“ATENEO BASKETBALL is giving it your all. It’s in doing the simple things whether it is to dive for a loose ball, to take a charge, or to box out and get those rebounds. Those little things eventually sum up to the big thing, which is winning.”

This is what Ateneo Glory Be basketball team head coach Yuri Escueta wanted his players, who are mostly made up of rookies, to learn when they joined the Milcu Got Skills Elite Showcase 25-under division, which concluded on October 22, 2016 with the Blue Eagles hoisting their second consecutive title for the tourney. It was not all about winning, especially considering the caliber of their opponents.

In fact, Coach Escueta referenced a number of excellent players in the league, including University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP)-caliber players fulfilling their required one year of residency before suiting up for their new teams in their mother leagues like the UAAP and NCAA. These players include former De La Salle University Green Archer Larry Muyang of Letran, and former Blue Eagle Hubert Cani and Arvin Tolentino of Far Eastern University (FEU) as well as the highly-touted CJ Perez of Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU).

The team saw the competition as a chance to hone their skills in game situations and get used to the playing style in the collegiate ranks.

As Coach Escueta further explains, “In Team B, you’re here to experience things. You’re here to recreate your game.” He gives them more free rein in the court, letting them explore the fullest extents of their game. As long as the players are not forcing up shots and are taking what the defense is giving them, he has no problems, even if the attempts don’t go in.

There is just one caveat to this – he has to see the player working on that skill in practice. “I give you confidence to shoot, just make sure that you have confidence in your shots through preparation.” says the Team B coach.

Tale of two halves

The league did not begin favorably for the squad, as they started with a 1-2 record, losing their first two games to the LPU and Chiang Kai Shek College’s high school team before pulling off a victory against San Sebastian College. The coaching staff attributed the poor start to the inexperience of their players in terms of the way basketball is played at the collegiate level.

“There are a lot of freshmen in the team, so they were still getting used to playing at the college level. It’s different. It’s faster. You’re playing against stronger opponents.” says Coach Escueta. “Eventually they got used to how fast it is and how you should play. This came from their experience from the first few games.”

By the middle of the tournament, things started to look better for the squad. The players were getting used to the style of play, as well as getting to know each other’s tendencies on the court. Furthermore, they were boosted by the arrival of two players from the Team A training pool, Shaggy Allmond and Tyler Tio, as well as former Green Archer Gabby Reyes and De La Salle Zobel standout Miguel Fortuna.

The players credited their upswing in performance during the knockout stages to the job done by the coaching staff. “Coach Yuri did a great job with our scouting reports and we had a film session before every do-or-die game, so we really know [who] we were up against and he prepared us really well,” says Tio.

On his part, Coach Escueta also gave credit to his players. While the coaches prepared the game plan, it was on the shoulders of the players to learn and execute them, and they were eager to listen to him as he discussed the plan.

Coming up Clutch

Despite the uptick in performance, the team still had an uphill climb with their poor start leaving them in a hole. The Blue and White faced six do-or-die games in their journey to defend the title they earned last season.

Alongside this, Glory Be had to integrate the arrivals of Tio and Allmond to the team for the knockout phase, while ensuring that their chemistry is not affected. On this, the two players cooperated with this goal and made certain that they get into the flow of things smoothly. “For me, I just made sure that I didn’t make any waves in the team because they already had their chemistry going. I just wanted to bring my strengths to the team and do the little things,” says Allmond.

To make things worse, Typhoon Karen hit the country right in the middle of the six crucial games for the team. The rains would prolong the time between matches, which was not conducive for preparation and even added additional stress for the Blue Eagles.

As for their stakes in the competition itself, Ateneo first had to overcome a twice-to-beat advantage against Letran, then played a knockout game against an FEU team with two UAAP-worthy talents before climbing above another twice-to-beat advantage against the Adamson Juniors team in the semifinal round to set up a finals date with the LPU team that previously whipped Ateneo by 20 points in the eliminations game of the tourney. The Blue and White trailed LPU throughout finals game until they managed to gain advantage of the score during the last 1:04 minutes of the game. This crucial play awarded Glory Be their second championship title in the tournament.

Moving Forward

Being a rookie-laden team, the next step is for the freshmen to get back in the gym to hone their skills and hit the weights room to further improve their strength and athleticism. Their first hand experience of the playing style needed in the college games has also has helped them understand what they need to do in order to get into the UAAP squad.

The rookies are also able to bank on the experiences of five veterans that coach Escueta included in the team just for this purpose. “I made sure that I had five veterans who came from the past teams who have good character: Gian Go, Tim Cu, Tomas Ramos, Mark Gamboa, and Ged Austria. These are good character players and good examples for the young kids and they know how I coach already so they can help me also. They’re like assistant coaches for me,” says Coach Escueta.

Although they are all rivals in terms of getting slots in the UAAP squad, the rivalry does not hinder the team’s dynamic. According to Coach Escueta, while everyone is competing hard against the other players in training, it is not to pull them down. Rather, it is their way of helping boost each other’s improvement, and that they are supportive of each other when someone is indeed called up to Team A, such as with Anton Asistio and Kris Porter this year.

Overall, the tournament was an incredible opportunity for the young team to learn about the collegiate game, and how they can adapt to it. More importantly, the Blue Eagles faced adversity, fought through it. and came out stronger, both physically and mentally.

Even when the team is trailing the entire game, such as in the Championship game against Lyceum where the team lead only with about a minute left in game and had key players such as League MVP and rookie Gian Mamuyac and big man Jay Javelosa cramping up, giving up is never an option for this talented young squad. As Shaggy Allmond says, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”