We want FOUR!!!
Ryan Buenafe, a 3rd year player of the Ateneo scored on a 3-pointer to give the Blue Eagles a 3-point win over the FEU Tamaraws for an Ateneo Three-peat! Jersey number 13 would end up scoring 23 points. Those were signs given during the recently concluded 73rd season of the UAAP, a bevy of threes for it should rightfully be because our last grandslam was in the 30’s and to be exact it was 1933. The Blue Eagles have failed time and again to secure a three peat in the past. The last one was in 1989 when the core of the team went down one by one.
Eric Reyes, Nonoy Chuatico,
Gene Afable with Ritchie Santos
IN 1989, the most promising center in the country then was an incoming 6-7 junior by the name of Danny Francisco. The lanky center’s last game in the UAAP was an 14 point 25 rebound effort against their arch rivals, the de La Salle Green Archers. Unfortunately, Francisco would never suit up again for the Blue and White because that season he was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and was advised to stop from playing competitive basketball. His ailment was the same problem NBA cager Reggie Lewis had. Then fifth year center Alex Araneta wasn’t able to suit up because of some problem with minimum units needed while Jet Nieto pursued his dream of being a doctor. Such were the problems that the Blue Eagles had weeks before the start of the 1989 UAAP Season, the three-peat that was supposed to be achieved in that year vanished in the air. That was the start of the dark ages of Ateneo basketball.
Twenty one years later, who would have thought that a resurrected basketball program would give us our sixth UAAP title and our first three-peat in the UAAP. Ryan Buenafe was the one who guaranteed the three-peat and it was so rightful that he was the one who also made it sure that it would happen. There were a lot who thought it was an unreachable dream. For one Ryan Buenafe concentrated on his studies and rarely conditioned himself during the second semester. The Hail Mary squad actually started their preparations for the current season late. Since there were a lot of returnees, I think Coach Norman did not need more games from his team to get accustomed to each other but came out with the proper adjustments so that the holdovers can take over the void left by the graduating players. The Blue Eagles played in the Fr. Martin’s Cup and Filoil league and also had training abroad and that was it. This was enough preparation for the team unlike in previous years where the Eagles started preparations when the second semester started. Luckily the conditioning came in the nick of time and the team peaked at the right time of the season.
The Tamaraws were favored this year
For the second straight year a lot scribes and basketball enthusiasts were favoring the Far Eastern University Tamaraws to win it all. Coach Norman Black said that he knew all along that his team had it, their goal was to reach at least the second place in the eliminations and make it happen in the final four and eventually in the finals. This year, only the Ateneo knew that they have what it takes to get the three-peat. Since no one was as offensively gifted like Rabah Al-Husaini, as excellent from outside as Jai Reyes and as intimidating as Nonoy Baclao, the key component for Coach Norman this year is their balanced attack and solid individual defense, and so they did.
Justin Chua, not spectacular but solid!
Looking at the team in the eliminations, Eric Salamat led the scoring four times, Ryan Buenafe thrice, Kirk Long, Nico Salva and Justin Chua twice and Emman Monfort once. Except for Chua who topscored for two consecutive games in the first round, in every game that the Blue Eagles played since then had a different player stepping up and top scoring. That kept the other teams guessing. At the same time, in the 14 elimination games there two Eagles would score in double figures in 5 games, three in four games and four eagles in five games. That just shows the scoring balance of the team. At the same time, the defense is what brought the Eagles to the finals and eventually the title. Save for the 25 point performance of RR Garcia in game 1 of the season, the league MVP averaged only 8.3 points in the next three games! Surprisingly the RR’s sudden dip was accredited to the one- on- one defensive coverage of Emman Monfort who shut him down. The Blue Eagles were unforgiving on defense from the final four onwards. Imagine holding the two other best teams to 62, 55 and 49 points in three successive games! That’s awesome.
Steady plays by Kirk Long
The Blue Eagles knew that they have what it takes and responded to the challenge that Coach Norman gave them. If there is something that these batch of Blue Eagles will be remembered is that they will be known as the most hardworking and most dedicated Blue Eagles ever. Winning three got the school excited and is now ready for another one. Imagine the most exciting High school player donning the Blue and White, Kiefer Ravena and Smart Gilas center Greg Slaughter manning the middle. Next year the the Blue Eagles will be shouting FOUR in Season 74!
The Champion Team supported by
the champion crowd
1 comment:
You’d believe together with the multi gazillion cash of investment that wikipedia could acquire some much more servers..
Post a Comment