Ateneo, Black mahihirapan sa 3-peat

MANILA, Philippines - Matapos ang pinakamalaking araw para sa Ateneo na naglilok ng back to back championship sa liga, kalungkutan naman ang nararamdaman ni Ateneo coach Norman Black sa paglisan ng 3 players ng grupo.

Sa huling taon ng kanilang laban para sa Blue Eagles, binuhos ni Finals MVP Rabeh Al -Hussaini ang buong pwersa, katuwang sina Jai Reyes at Nonoy Baclao upang iuwi ang kampeonato.

 “We’re not sure but we have some guys in team who are joining us next year, they’re good players. We’ll probably not lose much as far as size is concerned, we will be just as tall,” wika ni Ateneo coach Norman Black, pagkatapos ng misa na ginanap sa Loyola campus pagkatapos masungkit ang panalo laban sa Univeristy of the East.

“Of course we’ll lose talent and experience. I will not predict like I did last year that we’ll probably be better than we were last year because I’m not sure. But we’ll be good next year, we have a good team, we’ll just be a final four contender,” positibong pahayag ni Black na nag-aasam ng three peat.

Bagamat mawawala na ang 3 sa mga susunod na laban, lilinangin ni Black ang mga rookie na sina Justin Chua at Nico Salva para pagharian muli ang naturang torneo.

“The guys really have work ethic, they get in there and they really worked on their games so they’ll be looking forward to improve between now and next year,” dagdag pa nito.

Sinabi ni Black na mas mahirap ang season ngayon kaysa noong isang taon makaraang magtapos si Chris Tiu.

“It’s been very difficult this year, probably more difficult than last year and I’ll probably say that’s because Chris Tiu did the lot of leadership work last year. I had to do a lot of leadership work this year compared to last year,” aniya. (Sarie Nerine Francisco)