ATENEO’S string of successes doesn’t surprise head coach Norman Black at all. And he credited his players for believing in the system and his hard-working assistants for playing their part in the title run in the 74th University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament.
The Blue Eagles are once again the kings of the UAAP with a sound 2-0 demolition of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws in their best-of-three championship series.
Ateneo pulled off a pair of dominating wins, 82-69, in Game One and 82-69 in Game Two—not a major surprise, especially with the way the school worked on their title defense this season, plugging the holes left by last season’s graduates while keeping the system as it is.
Black said more than the talent, it was the players’ desire to be at their best every game that led to the school’s first four-peat drive in the UAAP.
“When I used to play, I earned a lot of money. But as a player, I always take pride of playing my best every time I’m on the court and the players bought that idea,” said Black, who joined Aric del Rosario and Franz Pumaren on the elite list of four-peat coaches in the league’s Final Four era.
“And the players want to be known as good players and being in a good team. For me, that’s everything because people will respect you when they see you go out and do the same thing every night without fail. And people will respect you for that,” he added.
Black said he was glad his players embraced the system since Day One.
But the grand-slam coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) admitted it wasn’t easy for the players to follow the mantra each game and do this for four years with consistency.
“To be able to put up a string of championships and convince the same guys to continue giving their best every game, every year is amazing,” said Black.
“And the bottom line here is the players. We were able to recruit good players who want to study and, at the same time, want to win. Without these players, the program won’t be successful,” he added.
Unlike last year when the Blue Eagles labored to get the sweep against the same team, Black said this year wasn’t as difficult because of the talent they have, led by rookies Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena and finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Nico Salva.
The defensive tenacity of Kirk Long and Emman Monfort was also the key in grounding the offensive-minded Tamaraws’ backcourt duo of RR Garcia and Terrence Romeo.
The bench also came big in the series, with JP Erram, Luis Gonzaga, Bacon Austria, Juami Tingson and Justin Chua providing the quality minutes for Ateneo.
“No championship is very easy. Definitely last year is much difficult. We didn’t have the talent…We didn’t have Greg [Slaughter] last year,” said Black.
“I know Rayray Parks won the MVP but for us, Greg is our MVP. He may not have the monster numbers like the other players but he attracts so much attention and makes his teammates better,” he added.
“And I’m happy for Greg because he was able to buy into the system in a very short period of time. Remember, he just joined us last May.”
Slaughter, the seven-foot center from University of the Visayas, has a year left in his eligibility and Black admitted that his return will be one of the keys in grabbing a fifth consecutive crown.
“And we have to develop our young players in the off-season. We’ll be losing our starting backcourt [Monfort and Long] and I hope we can find their replacements,” he said.
“And all of the other teams are getting better. I expect UST to rise, not to mention FEU which is always good in recruiting players. La Salle will bounce back with a new coach next year,” Black added.
“But we’ll enjoy this one first.”
