Ateneo-La Salle war on

By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - September 22, 2008

After a weeklong rest, arch-rivals Ateneo and De La Salle finally collide when the UAAP basketball finals unfold today before an expected mammoth crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

In a duel that hasn’t been seen since 2002, both teams are eager to go back into the court after days of preparation and hype that surrounded their highly-anticipated matchup.

Although the series is expected to go the full distance, it seems the Blue Eagles have the distinct advantage over the Green Archers, especially after winning their two matches during the elimination round.

Ateneo captured their first victory of the season at La Salle’s expense last July 6, 79-73, in a see-saw game that saw a controversial technical foul called on La Salle coach Franz Pumaren even before tipoff for failing to wear an ID.

They continued their convincing display over the Taft-based cagers, 65-57, as Ateneo stormed to a 14-2 start and eventually stopped a fourth-quarter run by La Salle.

The Loyola-based squad appears to hold a decisive advantage in the series by owning the deepest lineup in the league this season.

Aside from Most Valuable Player candidate Rabeh Al-Hussaini and team captain Chris Tiu, the Blue Eagles also have role players such as Rookie of the Year hopeful Ryan Buenafe, guard Eric Salamat and big man Nonoy Baclao.

Blue Eagles mentor Norman Black will also tap the services of point guard Jai Reyes, who has been making decent role-playing duties this season.

Reyes, who is on his fourth season with the team, was a key guy who held La Salle’s JV Casio to just five points on 2-of-16 shooting during their second meeting.

"Jai is basically the guy who’s running the team," said Black. "He is the quarterback on the court, he has improved a lot over the course of the league and he’s done a pretty good job for us. He’s been shooting a lot better lately."

For Pumaren, aside from Casio and Rico Maierhofer, who has been used primarily in a reserve role for much of the season, DLSU is keen on its other role players – James Mangahas, Peejay Barua and point guard Simon Atkins.

"These guys can’t really be classified as great one-on-one players who can really dictate the tempo of the game," Pumaren said.

"But one thing natural about them is they know their specific roles and that goes to our advantage. Because if you look at our team, we thrive on working as one unit because we don’t have the depth and we don’t have the size. So for us to at least compete with the other teams, especially now with Ateneo, we really have to help each other," he added.

But the limelight could go down on Tiu and Casio, the two primary faces of the two teams. Both players, who have been with the team since 2003, are hoping to end their college careers with a bang by winning a championship.

"I think the two guys are probably the faces of the team," Black said. "When you look at the telecast and it’s Ateneo and La Salle, the first faces you see are Chris Tiu and JV Casio so they are probably the two best players of each team."

"The two names will come up every time you mention the two teams," said Pumaren. "They are the leaders of both teams and this is their last season."

With the previous two games graced by an average crowd of 22,000 fans, security is expected to be beefed up at the Big Dome while authorities will have a close monitoring of scalpers who will try to sell tickets at skyrocket prices.