UAAP: Ateneo looms as top bet

MANILA, Philippines — It’s Ateneo de Manila then everybody else as the mighty Blue Eagles have been tagged as the “obvious” team to beat when the 82nd UAAP basketball tournament gets going Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The coaches were unanimous in hailing the back-to-back champion from Katipunan as the consensus yardstick for this brand new season.

For them, it’s Ateneo’s season to lose.

“The team to beat is quite obvious already, it’s going to be Ateneo,” said mentor Franz Pumaren of Adamson which finished second behind the Blue Eagles in the elimination round last season only to lose steam against UP in the Final Four.

Fair enough, the Blue Eagles have whipped themselves into a kind of team looking well capable of chasing a three-peat feat.

With an intact core led by Gilas cadets Thirdy Ravena and Isaac Go, Ateneo ruled the historic 20-team PBA D-League tourney for a rousing UAAP build-up earlier this year before going on a country-hopping international camp in Greece, Singapore and Australia for the finishing touches in its preparation.

“It’s going to be Ateneo this year,” said FEU mentor Olsen Racela.

“Ateneo will be No. 1,” concurred NU coach Jamike Jarin.

Blue Eagles coach Tab Baldwin, however, played down the hype, saying all the other squads are tough contenders with their beefed-up rosters.

“I know expectations are high for our team. But it is our job to come out with our best basketball that we can and continue to promote our players for their future careers. I’m sure, it will be a tough challenge for us against all the other teams,” said the veteran tactician.

Baldwin feels the toughest threat could be the Adamson Falcons.

The rest of the coaches also consider Adamson a chief contender, with the Falcons out for redemption  after blowing a chance to get a hand on the Eagles  last season following their painful Final Four loss to the UP Maroons.

“For us, it’s pretty simple, it’s Adamson because they’re the next team. I don’t want to be caught up in trying to predict who’s gonna be the top teams. We have a job to do. And it starts on Wednesday so it’s not gonna be easy for anybody,” said Baldwin as Ateneo begins its three-peat quest against Adamson at the Big Dome. 

“Adamson is a very close second,” said Jarin on the Falcons who will field a formidable lineup led by spitfire gunner Jerrick Ahanmisi together with Jerom Lastimosa, Simon Camacho and Jonathan Espeleta.

Then there’s UP which made tremendous effort to bolster its squad with the “best recruitment class” in a bid to prove that its finals run last year was not a fluke.