Eric Altamirano. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Several years back, Eric Altamirano accepted a job many before him refused to even try.
Four years later on a Wednesday night, Altamirano took National University to the summit where nobody before him even came close.
“When I took this job, nobody wanted this job,” said Altamirano after steering the Bulldogs to their first UAAP men’s basketball championship since 1954.
NU took 60 years and Altamirano needed only four seasons to bring the school out of the rut. It may sound like a short span of time but for the mild-mannered mentor, it was an arduous process considering where the Bulldogs stood when he was hired as head coach in 2010.
“It was really hard,” he admitted. “On our first year, our battle cry was respect. We wanted to earn the respect of the league. We tried to change the culture of the team.”
That year, the Bulldogs finished just outside the Final Four picture in fifth place—sign of things to come.
“Our second year was to make them believe that they can win,” Altamirano, a champion coach in the PBA, added.
And that belief propelled NU to its first Final Four appearance since 2001.
“Our third year, we can win.”
And that confidence had the Bulldogs finishing with the No. 1 seed before their inexperience and the pressure got them tumbling out the door as they were ousted by a more battle-tested team in University of Santo Tomas.
But despite the early exit, the message got across the league. And if there’s anything Altamirano and the Bulldogs can get out of that forgetful experience, it made the team what it is today.
“I saw what this team had to go through, especially the players who experienced what happened last year. I felt bad for them. Everybody was crying. I could still remember that scene in the dugout. They were really dejected,” Altamirano vividly recalled.
“It either makes or breaks the team. But fortunately for us it made the team tougher and it made them hungry. I’m sure they look back on that and think they won’t let that happen again.”
It didn’t. A season later, NU found itself with the lowest seed entering the semifinals and needing a playoff with University of the East to earn it before toppling down top seed Ateneo and facing No. 2 FEU, which dethroned De La Salle in their own semis matchup, in a best-of-three duel for the title.
The Bulldogs dropped the Finals opener before leveling the series and extending it to a deciding Game 3, where history was theirs—ending a long drought and becoming the first fourth seed to win the crown.
“It’s really a long journey for us. But I think those playoff games really helped us become a lot stronger,” Altamirano, whose squad had to survive five knockout games en route to the title, pointed out. “I think through those adversities that we had to go through, that made us stronger. Every game that we played, we grew stronger.”
“We drew confidence from one another. Until finally, it really prepared us for this Game 3. The players felt, ‘we’ve been here before.’ It’s nothing new to them.”
Altamirano was tasked to transform a laughingstock into serious contenders and he made it happen. And at the end of the day, Altamirano knew it wouldn’t have happened if not for his players.
“There is a collective spirit among them that they won’t just break.”
Leading the way were Alfred Aroga, who went on to win the Finals MVP award, Gelo Alolino, whom Altamirano had said was the team’s leader, and graduating forwards Troy Rosario and Glenn Khobuntin.
The four emerged as the team’s stars but the way Altamirano honed the Bulldogs, it’s not just about four or five guys to get things done.
“I think that the style of basketball that we showed is really centered on the team. It’s not on any individual,” he said. “We were able to share the ball on offense.”
Best defensive team
“More than anything, what I really saw is that you can also have teamwork on defense. The type of defense we play, you cannot really replicate that if you’re not as one,” added Altamirano, who molded the Bulldogs into the best defensive team in the league this season.
Altamirano spoke of confidence but make no mistake, there were doubts too heading into the 77th Season. Two-time league MVP Ray Parks decided to forgo his final two years with NU and key cogs from a season before had maxed out their playing years.
“We knew coming into the season we will not have our key players. It’s not just Jean (Mbe), it’s not just Bobby Ray (Parks). We lost most of our starters except for Gelo,” he said. “We were trying to figure out what’s gonna happen to this team. We couldn’t imagine that we’ll be the champions this year.”
Then came that one game where Altamirano knew his team is something else.
“I remember the time we were playing a D-League team in summer and we were behind the whole game and somehow we won by a buzzer-beater,” he recalled. “And then I told the team after that game that there is something special with this team, I just cannot pinpoint it.”
“For some reason, they showed it this season.”