MANILA — Ateneo tries to make the most of having seven-footer Greg Slaughter when the Blue Eagles go for a fifth straight victory in the UAAP men’s basketball tournament Saturday.
Although heavily favored as solo leader, the Blue Eagles expect no easy time against the University of the Philippines Maroons in their 1 p.m. match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Far Eastern University, running second at 3-1, also expects a tough time when it takes on University of Santo Tomas at 3 p.m.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said FEU mentor Bert Flores. “After four games, I don’t think we’re there [in our ideal form] yet.”
Slaughter came to the Blue Eagles’ rescue as Ateneo rolled back University of the East, 73-61, in a victory last week which Ateneo coach Norman Black described as “difficult.”
“Greg is our leading scorer (15.8 ppg) and rebounder (7.8 rpg), so he’s doing his job pretty well so far,” said Black.
“We’re the only team in the league with a seven-footer, so we want to take advantage of this as much as we can by hammering the basketball inside, forcing other teams into foul trouble and at the same time get into the foul line.”
Aside from Slaughter and fellow celebrated rookie Kiefer Ravena, however, the veteran trio of Nico Salva, Kirk Long and Emman Monfort have also been consistently delivering the goods.
“The thing I’m most happy with Greg is the fact that he bought into the team concept. The Ateneo team has a more balanced attack and we like it that way because it makes more difficult for other teams to defend us.”
The Maroons, even if the odds are stacked against them, are hoping to snap a two-game skid behind Mike Silungan, Mike Gamboa and Nigerian Alinko Mbah.
The Tamaraws, meanwhile, hope to make it three in a row a week after young guards Chris Tolomia and Terrence Romeo shone in the endgame of their 62-59 decision of National University.
Flores said even though his Tamaraws have a marquee backourt led by last season’s Most Valuable Player RR Garcia, their big men still have a lot of catching up to do.
“Getting the rebounds, that’s one thing we continue to work on,” said Flores.
The Tigers, bannered by Jeric Fortuna, Jeric Teng and rookie standout Kevin Ferrer, are aiming to recover from their first loss, 81-71, against Adamson after opening the season with back-to-back wins.