THE BLUE Eagles winning five straight titles in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament was an unprecedented feat in the league’s Final Four era. Last season’s championship-clinching Game 2 victory over University of Santo Tomas (UST), however, was also the beginning of a massive overhaul for the squad.
The end of the team’s Season 75 campaign marked the disassembly of their formidable championship roster, with veterans Justin Chua, Tonino Gonzaga, Nico Salva, Greg Slaughter and Oping Sumalinog graduating. With longstanding head coach Norman Black also deciding to return to the professional ranks, the Blue Eagles found themselves in uncharted territory.
Making matters worse for the team, prized-recruit Jerie Pingoy was also ruled ineligible to play in Season 76 due to the controversial new UAAP residency rule. This was the situation Bo Perasol inherited when he took his place as the new head coach. It was far from an ideal situation, but the challenge of continuing a tradition of excellence with a team in transition was now his responsibility.
With his debut season as Blue Eagles’ head coach officially in the books, Coach Bo talks to The GUIDON to examine and reevaluate the recently concluded season.
Making the jump
Coming from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Coach Bo mentions that the main difference between the two leagues is the players’ level of experience. The former Air21 Express and Powerade Tigers tactician says that coaching in the Ateneo requires him to go into more detail when giving instructions, so that each player gets a better grasp of what he wants the team to do.
But teaching the game of basketball to young players isn’t something completely new to him: He was a former tactician for the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) in the juniors’ division of the UAAP.
Besides his coaching stint with UPIS, Coach Bo also looked to his own college basketball experience to help ease the transition into the new job. He was once a UAAP cager himself, playing for the University of the Philippines from 1990 to 1995. His experience as a Fighting Maroon now gives him the advantage of understanding what the current student-athletes are going through on the court.
The opportunity to impart his knowledge to the game’s next generation of stars is something he relishes. “What you’re teaching in practice, you’re seeing in the games,” shares Coach Bo. “That’s something that makes me fulfilled.”
Preseason expectations
While already dealing with the transition to coaching in the collegiate ranks, Coach Bo had additional weight on his shoulders: He had to face the added pressure and heightened initial expectations that came with the possibility of a sixth consecutive championship.
Coach Bo, however, was quick to downplay the championship aspirations. “The challenges were, number one, how are we able to replace those who left the team? And of course secondly would be the expectations coming off a five-peat,” he recalls.
“Honestly, we really did not have high expectations for the team we had this season, but we were really excited knowing that no one was really expecting us to win but ourselves,” admits Kiefer Ravena. “But with Coach Bo coming from the PBA and coming from the pros, we expected to really learn a lot from him, not only on the court, but also off the court.”
Style of play
This past season saw the Blue Eagles running more in transition, pushing the ball off, making baskets and rebounds and attacking early in the shot clock. Their offense highlighted the team’s heavy reliance on their guards to make and initiate plays. The guard-oriented system that the team displayed this season is something Coach
Bo is known for. His Powerade Tigers, led by guards JV Casio, Gary David and Marcio Lassiter, made a Cinderella run all the way to the PBA Finals before ultimately finishing second.
Nevertheless, Coach Bo insists that the style of play he implemented in Season 76 was not out of personal preference. He argues that it was brought about by the skillset of the players that comprised his roster. “It’s always the personnel. We do adjust to the personnel we have,” he says.
Coach Bo points out that if this team were gifted with a legitimate inside threat—as the last team was with 6’11” center Slaughter—the Blue Eagles wouldn’t be running as much. Instead, they would patiently wait for Slaughter, feed him the ball, and allow him to go to work in the post or to pass to the open man when the double team comes. “Right now, we can’t do that, so what needs to be done is to speed up the game so that we would have chances,” he adds.
Tall order
This year’s roster clearly lacked the front-line depth and dominance that the previous championship teams were known for. Often times, the team was at a disadvantage in terms of height inside the paint, as most of the competition fortified their rosters with huge imports and skilled big men.
The squad no longer had the luxury of a Noy Baclao-Rabeh Al-Hussaini inside tandem or a Salva-Slaughter one-two punch in the paint. Instead, Coach Bo had to insert a lineup that needed traditional swingmen Chris Newsome and Ryan Buenafe to play power forward and point-forward, respectively, to compensate for the loss of Chua,
Salva and Slaughter.
Coach Bo also had to deal with the loss of Gideon “Gboy” Babilonia to a season-ending shoulder injury early in the season, shortening an already depleted frontcourt rotation.
Ravena wholeheartedly agreed with the team’s tough frontcourt situation this year. “We just didn’t have the materials for a team that can set in the half court unlike the previous years.”
In retrospect
Despite a relatively small lineup, Coach Bo still had the tough task of leading his troops to another Final Four appearance. The team’s campaign was off to a rough start, largely because Ravena sprained his right ankle just as the season was about to begin.
The Blue Eagles then endured their worst start since 1997, garnering three straight losses before eventually turning things around. Nonetheless, Coach Bo and his wards found a way to get themselves back in the Final Four race, clawing their way to a 7-6 win-loss record after 13 games.
The team’s fate wasn’t decided until its final elimination round game against UST. The Blue Eagles lost the do-or-die match, 74-82, and finished an already disappointing season with a 7-7 win-loss record. This put them out of the semifinal picture for the first time in 14 years.
Despite a tough rookie campaign, Coach Bo sees the past season as a great learning experience. “I think the bottom line of this season is to make us understand that other teams are making progress in terms of manpower, in terms of recruitment and in terms of the maturity in their players,” he points out.
Looking forward
With his inaugural season at the helm now over, Coach Bo’s job now is what he likes to call “bridging the gap.” He knows that the Ateneo community expects nothing less than a championship from him and will be the first to judge every move he makes. “The goal for next season is to contend for the championship. And for us to do that, we must raise the level of our game,” Coach Bo says. He plans to achieve that goal through constant and proper training and by recruiting skillful and coachable players.
Asked about his coach’s performance during his first season in Loyola Heights, Ravena lauded Coach Bo for handling everything professionally, from the media and critics, all the way to the players. He says, “Coach Bo is very professional and he treats us like his own children.”
Ravena is also proud to say that their coach is always the first to defend the team in the heat of every battle. “If there’s anybody who wants to go after us, he’ll be the first one to defend us. It’s a huge psychological advantage to know that you’re coach is there to defend you,” he says in a mix of English and Filipino.
Despite the rough start to his stint as the head coach of the Blue Eagles, it seems certain that Coach Bo has earned the trust of his players. While his first season might have been a tough learning experience, Coach Bo is eager to take the Blue Eagles to greater heights in Season 77.
