The Gas Pedal
Ateneo 74 vs. La Salle 57
by rick olivares
If the Ateneo Blue Eagles were a car maybe they can be described in this manner.
It’s got some mileage on it because of the presence of seasoned veterans. It’s got some features that leave some wondering why they’re there. And it’s got some brand new parts that ought to keep the engine running in tip-top shape.
It isn’t like the old model where you knew you what you were getting. That incidentally was a couple of UAAP championships and a whole bunch of others in between.
If you ask Norman Black what he thinks of this year’s model, you’d be surprised to know that he likes it just fine. You never know who it’s going to lead the team in scoring. The way the team is built this year, except for Nico Salva, the team doesn’t have any plays for anyone and the Blue Eagles only get their shots off ball movement. So every player on the line-up, aside from the newbie’s of course, have roles to play and contribute in their own way.
Six different players have led the team in scoring – Nico Salva (twice), Kirk Long (twice), Justin Chua (twice), Eric Salamat (twice), Emman Monfort, and Ryan Buenafe.
The team unfortunately didn’t close out the last lap well during the first round encounter with La Salle. The bright side of that was that it jolted the team. After they stepped on the gas pedal and ran the Green Archers off the floor for a 74-57 victory, they secured their sixth consecutive win.
In any game, theoretically, one does not look for motivation to go out and play. The game and the goals of making the final four, securing the twice to beat advantage, and going to the finals should be sufficient enough. Playing La Salle should provide plenty of motivation. But after the first round loss where many of the players if not all of them felt that they had lost a won game.
So they played.
Ateneo scored first with two free throws from Chua off a foul by Joshua Webb but La Salle answered and took a 9-4 lead after a triple by point guard Joel Tolentino.
The green gallery cheered as Norman Black called for his first time out of the match. “We just needed to get ourselves a little in order,” he said of that timeout.
Added Long, “They came out with a lot of intensity. When we matched it, we were able to execute what we wanted on offense and defense.”
Following the time out, Long hit a triple that sparked a 7-0 run prompting La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren to call for a time out of his own. But his team wasn’t able to respond as the Blue Eagles stretched that run into another crippling 18-2 bomb while holding DLSU scoreless over an eight-minute span for an incredible 29-11 lead.
Ateneo was threatening to blow the game wide open in the first half.
“We allowed Ateneo to dictate the pace of the game,” rued Pumaren after the match.
It was the Blue Eagles at their finest as they whipped the ball around to look for the open man. They knocked down their shots from inside and out as well as from the stripe. What was crucial to the run as well as posting an 18-point lead at the half 39-21 was the second unit of Monfort, Arthur dela Cruz, Raymond Austria, Frank Golla, and Juami Tiongson who held the line as the Green Archers tried to get some points by having their starters make a go at the Blue Eagle bench.
And in a stunning turnaround after many called for his head, Austria scored on a three-point play against La Salle center Jovet Mendoza, and the Ateneo gallery began to chant, “Bacon! Bacon!”
As the third quarter got underway, La Salle got four quick points on the board. Perhaps their getting chewed out at halftime (that saw them come out a couple of minutes late) had an effect.
But the Blue Eagles had been warned about La Salle’s penchant for coming back even against seemingly insurmountable odds. They answered with a 9-0 run that regained the momentum. As much as the earlier 25-point explosion swung the game in favor of Ateneo, that stand at the onset of the third quarter pretty much finished off La Salle. The lead went as high as 26 when Art dela Cruz hit another of those almost unblockable hooks of his for a 50-27 lead.
It only went down as the Blue Eagles were whistled for a bunch of dubious fouls that saw the lead shrink.
As the final buzzer sounded, the sixth straight win had been secured. The game had been a battle between the erstwhile top defensive team (DLSU) and the second best squad (Ateneo). The last time they were held to scoring fifty-something points was in their losing effort to NU in the first round (they managed 55 in the match). The blue and whites outrebounded the green and whites 46-36, had more steals 8-5 and blocks 5-2 while forcing them into 34.5% shooting. The three-point weapon that they had turned to in the first round upset had a blanket all game long. They only made 2-18 attempts with first round hero Joseph Marata firing blanks at 0-3. The Green Archers also shot themselves on the foot by missing 14 free throws. “It was a bad game for us,” summed up Pumaren. “We did not play La Salle basketball.”
The win gave Ateneo sole possession over second place more so after Adamson lost to UE a few days earlier.
Black praised dela Cruz who had a double double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. “He shows a lot of maturity for a rookie. He doesn’t get rattled and makes good decisions on the floor. Even when he comes in for Nico (Salva), he is able to sustain the effort that we want.”
But the Ateneo coach made sure to give props to Kirk Long whose brilliance all season long goes beyond scoring. “He likes them to come in fours (referring to Long’s 4-5 three-point shooting that jumpstarted the team), I guess. Kirk did a great job in knocking down shots.”
As exhilarating the win was, Black tempered any prolonged and ostentatious celebration. “We had a big win against La Salle not just because it helps us in the standings but also because it’s against La Salle. This isn’t going to mean anything if we don’t do our job against UE on Thursday.” cautioned the sixth year head coach.
As for this year’s model?
“It doesn’t stop from here.”
Ateneo 74 – Long 22, dela Cruz 10, Buenafe 9, Salva 7, Monfort 7, Salamat 6, Golla 6, Austria 3, Escueta 2, Chua 2, Erram 0, Tiongson 0
La Salle 57 – Mendoza 20, Villanueva 7, Andrada 6, Tampus 5, Tolentino 5, Atkins 5, Marata 4, dela Paz 3, Webb 2, Vosotros 0, Paredes 0, Elorde 0, Ferdinand 0, Banal 0
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