldy Realubit and Nelson Asaytono while their coach was Joe Lipa. This team would eventually be the core of the National team and it was Jun Reyes’ team to lead. The Philippines beat Japan, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong and South Korea. In the finals the RP team lost to the Song Ligang and Ma Jian led China team 81 - 67 to settle for the silver medal of the 9th ABC Junior Championships. The team is the first Philippine 19 years and under team that had no overaged player and had only a month to prepare. Coach Joe Lipa called the shots for the Nationals. Jun Reyes' brilliance was shown in this competition which eventually prepared him for the 1987 UAAP season. Eric Reyes on the other hand gained a lot of knowledge from Joe Lipa that he brought with him to the next UAAP season.
NEXT BLOG: THE BUILD-UP: THE 1985 - 1986 BLUE EAGLETS
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