In Las Vegas (L-R): Hubert Cani, Clint Doliguez, Thirdy Ravena, John Apacible, Arvin Tolentino, Isaac Go, Aaron Black, Jay Javelosa
Let me quote Pat
Riley on this one, is the Ateneo Basketball team rebuilding or retooling for
season 77? One side of the coin says
Blue Eagles are rebuilding since the roster is filled with five legitimate rookies, (would have been
six) the most that the team had since 2008 when Ryan B., Nico S., Justin C. and
Vince B. came in together with Tonino to help the new era of Ateneo basketball. The other side of the coin says the Blue
Eagles are retooling since the players they got addressed their needs and would
probably be the surprise team of the season.
Will this be Kiefer's breakout year?
Like the rosary,
the Hail Mary squad is full of mysteries because this year instead of joining
the usual pre-season tournaments here in the country, the Blue Eagles had their
usual visit to Las Vegas in the USA and had some pre-season games in Japan and
Korea. The Blue and White hopefuls are
raring to see their team play and are praying that this year, the path to
redemption is quite clearer than Season 76.
Chris "Awesome" Newsome
Leading the team is
the Phenom Kiefer Ravena and the awesome Chris Newsome. A lot would be on their shoulders mainly on
offense and also on defense. The awesome twosome will be complemented by three
more veterans who will ably back them
up. Nico Elorde, Von Pessumal and Gwynne Capacio will be the guiding force of
the the awesome –twosome as this three hard nosed veterans will help out in
easing up the load of the two may it be in offense or in defense. Our frontline is quite better that last year
since it will be headed by the 6-7 transferee Ponso Gotladera. Helping Ponso in front are the two centers
who got injured last year, G-Boy Babilonia and Kris Porter. Expect the three to
be banged up this year and any contribution from them will be welcomed since
their primary roles would be to defend first and then shoot an occasional hook
shot, or make a putback or just simply box out.
Completing the returnees are Vince Tolentino, Isaac Lim and Anton
Asistio.
Arvin is ready to show what he's made of
One of the positive
notes this year are the rookies that we got.
The fabulous five has the highly
touted power forward Arvin Tolentino, the UAAP Juniors MVP Thirdy Ravena, the
sweet shooting Clint Doliguez and the twin bangers John Apacible and Jay
Javelosa. I think the fate of the Blue
Eagles will lie on the five! If three of the five would come out with monster
rookie seasons to help Ravena and Newsome on offense, to clog the middle with
the centers and to shoot with Von, Nico and Gwynne then you have another
cinderella finish for the Blue and White.
Von Pessumal leads the fastbreak
There is so much speculation that has been coming out from the forums and from many sources about the campaign of
the Blue Eagles this season. Since a lot of us were not able to see them in the off season we are all just thinking of how they will be with their line-up. So to make things easier I have talked to two Blue Eagles,
Gwyne Capacio and Nico Elorde and asked them some questions about the Blue
Eagles this year.
Nico E. shooting a Thureee!!!
There
are too many new faces this year, how will you address team chemistry?
GWYNE: “ The team
is pretty much gelled up so you can expect us to play together this coming
season.”
NICO : “For this
summer and months after UAAP S76 we had a lot of trips that helped us bond as
a team. We also accepted each other’s
role and trust our coaches on their decisions.”
Hoping that Kris Porter can be an effective low post threat this year
We
ran out of offensive options last year, this year do we have more of that?
GWYNE: “ The rookies
this year can really play so that’s a big plus for the team in terms of
offense.
NICO: “I think yes
we have a balanced team this year which can make it more challenging for our
opponents because everyone serves as a threat on the court.”
Gwyne Capacio scores vs. Perpetual
Last
year, we got creamed inside the paint, do we have better inside defense this
year?
GWYNE: “ Since we’re
a small team, we really have to work double time on defense. So during the
offseason, we really worked on our defense.”
NICO: “For me I
would say Yes because we have a handful of big men this year that can match up
with the other team’s bigs!”
The Blue Eagle Brains
Who
among the new assistant Coaches helped you a lot?
GWYNE: "It's not just the new coaches like Coach Ronnie and Coach Xavi but the other Coaches as well. They worked together to help the team and that's really good for us."
NICO: " All of them are very helpful especially Coach Ronnie who helped me improve my decision making and Coach Ricky who helped me improve my defense."
This is not Coach Sandy A. reborn, this is Ponso Gotladera driving to the hoop
DLSU
is poised to repeat, how can we derail them?
GWYNE: " We can't really promise to beat them, but you can definitely expect our team to fight and give it our best coming into this season."
NICO: " We just have to play solid defense. I think that will be the key for us to bring back the crown to Katipunan. We just have to take it one game at a time and improve as a team every game."
Rookie John Apacible mixing it up
How
will you rank the teams after the eliminations?
GWYNE: “ Honestly I
haven’t really thought about that since a lot of teams this season are strong.
Most probably DLSU, UST,UE and of course Us (Ateneo).
NICO: “Its very had
to detemine. I think it will be a roller coaster type of season this year so I
really can’t tell. But I think the final four will be Us (Ateneo), DLSU, UE
& UST.”
Fearless
Forecast: “Ateneo All the wAy!
Training Day
Add
to that what Team Manager and former Blue Eagle, Epok Quimpo. This is what he
said.
“There are a lot of
new faces in the Ateneo Blue Eagles this year and I can say that the team chemistry
is quite okay. The trainings and team building that we had helped a lot to
create a nice bond for the team. The Rookies were able to adjust to what was
laid down as well. Over-all, the Japan
and Korea trips made the team aware of the strengths that they can capitalize
on and the weaknesses to improve on. It also gave us a venue to see how we play
as a team coming to the UAAP. Just like
the Blue Eagle teams before, we are targetting the final four first and then
take it from there. If there is one thing that we will guarantee is that the
team will give the UAAP Season 77 One Big Fight!”
The Blue Eagles are all smiles
You have to hand it
to Gwynne and Nico for believing in team. For me, if you don’ think that our
team will make it all the way then there is no sense in playing on. At the same time, Epok addressed the team’s chemistry
as we also have to consider that there are also new assistant coaches in former
San Beda College Coach Ronnie Magsanoc and former UP Maroons Coach Ricky
Dandan.
A different kind of team picture, At the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea
If I were to give a
dream scenario for our team, I would say it should be like what the 2008 Blue Eagles did with
the team being led by Chris Tiu. In the first round it was the veterans leading
the team and helping the rookies get accustomed to college ball. By the second
round, the rookies got enough experience and were contributing
consistently and defending well. I think
we now have the tools to make it all the way, the only question now is how fast
we can sharpen these tools to be able to beat the defending champs. The road to the top of the UAAP Men's basketball tournament is quite shaky, crooked and full of challenges, but as the say there is no easy way to the top and that the more the challenges are, the sweeter the victory. So once
again, lets support the Ateneo Blue Eagles this season and cheer for the Blue
and White. See you in the games.
Thanks to Fr. Nemy Que, Coach Jon Jacinto, Mon Rubio and the BYU-Hawaii site for the pictures
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