Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Every Ateneo-La Salle matchup in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament has its moments that these episodes could very well fill a series fit for numerous seasons.
And this current crop of Blue Eagles and Green Archers might have juhis st added their own episode to the lore of this much-ballyhooed rivalry.
When the two teams met in the first round of Season 81, there wasn’t much drama that swirled around in the atmosphere as the Blue Eagles took a fairly easy 71-55 victory.
The second round meeting, however, didn’t go that breezy when Taane Samuel returned and the big man from New Zealand quickly established himself as a notable bruiser.
Samuel had his scraps with Ateneo big men Isaac Go and Angelo Kouame in his first foray in the blue-and-green rivalry, but the Blue Eagle centers brushed it off and even said that maybe it’s just the Green Archer’s way of playing.
“I mean maybe that’s his style of play and I don’t know we haven’t seen him play in the UAAP and maybe he’s trying to get to our heads and we don’t really know,” said Go, who is usually a stoic and quiet player on the court.
Go’s statements do deserve merit since Samuel missed practically the whole season due to a Jones fracture after playing just five minutes in La Salle’s season opener against Far Eastern University.
“This is his first game back and we haven’t seen if there’s any consistency with that or just for this game. ” added Go who had three points, five rebounds, and two assists. “We look at it with a grain of salt and we’ll look at it in the next few games.”
As for Kouame, the 6-foot-10 center said he didn’t mind Samuel’s bruising and that basketball players should be used to physical play.
“Every game is physical, not only here in the Philippines,” said Kouame, who had 11 points and 10 boards. “Basketball is everywhere, you just have to learn it.”