Sky's the limit for Eagles
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:29:00 07/04/2008
MANILA, Philippines--With a pair of pre-season crowns and a blue-chip rookie class, Ateneo coach Norman Black believes he has all the tools to go all the way in this year's UAAP basketball tournament.
"Our goal is to win the championship," Black said. "We have a better team. I don't want to say it to be mayabang but I'm saying it because that is our goal. We have more depth and more talent."
Ateneo, which last won the title in 2002 with a team led by Enrico Villanueva and Rich Alvarez, finished third last year, after losing to eventual champion De La Salle in a do-or-die duel in the stepladder semifinals.
And even that third place-finish surprised Black because "we didn't have the talent level that we had the year before."
But the multi-titled coach is ultra-confident this time around, mainly because he will have four of his starters--Chris Tiu, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Eric Salamat and Nonoy Baclao--back.
Ateneo has also been beefed up by highly touted rookies Ryan Buenafe from San Sebastian, Nico Salva from San Beda, Justin Chua from Chiang Kai Shek and American Vince Burke from Faith Academy.
"They'll play support roles because we are pretty set as far as our veterans are concerned," Black said of his rookies. "But they are good players and once they learn the system, especially on the defensive end they're really gonna help us."
The Eagles, reigned supreme in the Collegiate Champions League late last year and ruled the tough Nike Summer League in June by beating University of the East in the final and De La Salle in the semifinals.
And even though Black thinks the victories boosted their confidence, they are still nowhere near their goal.
"It doesn't matter how our team fares in the pre-season. What matters is how strong we will be come September, which is the most critical part of the season," said Black, who still has veterans Jobe Nkemakolam, Mike Baldos, Kirk Long, Bacon Austria and Jai Reyes.
Cedelf P. Tupas
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