FOR Ateneo de Manila, the goal has leveled up to aiming for five straight championships.
For University of the Philippines (UP), the one that got away has transformed into motivation—and honor—for a bunch of Fighting Maroons who gave their all despite the obvious odds.
“First of all, back-to-back titles doesn’t look so important if put up next to a five-in-a-row,” Ateneo Head Coach Tab Baldwin said. “Doesn’t it? It’s just like a little bump on the road compared to that [five peat].”
The Blue Eagles, starring Thirdy Ravena who worked like a horse on a rampage, wrapped up the Season 81 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball crown with a 99-81 rout before a crowd of 23,000 on Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ravena was unstoppable en route to a career-high 38 points in the series-clincher where the Blue Eagles experience as champions and overseas stints that included the William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei, reared its dominant head over a UP side that wanted to win only its second league crown since 1986.
“We want to pursue excellence. And a championship is one measure of excellence, I guess. If that’s a by-product of the way we do things, then we hope to continue to have championships in the future,” he said.
The Blue Eagles won consecutive crowns from 2009 to 2013, almost matching the UAAP record six straight titles booked by University of the East in the late 1960s.
Baldwin said that if the “five-peat” is far-fetched, what they could do is to build a team for another championship.
“At the back of our minds, that’s the end of the game for a team—to win a championship. But we don’t talk too much about that. We talk more about how each one of these guys can be the best player they can be,” he said.
The Fighting Maroons were helpless against Ravena and Rookie of the Year Angelo Kouame, Ateneo’s center from Ivory Coast who outdid himself on Wednesday night.
Kouame had a 22-point, 20-rebound, two-block game, more than enough to complement Ravena’s explosion that ended their foes’ bid for a Cinderella finish.
Kouame’s counterpart, Bright Akhuetie, was in no Most Valuable Player form and couldn’t trigger a major UP comeback. But he still finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
The Blue Eagles practically owned the court from start to finish, leading by as many as 22 in the fourth period when Ravena unloaded 18 points.
Come Season 82 when Ateneo takes its role as general host, the Blue Eagles will be practically intact with only Anton Asistio graduating from the team.
Ravena, Kouame, Matt Nieto and forward Raffy Verano are expected to keep the team’s core, along with Tyler Tio, Jolo Mendoza, Adrian Wong, Isaac Go and Gian Mamuyac.
The Fighting Maroons?
UP Head Coach Bo Perasol isn’t a man in grief.
In his team’s final huddle at centercourt after the loss, Perasol relentlessly lifted the spirits of his young players who looked spent from the consecutive Finals setbacks.
“The Finals is done. You need to be proud of yourselves. We were in the Finals. Nobody expected us to be here,” Perasol told the Fighting Maroons.
“You achieved so much. You sacrificed so much. That’s why they [UP fans] are here,” he stressed.
UP placed third after the elimination round with an 8-6 record. They defied the odds by negating the twice-to-beat advantage of the Adamson University Soaring Falcons in the Final Four.
Against highly touted Ateneo, UP showed a big fighting heart but inexperience sunk into the Fighting Maroons’ campaign.
UP bid goodbye to team captain Paul Desiderio, Diego Dario, Gelo Vito, Jarrell Lim and John Española, who all played their last season of eligibility.
But they have so much to look forward to—Kobe Paras and Ricci Rivero will be eligible next season to play alongside Akhuetie, Mythical Five member Juan Gomez de Liaño and his brother Javi and Jun Manzo.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza