MANILA—Ateneo goes for the victory that eluded the Blue Eagles last summer.
Bracing for another tough encounter, the Eagles shoot for the early lead against fierce rival La Salle Green Archers in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday.
Ateneo coach Norman Black hopes to have everything in check in the 3 p.m. showdown at the Araneta Coliseum, less than two months after his defending champions lost to the Archers twice during the preseason.
Tickets for the blockbuster battle are sold separately from the first game where Far Eastern University will also vie for back-to-back wins versus Adamson at 11 a.m.
“Break the press (defense),” said Black. “Whenever you play La Salle, that’s number one. You have to try to limit your turnovers and try to break their pressure to score.”
The Eagles kicked off their quest for a fourth straight crown with a thrilling 55-51 triumph over the Adamson Falcons last Sunday.
“A lot has happened since summer, so we expect Ateneo to have improved a lot,” said La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren. “They’re good at half-court offense. We also have to stop their post plays.”
Pumaren, of course, was pointing to Ateneo 7-foot behemoth Greg Slaughter, who had a sensational debut of 23 points—almost half of the Eagles’ output—to go with eight rebounds, two assists and a couple of blocks.
But Black also noted the Archers’ added height and heft with the addition of Arnold Van Opstal, a 6-foot-8 former Junior Archer, and Norbert Torres, a 6-6 Filipino-Canadian who also starred for the national youth team.
“What they have different from last year is they have size,” said Black. “I know that Torres is a good player. Van Opstal has a lot of energy, and of course, they have their other big men coming back from last year.”
The Archers dropped their first assignment against the Tamaraws, 74-65, but returning guard LA Revilla made good account of himself with 18 points and five rebounds.
“Even if we added size, our asset is still our quickness,” noted Pumaren.