Top teams gear up for second round, with danger lurking below

Malik Diouf (in white) scores for University of the Philippines early in another thrilling conquest of Ateneo. —UAAP PHOTO

The UAAP Season 85 men’s basketball tournament enters a pivotal juncture, and that’s why the Ateneo Blue Eagles probably met the in-between-rounds break with a slight groan.

There’s a lot more work to put in before the second phase of the eliminations starts.

“The more preparation time you give our coaching staff, the better off we are; and players don’t always like that because they know it’s a grind,’’ said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin.

“But they also trust the coaching staff as we trust them, and since we are in the process of getting better, more preparation time will help us do that.”

The Blue Eagles wound up in joint second at 5-2 with the National University (NU) Bulldogs and they get a headstart at jumping in front of that deadlock when they kick off their second round with a matchup against the Adamson Falcons on Saturday.

Ange Kouame, last season’s Most Valuable Player, hasn’t spread his wings as imposingly in the first round, prompting the backcourt trio of Forthsky Padrigao, BJ Andrade and Dave Ildefonso to step up to the plate along with Kai Ballungay down low.

Ateneo lost in the first round to two teams that it has built enmity with: Finals tormentor and defending champion University of the Philippines (UP) and longtime fierce rival La Salle.

The much-awaited second round match with the Green Archers will no doubt be pegged as another classic, but the real gauge would be Ateneo’s rematch with the Fighting Maroons, who overthrew the Blue Eagles last season.

And UP, leading the field at 6-1 (win-loss), is working to being prepared for all comers in the second round.

“I think we just have to work more on our consistency. We have to be more organized and whatever lapses that we had in the first round, we will work on it as a team,’’ said UP coach Goldwyn Monteverde.

Health factor

UP’s health will play a decisive role in its bid to repeat as champions with mobile center Carl Tamayo and championship hero JD Cagulangan expected to be back to top physical condition for the second round.

Cagulangan played in the Maroons’ triumphant first-round outing against the Eagles, but missed the rest of their matches due to a strained left hamstring. Tamayo, meanwhile, has been slowly recovering from a sprained ankle.

At full strength, the Maroons can even be scarier with Zavier Lucero, Malick Diouf, Gerry Abadiano, Terrence Fortea, Harold Alarcon, Cyril Gonzales and James Spencer churning out remarkable performances so far.

While it is indeed wise to wager on UP and Ateneo reprising their championship battle from last year, counting out the rest of the field would be folly.

Even Adamson presents a danger for Ateneo. The Falcons outlasted the mighty Archers in overtime last weekend, catching La Salle at 3-4.

“We don’t really expect smooth sailing [in the second round], we just play as it comes,’’ said Adamson coach Nash Racela. “It’s a good sign that we’ve finally won a tight game.’’

University of the East (UE) is also at 3-4 and is ready to build on the gains of this tournament after finishing 0-14 last season.

“It’s a huge turnaround for this team. Coming from 0-14, it’s a big achievement for us already, but to be honest we cannot be satisfied with only three wins,’’ said UE coach Jack Santiago.

The Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws broke out of a 0-5 start and enter the second round on the saddle of back-to-back wins, including a victory over NU that pulled the Bulldogs down to a tie for second after sharing the lead with UP late in the first round.

“Every game is important. Anything can happen with just one win. We’ve been playing well with the belief that we can compete with our present lineup,’’ said FEU coach Olsen Racela.

Perhaps the only team still trying to rediscover its footing in the tournament is University of Santo Tomas. After opening the season with a lot of promise by beating Adamson, the Tigers have dropped six straight so far.