In line with the return of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball tournament, this weekly series will analyze the state of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in their quest for the four-peat.

IT WAS a bittersweet week for the Ateneo Blue Eagles to end the second round of UAAP Season 84. While they managed to clinch the top seated spot for the season, they also ended up suffering their first loss in four years to the second seeded team the University of the Philippines (UP).

The Blue Eagles kicked off their week strong with a dominant 91-57 victory against the Adamson Soaring Falcons last April 26. Ateneo followed this up by defeating the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 70-53 on April 28. They finished their last game of the season on a sour note, however, going down 83-84 against UP after a couple of clutch free throws from Ricci Rivero in the Battle of Katipunan held on May 1.

1. The privilege of Ange Kouame

Vito: IN OUR first edition of Weekly Takeaways for UAAP Season 84, I raised my concerns regarding the capability of Ateneo’s new lineup to maintain the defensive intensity that their predecessors prided themselves on for two seasons. If we simply go through the numbers for the entirety of Season 84, it would appear as if they’ve done their job on the defensive end perfectly well.

Ateneo is still clearly the number one defensive team in the league this season—allowing the least amount of points in the league and holding teams to an average of 65.86 points per game on 36.12% shooting. However, these impressive defensive numbers are credited less to the efforts of Ateneo’s new starters stepping up but instead are more due to the lone key piece that remains from that dominant starting squad: Ange Kouame.

For the past three seasons, Ange Kouame has anchored Ateneo’s overwhelming defense perfectly, much to the dismay of any given team attempting to compete with the Blue Eagles. As the league leader in blocks, he intimidates any player that manages to blow past Ateneo’s initial defenders to the rim, and he is still fast enough to close out when the ball handler inevitably kicks the ball out to the perimeter out of fear.

It’s not as if smaller guards can abuse Kouame on the perimeter too. His feet are nimble and controlled enough to avoid getting caught off balance, and he can easily recover to swat the shot away if he is beaten to the rim.

Kouame has perfected his role as the Ateneo defense’s safety net, and he is the main reason why the departure of such disciplined defenders like Thirdy Ravena, Will Navarro, Adrian Wong, Isaac Go, and Matt and Mike Nieto have had a minimal effect on Ateneo’s overall defense. Where their absence is felt, though, is in the minutes that the team plays without Kouame on the floor.

In previous years, Coach Tab Baldwin never had to worry too much about sitting Kouame as his lineups had enough defensive versatility to weather the storm. He even had the luxury of staggering Kouame’s minutes with Ravena. Thirdy Ravena’s overwhelming size and athleticism allowed him to shut down any opposing star at the point-of-attack or block shots away as the help defender—something sorely missed by today’s Blue Eagles.

This season, the Kouame-less minutes have been a lot more worrying, and that was most evident during their first loss in four years against UP.

What ultimately led to Ateneo’s comeback against UP faltering was UP’s ability to take advantage of the minutes without Ange Kouame. Geo Chiu, Ateneo’s go-to replacement for the Ivorian big, had arguably his worst game of the season, scoring just one point while having a -13 +/- in just five minutes of playing time. Whenever he subbed into the game, UP was hell-bent on pushing the pace in transition after every rebound, and the likes of Zav Lucero and CJ Cansino were happy to oblige. The fault did not completely fall on Chiu’s shoulders as the whole team struggled to keep UP from running up and down the floor.

Baldwin was quick to notice the danger of keeping Kouame off the floor against this UP squad, as the center ended up staying the entire fourth quarter and playing 34 of the entire 40 minutes of game time. It would be difficult to expect Kouame to play these heavy minutes for every game in the Final Four, and Ateneo no longer has the same guys that held down the fort for them when he had to sit out. The rest of the team has to figure out how to survive on the floor without him as they’ve proven capable of it in the past.

While they certainly are not the same players as the previous cast, none of the regular rotational players in this Ateneo squad are completely detrimental to the team’s defense; Baldwin wouldn’t let them suit up for the Blue and White if they were. Even in the absence of the defensive-minded players of the past, Ateneo still has the tools to avoid being completely reliant on the privilege that is Ange Kouame.

2. The threat of lackadaisical starts in the postseason 

Ralph: THE PROLONGED issue of first quarter blues finally got the better of the Blue Eagles in their penultimate game of the grueling regular season, costing them a 40th-straight win and a much-favored stepladder format. After capturing comfortable victories in spite of having error-laden opening frames against the Adamson Soaring Falcons and the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, an early 14-point first quarter gap imposed by the UP Fighting Maroons helped the second seed shock its cross-avenue rival.

In the opening quarter of the “Battle of Katipunan,” a huge deficiency in Ateneo’s play was the number of questionable passes that allowed the fast-paced Fighting Maroons to run the floor. As a result, UP was able to force a significant number of fouls from Ateneo, allowing UP to cash in from the charity stripe.

Fighting Maroon big man Malick Diouf was the focal point in his team’s 27-point first quarter, where the Senegalese’s dominance in the paint helped stretch the floor—an effort reflected by UP’s 56% shooting and stupendous three-level-scoring in the first 10 minutes.

As the dust settled with the Fighting Maroons being hailed as the one in Ateneo’s 39-1, remnants of the Blue Eagles’ sluggish first quarter were visible as UP outshot Ateneo 23/30 to 9/16 from the line and 17-7 in fastbreak points. Baldwin took responsibility for Ateneo’s struggles, saying that he made early tactical mistakes that dug a hole for the team.

It is an encouraging sign that the coaching savant himself took note of the team’s effort from tipoff, considering the stiffer competition in the Final Four. Usually, the overwhelmingly deep Ateneo roster makes amends for its early-game blunders. Such adjustments, however, should not be a common sighting in the playoffs, especially against units that have versatile starting lineups.

Aside from UP and De La Salle University’s well-oiled first five possibly awaiting Ateneo in the Finals, the defending champions must first neutralize the fourth-seeded Tamaraws’ trio of RJ Abarrientos, LJ Gonzales, and Cyrus Torres. The Blue Eagles have to employ their best defensive schemes as any one of these Tamaraw microwaves can instantly catch fire from deep and kickstart a sizable run. Subsequently, Ateneo’s ball handlers must protect the rock better than they did previously, considering the coast-to-coast ability of FEU guards like Abarrientos and Gonzales in the open floor.

Ateneo may have lost its historic streak of epic proportions, but the team knows that winning time has its eyes set on something greater: To continue its conquest as a modern-day dynasty by capturing the elusive four-peat.