The Art of “pektus” and Roadkill
Ateneo 69 vs. NU 49
by rick olivares
After the departure of the Ateneo from the NCAA, the one school that filled the power vacuum of the grand old league was San Sebastian College.
Since 1979, the Stags have won 11 NCAA seniors basketball championships and five juniors titles cementing their status as one of the premier college hoop programs.
There are currently three players on the Blue Eagles’ line-up with the Recoletos pedigree – team captain Eric Salamat, junior forward Ryan Buenafe, and freshman center Jeric Estrada.
If you speak with Staglets’ head coach Raymond Valenzona and ask him who he thinks is the best player to come through his system (and he’s had a lot of talented players who are plying their trade as solid contributors in La Salle, Far Eastern University, the University of the East, and Emilio Aguinaldo College), he will without hesitation offer one name: Ryan Buenafe.
Says Valenzona who saw his player rack up triple doubles for breakfast with the Staglets, “Heaven for Ryan… is a basketball court. He is built to win. Yun lang wala nanang iba.”
Having fled the gothic spires of the San Sebastian Cathedral for the more modern yet simple art deco of the Church of the Gesu, Buenafe in Ateneo is like the east meets west of Hong Kong.
Poles apart that makes for a dynamic synthesis when the twain are on.
His unhappiness when being benched is glaring for all to see. As great as an offensive player as Buenafe is, what will make him a cut above the rest – as well as get playing time under Norman Black – is a firm commitment to playing defense. It is after all, Ateneo’s backbone, or hallmark if you will, under the American mentor who is now on his sixth year as Blue Eagles head coach.
“You guys have been covering him since he was in high school,” said Black to the assembled media throng after Ateneo crushed the National University Bulldogs 69-49 last Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum. “So you know what he’s all about.”
And the first 12 points of Ateneo were all about Buenafe. If he wasn’t scoring the points himself, his imprimatur was all over it. And Justin Chua should treat him out for a meal.
And Buenafe was magnificent in the 20-point demolition of the Bulldogs that have seen their Final Four this year dreams derailed by Ateneo.
It was the Blue Eagles who inflicted their first double-digit loss of the season. And since then, they’ve been on a downward spiral.
In their first round encounter, the Bulldogs, with Mervin Baloran and Glenn Khobuntin showing the way, were beating Ateneo off the dribble. The game plan then was to shut them down from dominating the lane while letting their shooters try and beat them from the outside.
This time around, it was pretty much the same. But the lockdown wasn’t exclusive to the inside but the DMZ had been extended to the perimeter. The Bulldogs hit 50% of their shots but they only had six attempts that one made shot came from power forward-center Jewel Ponferrada who was had no choice but to try his luck from the outside as Nico Salva and Justin Chua rejected three of his shots.
And there was Buenafe with five assists in the first half who jumpstarted Ateneo’s game.
There is without a doubt that he can score but that’s not his role on this team and he doesn’t mind showing off other facets of his game.
Such as those trick shots that he sometimes practices*.
In the first quarter, he found a mismatch when NU point guard Joseph Terso guarded him in the post. He go the ball pivoted to his right then before Bulldogs center Emmanuel Mbe could get to him, he stretched a lay in for a deuce at 4-2.
And there was that playground “jolens” shot as this time he spun around defender Jerome Tungcul then stretched once more before a scoop shot from under NU’s Marion Magat and Baloran that hiked the Ateneo lead 38-20.
Then at the 5:22 mark of the fourth period, he drove to the basket on the break as the Bulldogs furiously backpedalled. Then with two defenders collapsing on him and Mbe quickly coming up from behind, he twisted his body to the left and lofted another scoop with enough spin (pektus for you into the playground lexicon) off the backboard for another bucket and a 59-42 lead.
Said NU head coach Eric Gonzales of Buenafe: “He is a difficult match up for us and for any team. Iba yung basketball IQ niya eh.”
Added another Bulldog who refused to be named, “Kung hindi lang ako nakaupo sa bench namin eh tatayo ako at papalakpak ako sa tira niya kanina. Hindi naman alahoy na tira kasi kaya niyang gawin yun, eh.”
Buenafe however laughed off his heroics and trick shots, “Nagulat nga ako pumasok yun.”
As spectacular as Ateneo was on the offense end, it was their smothering defense that never allowed NU into the game. The Blue Eagles blocked eight Bulldog attempts, forced them into 23 turnovers, and harried them into 29.6% shooting for a tournament low 49 points.
Since the loss to La Salle that put the team at an even 2-2, the Blue Eagles have been constantly refining their game while steamrolling opponents along the way to the second round rematch La Salle that is this weekend.
And leave it to Buenafe to get one last word in: “Kailangan makabawi.”
Ateneo 69 – Buenafe 14, Chua 10, Monfort 9, Salva 7, dela Cruz 6, Salamat 6, Golla 4, DeChavez 4, Tiongson 3, Escueta 0, Erram 0, Balmaceda 0, Gonzaga 0, Austria 0
NU 49 – Mbe 13, Ponferrada 12, Hermosisima 7, Terso 6, Baloran 3, Ludovice 2, Javillionar 2, Ignacio 2, Eriobu 2, Tungcul 0, Singh 0, Malanday 0, Magat 0
* Even when Buenafe was playing with Smart Gilas, the team would from time to time practice trick shots as national coach Rajko Toroman believed that the game necessitated improvisation from time to time. But what makes Buenafe’s shots spectacular is how he suspends disbelief with his hangtime considering his weight and heft.
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