Tidbits about Ateneo's UAAP Season 80 championship

MANILA, Philippines – Here are some interesting bits and pieces in looking at the Ateneo Blue Eagles winning the UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball championship:

The homegrown factor

Save for the 1990s when Ateneo didn’t win a single seniors basketball championship, all its title teams were homegrown driven. A team with a core that came up from the grade school and high school ranks who won a championship or two.

The last of the five-peat teams features six homegrown players. But this team, the 2017 champions, have the most since the 2002 titlists.

Among them are Thirdy Ravena, Matt and Mike Nieto, Anton Asistio, Jolo Mendoza, Aaron Black, Gian Mamuyac, Kris Porter and BJ Andrade. Nine. That is the most since the 2002 team that featured Wesley Gonzales, Enrico Villanueva, Larry Fonacier, Bajjie Del Rosario, Epok Quimpo and Sonny Tadeo.

This batch of Blue Eagles went to two UAAP juniors finals, winning one.

This team had the most number of homegrown players since 30 years ago when Ateneo won with Jay Gayoso, Jun Reyes, Jet Nieto, Joseph Canlas, Olsen Racela, Danny Francisco, Alex Araneta, Albert Mendoza and Jun Oledan (who won championships in the juniors division).

The American coach

Incredibly, Ateneo has had so much success with American coaches. Baldwin is the sixth American to lead the Blue Eagles to a championship.

Fr. James Martin, S.J. led Ateneo to its first ever NCAA title in 1928. Fr. Matthew Kane, S.J. led Ateneo to consecutive titles in 1931 and 1932 before Fr. Joseph Gieb, S.J. completed the first three-peat in 1933.

Then in 1961, Bill Russell’s former University of San Francisco teammate, Al Dunbar, coached the Blue Eagles to the championship.

And of course, there is the St. Joseph’s (a Jesuit school in Philadelphia) product Norman Black, who led Ateneo to a five-peat. And Norman is a legitimate NBA alumnus, having played with the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Bullets (in a summer league).

Now, there’s Tab Baldwin, who has made a name for turning programs around and for stopping big-name centers.

When Baldwin was coaching Lebanon, his team’s defense on Philippine center Asi Taulava in the 2010 Stankovic Cup was crucial. Asi finished with five points and Lebanon squeaked past the Filipinos, 81-80, to enter the title game (which they won).

When Baldwin was coaching the Philippines during the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships, Gilas Pilipinas held longtime nemesis, Iranian center Hamed Haddadi, to 10 points as the nationals posted an 87-73 win.

This past UAAP season — has any team defended Ben Mbala better than Ateneo? 

The man knows his set plays and then some. The triple by Anton Asistio to close out the first half of Game Three? Followed to the letter. The triple by Isaac Go that extended Ateneo’s lead to five points in the waning seconds — followed to the letter. As Baldwin said during the huddle, “I want you to follow my directions.”

When Baldwin first joined Ateneo…. his system was unlike that was run during the five-peat. He broke down everyone’s game to their bare essentials. It was a return to the fundamentals, which he felt was sorely lacking. During the summer when it was traditionally a time for the team to have pocketed some serious game experience, it was the opposite. That was when they were learning. Sure, the academic calendar had changed since the time of the five-peat, but the man knew what he was doing.

This year… the Blue Eagles played the most beautiful basketball in any collegiate league or even pro league in the country. I can only wonder what the national team would be like if Tab had more time to work on it.

The Riddle of the Man in the Middle

Ateneo has always had those great centers — Danny Francisco, Enrico Villanueva, Rabeh Al-Hussaini and Greg Slaughter donned the colors in the UAAP. This team had Chibueze Ikeh, who was often derided for his poor and inconsistent play. That is until this season.

We said last Season 79 that Ateneo would book a place in the finals, but La Salle would win it. I thought they weren’t ready and that for them to ascend once more to college basketball’s equivalent of Mount Olympus, Chibueze Ikeh must play well.

About six weeks before the start of this Season 80, Ateneo and Ikeh began to play very well. If the last sight of basketball observers was the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup, then they would have never guessed the turnaround. But the time after — boot camp, training abroad and well, finally getting Baldwin’s system was crucial. I recall Matt Nieto telling me that Ikeh’s turnovers were fewer and he had begun to play better. I saw a few of their games and was very much impressed. I told myself, they are going to ambush a lot of teams, La Salle included.

And Ikeh saved the best for last — 12 points, 13 rebounds, including eight off the offensive glass, two assists, one steal and two blocks versus one turnover. He somewhat neutralized the great Mbala, and that was the huge difference because I think the Blue Eagles have a more balanced local crew.

The master of the play

Everyone talks about that game-winning layup by Doug Kramer in Game One of the 2006 finals that UST ultimately won. Baldwin has been the master of execution as he has masterminded many plays.

In Game Three, two crucial plays say a lot of that clutch magic.

There was Anton Asistio’s shot that ended the first half to give Ateneo a 45-38 lead. And there of course, was that play where Thirdy Ravena drove hard that collapsed La Salle’s defense and left Isaac Go wide open for the cushion in the end game.

The da?gger three

Speaking of triples, it has been a big part of Ateneo’s game and the bane for La Salle.

Ateneo led the league in triples made for the season with 158 and a league-best 33.4 percent. That’s 27 more than the next best team, La Salle. 

So how can it be the bane of the Green Archers if they were second in 3-point shooting?

Dating back to the FilOil Flying V Premier Cup to their infamous rumble with FEU in Davao and all the way to this UAAP season…. Each time they were hit by eight or more triples, they lost. Check it out — JRU, San Beda, Ateneo, FEU, UP… This is something I shared with the Ateneo coaching staff prior to the first round game. Now we can tell the tale. 

Their perimeter defense was suspect, which I found weird since they had Ben Mbala. Sure they were trying to protect him but still. Now the sole exception was the Final Four match against Adamson.

In Game Three, the game analysts mentioned that Ateneo kept attacking La Salle inside. Well, yes, that was it. But one reason their defense was stretched was that they were wary of Ateneo’s outside shooters. 

And that leads me to the last tidbit.

A case of déjà vu

Thirty years ago, in 1987 to be exact, Ateneo found itself down by 20 in the championship game against UE. Then Jet Nieto, the father of twins Mike and Matt, fired a triple with eight minutes left that ignited a searing rally that saw Ateneo cop its first UAAP crown.

Fast forward to 2017. With 7:14 left in the game, Thirdy Ravena showed his desire to win the game as he jumped higher than everyone else to secure the offensive rebound. As soon as he landed, he fired the ball to an open Matt Nieto, who didn’t hesitate in firing a triple. 

Bang. 71-68, Ateneo with 7:10 left. Asistio later added a triple for a huge six-point lead that swung the momentum Ateneo’s way and its ninth UAAP championship and 23rd overall (including the 14 won in the NCAA).