THE ATENEO Blue Eagles may be trying to fly with a wing pinned down.

With two of only three natural big men playing less than 80 percent due to recent injuries and with most of the five-peat core lost to graduation, the Blue Eagles are facing a tough climb to the apex of University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 76.

Without go-to men Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva, a new Ateneo squad featuring a more guard-oriented scheme will be marching on their campaign for a sixth consecutive crown.

However, with the entrance of Bo Perasol, former head coach of the Powerade Tigers in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), a smaller and quicker champion team might turn out to be a good thing.

Brand new playbook

Undermanned in the paint, Ateneo is left with only three natural players who can rotate around the power forward and center positions.

With big man Kris Porter out for the season due to a knee injury, JP Erram, Giboy Babilonia and Frank Golla will be the only legitimate big men for the team in Season 76. In effect, players like Ryan Buenafe and new additions Chris Newsome and Vince Tolentino are forced to slide to the power forward position.

This is a totally different story from last Season 75, where the team was at least six players deep in terms of big men.

“We won’t have the height like we used to. There will be no Greg Slaughter who we can dump the ball to. So, I guess we have to make it faster for ourselves to get easier baskets.” This is how skipper Juami Tiongson plans to engineer wins this season. In a situation like this, the only sure-fire way for Ateneo to wrest the win is to hit the fast forward button.

“With Coach Bo, there aren’t many plays for the big men. And right now we’re already used to it. We’re used to his system. Our big men are adjusting. So basically, what you’ll be seeing is fast and smart basketball,” Tiongson adds.

Run-and-gun to six-peat

This year, without Coach Norman Black, the emphasis on set plays will be shadowed by a priority on fast plays. But contrary to popular belief, the run-and-gun offense is not totally new to the five-peat champions.

“If you look at the team that we had for the past five years that we won the championship, we would always be number one in fastbreaks. People think we thrived on set plays. But if you look at the statistics we were actually the number one fastbreaking team in the UAAP,” says Team Manager Paolo Trillo.

Conveniently enough, this is the kind of team Perasol has always been handling. Coming from the Powerade Tigers in the PBA, he admits he is used to coaching teams with only dominant guards.

“I also do not have dominant bigs in Powerade. In fact, in all my previous PBA teams, that is always the case. What I had then were dominant guards like Gary David, Renren Ritualo, JV Casio and Marcio Lassiter. That’s always been the strength of my teams,” answers Perasol in a mix of English and Filipino when asked if he sees parallels between the Blue Eagles and the Tigers.

Whether the new system will get the team to a six-peat, it’s too early to tell. But they will surely rely on an up-tempo type of basketball. While they have a physically smaller line-up, the team does not lack athleticism inside the court.

Newsome, who is naturally a small forward, can provide power and creativity inside the key. Meanwhile, JP Erram, who has added a mid-range jumper in his arsenal, can take defenders by surprise. Also, Buenafe, whose playmaking ability is highly underrated, can get his teammates going with perfect setups and pinpoint assist passing.

Regrouping rivals

Aside from the lack of personnel and a need to fully adjust to a new coaching system, the Blue Eagles still have to worry about regrouping title contenders.

Although they have been champions for the past five years, the Blue Eagles are not exactly the title favorites in Season 76. This year, that tag belongs to University of the East (UE) and National University (NU).

UE recently ended their five-year title drought in the FilOil tourney after defeating NU, 81-68. The Red Warriors might not have the championship experience but they have great potential, especially with key players Roi Sumang and Chris Javier. Javier stunned the Blue Eagles last season after knocking down a game-winning jumper to give the defending champs its second and last loss.

NU, on the other hand, will be coming back this year with virtually the same powerhouse line-up as in Season 75. The Bulldogs will once again feature two-time MVP Bobby Ray Parks and bulky center Emmanuel Mbe. But the list does not end with these two squads.

Plotting on vengeance is last year’s first runner-up, the University of Santo Tomas. Losing only Jeric Fortuna and Melo Afuang from its line-up, the España-based crew looks poised for another title run.

Also posing a great threat to Ateneo’s six-peat hopes are De La Salle University, which will again be powered by Jeron Teng along with new addition Jason Perkins, and Far Eastern University with its trio of guards Terrence Romeo, R.R. Garcia and Michael Tolomia.

Questions

The question remains: Will there be a bonfire in October?

“This year is going to be a lot tougher, probably even the toughest, because a lot of teams are more experienced now,” says Tiongson. “We can’t really promise that [six-peat], but then we’ll continue working hard, taking it one game at a time. We don’t want to look ahead. Because if we look ahead, we forget what’s in front of us. So we just want to make sure that we take it one game at a time, take it slow.”

Star guard Ravena, on the other hand, seemed to be more certain; exclaiming a loud “Yes!” in answer to the question. Ravena also says that more than their offense, their defense will be the key to a continued dynasty.

“Everyone talks about offense—that offense can win games—but people also have to take a deeper look on our defense, how we communicate on the court and how we will work with the people that we have inside the court, especially that we are not that tall,” says the third year guard.

While many remain doubtful that the Blue Eagles can make it six in a row, their five-consecutive-crown feat reflects more than just the team’s quality line-up for the past years; it shows their resilience as a squad and how they deal with the constants of the game.

Tall or small, healthy or injured, at some point, it will not matter anymore. Everything will boil down to which team uses the players they have and whatever chances they get to translate a game into a win, and a win into a championship.

As for now, the Blue Eagles have the perfect combination of a guard-heavy line-up and a guard-oriented coaching scheme. If they can use that to make up for the lack of height, consider the job done.