Lady Luck did not gift Ateneo the UAAP season 80 basketball tiara.
The Eagles earned it, with scratches here and there, clawing their way up. They worked doubly hard on defense and improved on their teamwork to come up number one after the two round eliminations.
In the process, they discovered Thirdy Ravena to be the team’s heart and soul.
With him inside the playing court, the Eagles survived the Archers’ searing onslaught in the three-game final series. His on-court savvy helped sew the team’s cohesion and composure. As you will note now, the Loyola -based squad – very definitely – was the more cohesive team than their counterparts on Taft Ave.
Ateneo’s grit hardened a notch more after FEU beat them first in the Final Four despite a twice to beat privilege.
The Eagles could have swept the Archers in the first two matches, judging by the way they led their opponents most of the time in Games one and two.
But make no mistake about it. La Salle always plays like the champion that it is.
I will not fault Coach Ayo for heaping his full confidence in Mbala. This guy will always be the apple of every coach’s eye.
Mbala did his best but his best wasn’t good enough.
After levelling the series at one each, I thought La Salle would make few adjustments in both offense and defense in the last and final match.
My thinking was to throw off Ateneo’s bench tacticians in-as-much as they had their defensive patterns focused on the 6-9 Cameroonian center.
The idea is for Mbala to come off the bench, create a mismatch and avoid crippling fouls. He could play decoy, then go for the basket when he is not double teamed and to pass to a sniper when an Ateneo chaser helps Ikeh crowd him down low.
La Salle has several three-point specialists: Melecio, Rivero, Montalbo, Caracut. When they hit open shots, Ateneo will surely sag its zone and loosen its defense on Mbala.
Unfortunately, in the frenzy, the Archers’ coaching staff may have overlooked this.
Ateneo did not lose its concentration after La Salle grabbed the upperhand briefly. Ravena galloped and scored off Mbala on a high-arching board shot, then issued an assist to Go who let loose a looping trey to give the Eagles a 5-point edge, 85-80.
Had Ateneo not converted that basket, La Salle, just trailing by two then, 80-82, would have had the opportunity to bring the game to square one or even take the driver’s seat.
Again, Ravena was Hercules personified, towering in defense and leaping high to collar offensive rebounds.
Not until the ending buzzer sounded, did the 22,000 plus fans realize that Ateneo has clinched the crown.
I doff my hats off to the protagonists who played a gentleman’s game from beginning to end. The bruising physicality was there but the players did not let their sense of loyalty to their respective alma mater overcome them.
There were no breaks to speak of. Just excellent display of basketball prowess and the individual talents emerging out.
Of course, it cannot be helped saying that the application of coaching tactics and strategies, the timely substitutions and the instructions issued by the respective coaches were the highlights of this legendary rivalry.
It cannot be otherwise.
As in chess, the coach is the grandmaster pushing the pieces and the players are the pawns. (1 Ptr. 5:6. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
