Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Ateneo is eager to prove that even kids can play on the big stage. But Far Eastern University is just as ready to foil a dream showdown.
Both teams openly declared their missions in Saturday’s playoffs that will award the winner the right to face La Salle in the Finals of the UAAP Season 79 men’s basketball tournament.
Though the Blue Eagles own the twice-to-beat advantage in their 4 p.m. tussle at Mall of Asia Arena, the Tamaraws are the defending champions and would want to keep their title at all cost.
“We don’t think we have the advantage, that’s a trap for us,” said Ateneo coach Sandy Arespacochaga. “They’re the defending champions, they won’t give up without a fight.”
Just one win over the Tamaraws will set up the Blue Eagles for a titular showdown with the La Salle Green Archers, their arch nemesis in countless battles that yielded huge gate receipts in the past.
“This dream matchup, people say they miss it. That’s my concern if they will force it,” said FEU coach Nash Racela. “We want to be in the finals and we also deserve to be there.”
With six key players in last year’s championship gone, the Tamaraws have been groping for consistency, losing three of their last four games.
The playoff experience of veterans Monbert Arong, Raymar Jose, Richard Escoto and Prince Orizu will come in handy for FEU, which has a wide array of combo guards in Axel Iñigo, Allen Trinidad, Wendel Comboy and Ron Dennison.
“We have an inexperienced group of players,” said Racela. “If we make adjustments and sacrifice, we have a good chance.”
They’ll be challenging a team, replete with newbies, that had a six-game win streak at the end of the second round to seize the No. 2 ranking.
Sophomore players Thirdy Ravena, siblings Mike and Matt Nieto, Isaac Go, Adrian Wong and Aaron Black have been exceptional during Ateneo’s streak as well as third-year guard Antonio Asistio and rookie power forward Rafael Verano.
“This is a new chapter for us,” said Mike Nieto “We’re a young team, but we’re out to prove our doubters wrong.”
Should they topple the Tamaraws, the Blue Eagles will try to relive the 2008 Finals where they swept the Green Archers.
“We’ll try our best to deny that dream matchup,” said Racela. “I have a different dream and there’s a different matchup in that dream.”