Black gets job done

By Jonas Terrado - Manila Bulletin - September 27, 2008

It took him four years, but Norman Black got the job done.

In 2004, Black, a multi-titled coach in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), accepted an offer to handle Ateneo de Manila a challenge he accepted despite the fact that he has not coached a collegiate team before.

"This has been probably a tougher, longer struggle," said Black after steering the Eagles to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) last Thursday.

Owner of 10 PBA titles, including nine with San Miguel Beer, Black was given high expectations by the Ateneo community to deliver a championship.

But as disappointments began to pile up, Black’s future with Ateneo became untenable.

The pressure increased ten-fold when the Eagles lost to La Salle in the playoffs last year despite sweeping their elimination matches.

Ateneo edged La Salle, 3-2, last season, but the Archers won when it mattered most and eventually crowned themselves champions.

Black said his four years with Ateneo was a learning experience, but gave him a lot of satisfaction.

"It’s a different brand of basketball in college but I think more importantly, the most satisfying thing is just watching the players grow, watching them improve and as they improve, the team improves and the team gets better," he said.

It helps that Black has probably one of the best and heftiest UAAP teams since the University of Santo Tomas frontline of Dennis Espino, Chris Cantonjos and Estong Ballesteros won a four-peat during the mid-1990’s.

Ateneo ended the season with a combined 16-1 record, including a four-game sweep of La Salle.

Led by Most Valuable Player Rabeh Al-Hussaini, the Blue Eagles also had the likes of 6-4 Nonoy Baclao, the eventual Finals MVP, and other decent big men in rookie Nico Salva and veterans Mike Baldos and Jobe Nkemakolam.

Ateneo led the league with 4.6 blocks a game, thanks to Baclao’s 2.6 swats a game in the elimination and 5.5 rejections during the finals series against the Green Archers.

The Blue Eagles also allowed the fewest points in the league at 62.3 points a game.

Height was not the only factor as guards Chris Tiu, Eric Salamat, Jai Reyes and Rookie of the Year small forward Ryan Buenafe provided help on both ends.

"We were pretty intelligent this year," Black said. "We could actually execute defensive strategies that I’ve never been able to execute from my other teams in Ateneo because the guys were very good at taking in whatever we wanted to do as far as strategy is concern."

He added: "We had games were we had four different pick and roll defenses for four different people and they were still able to execute it so a lot of credit goes to the players being dedicated to defense being able to understand what exactly the coaching staff wanted them to do."

Only two players from Ateneo Chris Tiu and Yuri Escueta -- will be gone for next season.

Black said he was glad that Tiu opted to play his fifth season.

"You know college basketball, particularly in Ateneo, when you win a championship you’ll be remembered forever they still remember the championship teams and the guys who won those championships are still looked upon being somewhat like idols so I’m happy for Chris that he came back and win the championship," he said.

Black, whose contract is expected to be extended, is losing no time to prepare his team for next season.

Several players are being eyed by the Loyola-based campus with San Sebastian juniors standout Arvie Bringas and former RP Youth member Jeric Teng among the top prospects.

Ateneo will also make a quick return to the court as well.

The Eagles are contemplating on joining the UNIGAMES in Dumaguete next month before defending their Philippine Collegiate Championship.