ADMU-FEU: Repeat or redeem

MANILA, Philippines - Ateneo looks “four-ward” to extending its dynasty and fittingly capping a dominating season against a Far Eastern side peaking just at the right time to launch another attempt to seize the crown and make amends for last year’s blown opportunity.

The Blue Eagles, 13-1 in the elims and first to secure a finals ticket after maximizing their twice-to-beat advantage against Final Four opponent Santo Tomas, and the No. 3 Tams, 7-1 in their last eight games and winner over No. 2 Adamson twice over, kick off their duel for the UAAP Season 74 men’s hoops diadem today.

“I think it’s gonna be a good series,” said Ateneo coach Norman Black of the best-of-three-series that begins at 3 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“And I say that from the heart because if you watch them (FEU) play the last four, five games, they’re not the same team (that played the first round). I’m always talking about improving in the course of the league to be successful and FEU has improved and now has the momentum,” he added.

The barrelling Tams are also on a mission: Redeem themselves from last year’s debacle.

“The players have something to prove, I can see in their eyes that want to win,” said Bert Flores, whose wards were top seed and favorites in Season 73 until they got blown away by Ateneo in the finals opener, 49-72, and eventually lost Game 2, 62-65.

Then a consultant, Flores was elevated back to head coaching following the resignation of Glen Capacio in the aftermath of the 2010 finals.  Flores steered FEU to its last diadem in 2005, with a team led by Arwind Santos.

“I’m also pressured to deliver. They said they brought me back since I won FEU’s last championship. I’m thankful that injuries and all, we reached the finals. Just have to stay positive, still have work to do,” said Flores.

Ateneo has beaten FEU in their two meetings this year, 69-49 and 74-67, but Black insists that won’t gauge how the series will go, especially looking at how the Tams regrouped in Round 2 and extinguished Adamson’s twice-to-beat advantage in the semis.

“When FEU played Adamson, they have a lot of energy, they were very aggressive defensively and they really ran on every opportunity. You can say FEU is displaying a lot of energy and that’s something we have to match and surpass if we want to win,” said Black.

The Tams will lean on guards RR Garcia, Terrence Romeo, Cris Michael Tolomia to fuel their offense, something which Eagles Kirk Long, Emman Monfort, and Kiefer Ravena would have to counter.

“The key to this team (FEU) is the production of RR and the complementary factor of Tolomia and Romeo,” said Black, expressing confidence in his defensively competent backcourt.

Ateneo, though, relishes a huge edge in the frontline, with 6-11 Greg Slaughter as anchor, against a relatively “undersized” and lanky FEU bigs led by Aldrech Ramos and Russel Escoto.

“We normally go inside-out. We utilize Greg’s presence inside to force the other teams to collapse  and double against him,” he said of their leading scorer (13.3) rebounder (9.4) and shot blocker (1.9).

“At the same time, we’ve been balanced the entire year. Greg’s not really dominating the game offensively because he’s willing to pass the basketball to his teammates.”

Stopping Slaughter would be a must-do for FEU. Same with Ravena, Nico Salva, Long and Monfort.

“Stop Slaughter, limit his touches in the paint. My big men should match up with him. If only I can make Ramos and Escoto instantly bulky by giving them spinach,” said a half-joking Flores, who may use injured frontliners Pippo Noundou (achilles) and Christian Sentcheu (foot) if need be.

“It’s gonna be tough because Ateneo’s playing with excellent ball movement, having been together for some time. And you have to stop five of their players. But if we just work hard, prepare a good gameplan, stick to it and execute it well, play good defense, I think we might have a chance,” he said.

Ateneo seeks to become only the third team to win four consecutive crowns in the Final Four era after University of Santo Tomas (1993-96) and La Salle (1998-2001). FEU aims to be fourth No. 3 seed to topple a No.1 and capture the title after UST did the trick against La Salle (‘94) and Ateneo (2006) and the Eagles themselves upstaged La Salle in 2002.

The Eagles and the Tams are 1-1 head-to-head in championship showdowns, with FEU prevailing in 2003, and Ateneo besting FEU last year.