(This was my preview for the Ateneo Blue Eaglets in Blueblood magazine prior to Season 72)
The Power of Names and 94 Feet of Defense
The Ateneo Blue Eaglets on Defending the Crown
by rick olivares
The Ateneo Blue Eaglets on Defending the Crown
by rick olivares
The knock on the Ateneo High School is that it doesn’t breed tall players anymore. The days when it produced tall, serviceable or dominating centers like Mike Facundo, Alex Araneta, Danny Francisco, and Rico Santiago one after the other have passed on to urban myth. Occasionally there has been a Rico Villanueva or Paolo Bugia to pass through the hallowed corridors but they are few and far in between.
Despite that, the high school basketball team has made a championship appearance an annual birthright making them the yardstick of which UAAP Junior caging is measured.
Ja Story Behind the Name and Game
And behind the Blue Eaglets’ recent dominance is a coach who may be – with all due respect to him – small in stature but carries a big stick. And once you understand that then you will come to understand the team even more.
Mike Jarin ironically grew up a fan of Los Angeles Lakers’ supercenter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “That was a time before the centers were literally the centers of attraction of the NBA game,” revealed the bespectacled coach. “The game was then opening up to guards and forwards like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan but the conventional wisdom was you needed your franchise center to win.”
“When I was growing up, everyone kept calling me “Jarin” like they do in school. And my name is “Mike” but everyone knew I was a Jabbar fan so they called me “Jarin Abdul Jabbar” and that was eventually shorted to “Jamike.”
Jarin loved basketball except that he wasn’t blessed with the height so whether he was son the subdivision or San Beda Red Cubs team, he found himself at the end of the bench. “Sitting on the bench gave me a very clear view what was happening on the court.”
It was while sitting on the bench – first as a player and second as an assistant -- where Jarin formed many of his coaching philosophies. “I learned from some of the best in the game: Douglas Chonlok, Ato Badolato, Joe Lipa, Ricky Dandan, Joel Banal, Sandy Arespacochaga, and Norman Black. Sandy likes a fast game. Joel is a wizard with numbers. With Norman it’s the inside game and defense. And having been there and done that, well, no one sits. Everyone plays. And that’s not just because I know what’s it’s like but we’re going to need everyone because we play 94 feet of defense for the full 40 minutes.”
As they showed it last season against the much taller teams of Far Eastern University and Adamson University, physical size doesn’t matter. It was the size of their fighting heart.
With regards to the Jabbar allusion, Jarin added, “We may be small, but we certainly play big.”
Succinctly summed up, the Blue Eaglets live by a mantra that “speed kills” and that “we force opponents to play our game.”
The keepers of the flame
For Ateneo to defend the crown this new season, everyone will have step up more so since they lost Juami Tiongson, Jayvee Dumrique, Kevin Gamboa, and Ivan Enriquez to graduation.
Unlike others, Ateneo does not recruit players for its basketball program. The players come from its mass grade school and high school base. And the cycle continues with four new faces: Luis Singco, Sandro Daez, Aldrin Ungson, and Lambert Tenorio; the latter LA’s younger sibling.
The homegrown pride is a huge factor in team’s make up; something the coaching staff that includes former Blue Eagle Marco Benitez to count on when the going gets tough.
As for the veterans, assistant coach Joe Silva, himself a former Ateneo player, likes the continuous improvement of forwards Ael Banal and Von Pessumal aside from forward-center Paolo Romero. “But” noted Silva, “If (guard) Kiefer Ravena plays defense, then we’ll be tougher.”
The team’s second unit is actually strong enough to be another team’s first five. In fact, the coaching staff is even toying with the idea of starting the second unit of Tim Capacio at center, Romero and Pessumal at the forward position and Ice Reyes and Singco at guard. And just when opponents have had enough of them, they can then bring on their true starting unit of Al Bugarin at center, Chuckie Dumrique and Ravena at guard, and Banal and Paolo Pe at the forward line.
“Laban lang kami this year,” said Silva who refused to predict a second straight crown. “It will not be easy. Zobel is not only taller but they are hungry. And UST and FEU will be contenders as well.”
The Endgame
As appealing as it is to further immortalize themselves in Ateneo sports lore, Jarin is quick to explain the crux of his coaching. “The idea of Jesuit sports is to use the game to mold kids into better men. It sounds corny, however you want to put it, but there are values to be learned such as giving it your all and working as a team. We would love to form a team and give it that one big fight. And at the end of the day, if we win a championship, then that is a bonus.”
And in Jarin’s 11 years with the high school team, he’s won 6 championships, the most by any coach in Ateneo history. “And when you add the two as an assistant to the college team… that’s not bad. Not bad at all,” the coach smiled.
Be that as it may, aside from the 94 feet of defense, does Jamike Jarin have any secret plan to win his 7th Juniors crown?
“Yup. Score more baskets than our foes.”
Despite that, the high school basketball team has made a championship appearance an annual birthright making them the yardstick of which UAAP Junior caging is measured.
Ja Story Behind the Name and Game
And behind the Blue Eaglets’ recent dominance is a coach who may be – with all due respect to him – small in stature but carries a big stick. And once you understand that then you will come to understand the team even more.
Mike Jarin ironically grew up a fan of Los Angeles Lakers’ supercenter Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “That was a time before the centers were literally the centers of attraction of the NBA game,” revealed the bespectacled coach. “The game was then opening up to guards and forwards like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan but the conventional wisdom was you needed your franchise center to win.”
“When I was growing up, everyone kept calling me “Jarin” like they do in school. And my name is “Mike” but everyone knew I was a Jabbar fan so they called me “Jarin Abdul Jabbar” and that was eventually shorted to “Jamike.”
Jarin loved basketball except that he wasn’t blessed with the height so whether he was son the subdivision or San Beda Red Cubs team, he found himself at the end of the bench. “Sitting on the bench gave me a very clear view what was happening on the court.”
It was while sitting on the bench – first as a player and second as an assistant -- where Jarin formed many of his coaching philosophies. “I learned from some of the best in the game: Douglas Chonlok, Ato Badolato, Joe Lipa, Ricky Dandan, Joel Banal, Sandy Arespacochaga, and Norman Black. Sandy likes a fast game. Joel is a wizard with numbers. With Norman it’s the inside game and defense. And having been there and done that, well, no one sits. Everyone plays. And that’s not just because I know what’s it’s like but we’re going to need everyone because we play 94 feet of defense for the full 40 minutes.”
As they showed it last season against the much taller teams of Far Eastern University and Adamson University, physical size doesn’t matter. It was the size of their fighting heart.
With regards to the Jabbar allusion, Jarin added, “We may be small, but we certainly play big.”
Succinctly summed up, the Blue Eaglets live by a mantra that “speed kills” and that “we force opponents to play our game.”
The keepers of the flame
For Ateneo to defend the crown this new season, everyone will have step up more so since they lost Juami Tiongson, Jayvee Dumrique, Kevin Gamboa, and Ivan Enriquez to graduation.
Unlike others, Ateneo does not recruit players for its basketball program. The players come from its mass grade school and high school base. And the cycle continues with four new faces: Luis Singco, Sandro Daez, Aldrin Ungson, and Lambert Tenorio; the latter LA’s younger sibling.
The homegrown pride is a huge factor in team’s make up; something the coaching staff that includes former Blue Eagle Marco Benitez to count on when the going gets tough.
As for the veterans, assistant coach Joe Silva, himself a former Ateneo player, likes the continuous improvement of forwards Ael Banal and Von Pessumal aside from forward-center Paolo Romero. “But” noted Silva, “If (guard) Kiefer Ravena plays defense, then we’ll be tougher.”
The team’s second unit is actually strong enough to be another team’s first five. In fact, the coaching staff is even toying with the idea of starting the second unit of Tim Capacio at center, Romero and Pessumal at the forward position and Ice Reyes and Singco at guard. And just when opponents have had enough of them, they can then bring on their true starting unit of Al Bugarin at center, Chuckie Dumrique and Ravena at guard, and Banal and Paolo Pe at the forward line.
“Laban lang kami this year,” said Silva who refused to predict a second straight crown. “It will not be easy. Zobel is not only taller but they are hungry. And UST and FEU will be contenders as well.”
The Endgame
As appealing as it is to further immortalize themselves in Ateneo sports lore, Jarin is quick to explain the crux of his coaching. “The idea of Jesuit sports is to use the game to mold kids into better men. It sounds corny, however you want to put it, but there are values to be learned such as giving it your all and working as a team. We would love to form a team and give it that one big fight. And at the end of the day, if we win a championship, then that is a bonus.”
And in Jarin’s 11 years with the high school team, he’s won 6 championships, the most by any coach in Ateneo history. “And when you add the two as an assistant to the college team… that’s not bad. Not bad at all,” the coach smiled.
Be that as it may, aside from the 94 feet of defense, does Jamike Jarin have any secret plan to win his 7th Juniors crown?
“Yup. Score more baskets than our foes.”
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