MANILA, Philippines - Pride and bragging rights will be there for the taking as college basketball’s most compelling rivalry in Ateneo and La Salle get it on one more time tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The two schools’ outstanding products who have graduated to the pro league square off in the “Blue vs Green: Dream Game 2012,” set at 6 p.m. at the Big Dome.
The bitter rivals fought to a 90-90 standoff the last time they were pitted in a fund-raising special game in 2008. Three years earlier, Enrico Villanueva hit the game winning three-pointer in Ateneo’s 88-85 win in another dream game marred by a fight between Villanueva and Joseph Yeo.
Villanueva and Yeo are again suiting up again for their respective schools in this charity match presented by the PBA in cooperation with Mastermind Entertainment for the benefit of young cancer patients of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).
Japeth Aguilar, Noy Baclao, Doug Kramer, Rabeh Al-Hussaini, LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, J.C. Intal, Wesley Gonzales, Magnum Membrere, Eric Salamat, Rich Alvarez, and Paolo Bugia are listed in the Blue team.
Joining Yeo on the Green bench are JV Casio, Mike Cortez, Mac Cardona, RenRen Ritualo, TY Tang, Ryan Arana, Don Allado, Rico Maierhoffer, Carlo Sharma, Jerwin Gaco, Willie Wilson and JR Aquino.
Coach Norman Black calls the shot for the Blue team while coach Franz Pumaren holds the rein for the Green squad.
Black and his team held two practices for the game which the Ateneo coach expects to be “fun and yet competitive.”
“As much as possible I want to give each guy a decent playing minute, but since we only have LA Tenorio, and perhaps Eric Salamat, as our point guard, then I think LA will have to do a lot of playing,” said Black, who steered the Eagles to a fourth straight UAAP men’s basketball championship last year.
The Green Archers, on the other hand, played together as a team just once, although Pumaren doesn’t see any problem as far as cohesion is concerned.
“All of these players have, one time or another, played under me. They’re well familiar with one another,” said Pumaren, who, in his decade-long stint with La Salle, steered the school to five championships, including four in a row from 1998 to 2001.
Aside from playing for charity, both coaches agreed that the exhibition game will also be a chance for players to reconnect with each other and reminisce the good old days.
“It’s for a good cause, it’s for school pride, and at the same time, a reunion for the players,” said Pumaren.
“The players will definitely have fun out there since this will be like a reunion for them,” said Black.