Ateneo, NU face winless foes

MANILA, Philippines - Top meets bottom as co-leaders Ateneo and National U gun for their third straight wins against teams raring to get out of the cellar today in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball tourney at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Riding the crest of an ego-boosting 97-86 win over rival La Salle last Sunday, the Blue Eagles seek to sustain their charge against winless University of the Philippines (0-2) in the 2 p.m. curtain-raiser of a mid-week slate.

For their part, buoyed by their blowout wins over University of Santo Tomas and State U, the Bulldogs look to go 3-0 at 4 p.m. against struggling holder La Salle, which aims for its first victory in three starts with point guard Thomas Torres sitting it out due to foot injury. 

Ateneo coach Bo Perasol said their triumph over La Salle, and previously over Adamson, shouldn’t make them go easy against the Maroons or the rest of the field for that matter.

“Yung sinasabi ko sa kanila, yung panalo namin sa Adamson, is one mark, yung panalo namin sa La Salle, one mark din (I’ve been telling them our win over Adamson is one mark on our slate, and our win over La Salle is one mark as well). We have to make another mark, against UP this time,” he said.

“Dapat iniisip nila na (They should realize that) we were 7-7 last season and we weren’t able to make it to the Final Four. I think we can still be better and that would be the challenge. Two and zero pa lang kami, wala pang count sa ngayon pero maganda na rin kesa 0-3 kami last year (We’re just 2-0, doesn’t really put us in the Final Four yet, but it’s definitely better than our 0-3 start last year),” he added.

La Salle may have lost its first two games but NU coach Eric Altamirano said the Archers couldn’t be dismissed as a league power.

“La Salle is talagang (La Salle will always be) a tough nut to crack so we really have to prepare against them,” said Altamirano. “Hopefully the first two games will give us a little confidence (going to the duel with La Salle).”

The Archers will have to deal with the absence of Torres in climbing out of the doldrums. Torres suffered a fractured toe on his right foot against Ateneo, which according to a La Salle sports official, is a “minor injury but (he) needs to be in a cast” for six weeks.

 As it is, La Salle is trying to correct its lapses in the first two games.

“There were some instances we knew what we were doing but sometimes it looked like we were lost. We just need to play consistent 40 minutes of basketball,” rued Sauler.

“We just have to toughen up a little bit more on the defensive end. Just like in the (first game) where we had (FEU’s Mike) Tolomia beating us with his three-point shots and not getting into them. That was the same thing Sunday, (Ateneo’s Kiefer) Ravena  had one or two. It’s our defensive mental toughness that we need to improve on,” he added.

According to Sauler, they have to also assert their dominance off the boards as their rivals managed to get easy points off transition and some offensive rebounds.