Final Four too close to call

Regardless of the pairings, the Final Four of this year’s UAAP, scheduled to start on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum, is definitely anybody’s ballgame.

Not even the twice-to-beat advantage that goes to the top two teams after the eliminations is enough assurance that they would make it to the best-of-three finals.

In the Final Four are Ateneo, University of the East, Santo Tomas and Adamson. Ateneo and UE have clinched the top two spots while UST and Adamson will dispute the third spot in a playoff on Thursday.

In the Final Four, it will be No. 1 vs No. 4 and No. 2 vs No. 3.

Coach Norman Black of Ateneo, arguably the hottest team in the UAAP this year, said in yesterday’s PSA Forum that being No. 1 in the eliminations is just the first step toward winning the title.

"At the start of the year we set goals. The first is to land in the top two after the elims, and the second is to take advantage of the twice-to-beat advantage," he said.

"We have to take advantage of that because if you become complacent and lose the first game, then the advantage goes out of the window," he said.

Asked which team he’d prefer to meet in the Final Four, Black said it’s not for him to choose. What’s really on his mind is how to steer the Blue Eagles to victory whoever the opponent is.

"We’ve played all these teams in the elims and they’re all tough. You should always be careful of what you wish for," said the champion coach in the PBA who’s stayed in the Philippines since 1981.

Joining Black in the forum are fellow PBA veterans Pido Jarencio, now head coach of UST, Leo Austria, now calling the shots for Adamson, and Gido Babilonia, assistant coach to Dindo Pumaren at UE.

The other coaches took their turn airing their expectations for the crucial stages of the 2006 season.

"Pare-parehong malakas. And we have nothing to lose now because in the previous years, we’ve placed sixth, seventh or eighth," said Jarencio.

For his part, Austria said he’d try to make the most of what could be his first and last year as Adamson coach.

"I’m happy with what’s happening to Adamson right now, considering that it’s the first time that it has reached the Final Four," said Austria, the 1986 top rookie in the PBA who might move on as Welcoat coach.

Pumaren begged off due to a previous commitment, but Babilonia took the cudgels, saying it’s better to be in the top two than in the lower half of the semis.

"The last two years UE was at the bottom of the Final Four , now we’re looking good at No. 2 So, even if we lose the first match, we still have a chance," Babilonia said.