UP, Ateneo open war for all the UAAP marbles in a series seen to be as close as last one

CARL TAMAYO
Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

University of the Philippines (UP) is on the final stretch of a determined drive to chase history in UAAP men’s basketball, while Ateneo will simply claw its way each game to reclaim the throne.

Both storied programs in college hoops have made it to the initial target of what has been a long season after forging a best-of-three championship series beginning Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena.

The defending champion Fighting Maroons and the Blue Eagles have become all too familiar with each other to begin with, having met a total of seven times this year with UP winning four of them highlighted by the title at Ateneo’s expense during the previous season back in May.

What matters perhaps in this rematch has little to do with the technicalities and finer points of their brewing rivalry. Everything has to do with the desire to win it all.

Senegalese center Malick Diouf will apparently walk away with the season MVP and has the luxury of having two of the finest inside operators surrounding him in Carl Tamayo and Zavier Lucero, making it a challenging matchup for the Blue Eagles frontline of Ange Koume, Kai Ballungay and backup bigman Geo Chiu.

“That Ateneo team in May has a lot more experience, but I think this team has the DNA of underdogs, and I don’t think the team in May did. They (current team) just don’t have a margin for error and they’ve played that way,’’ said Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin after clinching a finals berth following a beat down of the Adamson Falcons in the Final Four.

“We need to play that way again on Sunday and every game of these Finals. This team has the resolve to prove themselves, because they haven’t yet,’’ added Baldwin, who navigated Ateneo to three straight UAAP titles out of their five consecutive championship appearances.

Sixth straight shot

On their sixth title series appearance, the Eagles own a deep pool of dependable guards and shooters in Forthsky Padrigao, BJ Andrade, Chris Koon and Dave Ildefonso as well as first-rate defender Joshua Lazaro and second-string playmaker Vince Gomez.

But the Maroons also possess a squadron of backcourt personnel that can both defend brutally and light up the scoreboard anytime.

“They’re a lot different (from Season 84), just better. I think the way (Cyril) Gonzales is playing right now just deepens that guard lineup, which is a special guard lineup when you’ve got (JD) Cagulangan, (Gerry) Abadiano, (Terrence) Fortea and (James) Spencer,’’ said Baldwin.

A league first

It became clearly evident that the Maroons have that stockpile of artillery at their disposal following an assertive showing in turning back National University in the semifinals after winding up ranked second in the elimination phase.

But while the top flight Eagles won their last seven games, the Maroons dropped two of their last four, including their second-round meeting with Ateneo after beating the latter in the first round.

“We’re happy that we’ve been given another chance to win the championship. It’s really how we face the situations presented to us this season,’’ said UP coach Goldwyn Monteverde, who piloted the Maroons to their first title in 35 years after UP last won the crown way back in 1986.

“Every game, whether it’s a win or a loss, we really try to find things where we can improve on and those losses make the team stronger. It made us communicate more, it made us look at even the little things that we do,’’ added Monteverde.

They are now looking at bringing another title to Diliman and should the Maroons repeat over the Eagles, they could become the first school in league history to capture two championships in the same year as forced by the COVID-19 pandemic and something seen never to happen again.

“It’s not the toughness that you need to put up with some of the physicality in the UAAP that I think is ridiculous to be honest, it’s the mental toughness to withstand the pressure that UP can put on you,’’ said Baldwin.