AT 5-0, it seems that everything is going right for Ateneo.
But Blue Eagles head coach Norman Black points to a flaw in their game that they need to work on to stay on top of the 74th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
Despite averaging a winning margin of 13 points per game, Black doesn’t want his Blue Eagles to be complacent and he wants to draw solid games from the second unit.
The unbeaten Eagles face University of Santo Tomas (UST) at 3 p.m., while Far Eastern University (FEU) meets University of the Philippines (UP) at 1 p.m. on Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum.
“The bench is one of my concerns right now. Since I started to put Kiefer [Ravena] in the starting lineup, my second unit has been struggling,” said Black.
“And that’s what I’ve been telling to my players as long as they play defense, get those loose balls, we’ll be fine. And I think that’s one area we need to make adjustment.”
Ateneo’s bench is averaging only 14.6 points per game, the worst among the eight competing teams and Black said it must change especially in a long tournament like this.
University of the East (UE) is No. 1 in bench points with 39.7 points per game followed by La Salle (34), Adamson (33.2), the Fighting Maroons (32), the Tamaraws (29.8), National University (27.2) and the Growling Tigers (19.8).
The Blue Eagles are coming off a 77-57 demolition of UP where the bench scored only 11 of the team’s total output.
The Growling Tigers of coach Pido Jarencio are still reeling from a heart-breaking 59-62 loss at the hands of FEU in a game which they controlled for 38 minutes before the Tamaraws made their move and rookie Michael Tolomia hit the game-winning trey.
After starting the tournament with two straight wins, the Growling Tigers, champions in 2006, have dropped to 2-2.
In the first game, FEU hopes to gain some momentum going to their big game against Ateneo this Sunday when they face the struggling Fighting Maroons.
The Tamaraws are in solo second place with a 4-1 win-loss mark, while UP has dropped its last three games after its 69-61 opening game win over UE.
“Importanteng makuha namin ang game na ito versus UP para may momentum against Ateneo. Magandang game ito para sa amin,” said Flores.
The Fighting Maroons try to rebound from a 20-point loss and mentor Ricky Dandan said their defense has to step up to stand a chance against last year’s runner-up.
“Our match-up on defense will be the key in our game tomorrow. Learning from our past three losses, we need to be able to do what it takes to beat FEU,” said Dandan.
The UP guards have to work extra hard in containing reigning Most Valuable Player Ryan Roose Garcia and last year’s Rookie of the Year Terrence Romeo while Cameroonian Alinko Mbah will have his hands full in guarding the versatile Tamaraws center Aldrech Ramos.
