At the dawn of Season 74 of the UAAP, the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles find themselves in an unusual position: they’re the early favorites to win the title, their fourth in as many years.
Remember, in 2008, La Salle was poised to repeat, while on Ateneo’s end, there was uncertainty regarding Chris Tiu’s return, and no one would have figured Rabeh Al-Hussaini to be an MVP candidate. A year later, in 2009, many wondered whether or not Tiu’s leadership could be replaced, and switched horses to an FEU team that was as tall and as deep as the Ateneo.
Most recently, in 2010, the Eagles lost three senior linchpins: the man in the middle Al-Hussaini, stopper extraordinaire Nonoy Baclao and floor general Jai Reyes. With no real game-changing recruits, doom and gloom descended upon Katipunan, with everyone talking themselves into the Tamaraws yet again, right up until the blue shirts ran Morayta’s sons into the ground to secure a third straight title.
It doesn’t take a genius to see how conceivable it is for the Ateneo to take the four-peat. The Eagles return with a solid core of contributors who played vital roles in those last three titles, like graduating players Kirk Long, Emman Monfort and Bacon Austria, and veterans Nico Salva, Justin Chua and Tonino Gonzaga, among others.
Then there’s the one-two rookie punch of 7’0” behemoth Greg Slaughter, and the phenom, Kiefer Ravena. The former is such a game-changer that other schools will try to disqualify him based on his stint with the Smart Gilas National Team in the PBA, while the latter had everyone lining up to try to convince him to enroll somewhere else. Having both is a coup for the Ateneo. Opponents can conceivably stop one, but stopping both? Plus everyone else?
Finally, there’s the glue that holds everything together—the untouchable coaching acumen of Coach Norman Black and his assistants. Black is currently the longest tenured head coach in the UAAP and his fingerprints are all over this Ateneo squad. These are his recruits, playing in his system. He can out-scheme anyone with minimal prep time, his in-game adjustments are peerless and when the game is on the line, there’s probably no one better with a marker and a dry-erase board.
While everyone expects the Blue Eagles to fly high, all the same, the seven other schools are waiting for even just the smallest sign of weakness. The Ateneo will face every team’s “best shot,” not just because the Eagles are the defending champions, but because any victory becomes a signature win.
The scrutiny will continue off-court, having begun with the Ryan Buenafe–Arthur Dela Cruz drama, to the abrupt departure of Mark Tallo and whatever else emerges during the season, not to mention cries of “host school bias,” with conspiracy theorists railing that the deck is stacked in favor of a four-peat.
It would be simplistic yet accurate to say that the Eagles need to win, or the season becomes a failure. That is the unique challenge set out for the Ateneo this season—the result of a convergence of talent, timing and recognition. But it is a challenge to be embraced as a school that embodies the virtue of magis. In other words, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” This team has been blessed over and over in the last few seasons, with things coming to a head this year.
Eventually, all this talk of a four-peat will have to be put aside after seventeen or so games. Then the words “five-peat” will take its place.
Adrian M. Dy (BS CTM ‘08) is the writer behind chinoyhoopsfan.blogspot.com and does game recaps for inboundpass.com. He thinks the Blue Eagle Gym ought to be renamed “The Norman Black Gym.”
