THE RAVENA blood continues to run through the veins of the young Blue Eagle team, as Thirdy Ravena lands on the count for the Mythical Five of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball awards.
Ravena garnered a total of 49.1429 statistical points this season, joining the ranks of Paul Desiderio from the University of the Philippines (UP), Raymar Jose from Far Eastern University and Green Archers Jeron Teng and Ben Mbala. The rule that limited the Mythical Five to count for only one foreign player made Adamson center Papi Sarr ineligible to be awarded a position. This catapulted the young Ravena to take one of the guard positions in the five.
While the Blue Eagles are continuing their fairy tale run this Season 79— earning a six-game winning streak after their lost to UP in the second round, taking the twice-to-beat advantage and entering the finals round to match up with DLSU after eight years. Many of the Season 79 predictions have turned, as the unbelievable performance of the young team struck the entire UAAP community. In addition to this, Thirdy Ravena’s Mythical Five position has also exceeded the expectations of many.
“I was surprised that Thirdy would make it because we were not even aware of the statistical race,” says Blue Eagles’ Coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “We are really happy for Thirdy for making it, and we are also happy for the members who helped Thirdy get his Mythical Five award. It is an individual award, but the way we look at it is that it is a ‘shared’ award.”
Ravena shares the same sentiments as Coach Arespacochaga, as he himself was surprised to receive the award. “It was really unexpected, so I feel really happy, all the hard work I put in, all the time I waited in order to play, just paid off,” says Ravena.
The junior Blue Eagle sat out during Season 78 due to academic probation, and he recounts that his journey towards his comeback was definitely a bumpy road, especially this season: “Basically waiting to come back: that was the real challenge. Imagine sitting one year out and just training by yourself, and of course, [with] new head coach, Coach Tab, I had to adjust, and our trainings became really intense.”
Ravena’s development under the Coach Tab Baldwin system was a product of a collective mindset that was approached by the Blue Eagle team throughout the season. Ravena’s play was marred with inconsistencies during the first round of the season, yet the swingman was able to bounce back by not only contributing offensively, but he was also able to set up his team mates to score through rebounds and assists.
“I don’t think Thirdy just got it [the Mythical Five] by scoring points because there were times that Thirdy didn’t score, score well or top-scored for us, but he was rebounding, assisting, doing other things: getting steals, getting blocks, you know, these other things that helped the team win,” said Coach Arespacochaga. “Thirdy is one of the more consistent, reliable players in a sense that he is able to do a lot of things for us and not just scoring.”
On Ravena’s part, the team’s collective approach allowed him and his team mates to play without the pressure of stuffing their own individual statistics with points because all they want to do is to put up a good fight.
“We just decided na we were just going to fight. We’re not going to put any pressure on us. We will just fight for each other, fight for the coaches and just play our hearts out in every single game,” said Ravena.
The Blue Eagles are now heading into the second finals game against the archrivals De La Salle University Green Archers on Wednesday, December 7 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. The Blue Eagles are aiming to exact vengeance on their previous loss, 67-65, to DLSU in the first finals game, with hopes to clinching the championship title in the end.
“It means [a lot] to me that I won the mythical [five award], but it’s really the championship that I want,” says Ravena.
