No crowd, no rivalry?: UAAP: NU vs FEU may be the best yet

MANILA, Philippines - This titular duel may not have the storied rivalry or built-in crowd support of the opponents they vanquished in the UAAP Season 77 men’s basketball Final Four but Far Eastern U coach Nash Racela believes his Tams and the hungry National U Bulldogs could offer one that’s as highly-competitive and well-attended.

In fact, Racela described the FEU-NU clash as “the best thing that ever happened to the UAAP” as it gets to showcase that teams outside regular finals players La Salle and Ateneo could also bring in the crowd.

“I’ve been vocal about it kasi I realized last year lang  na yung Ateneo and La Salle are always in the finals since 1993. I think this is the best thing that ever happened to the UAAP, having FEU and NU in the finals,” Racela said.

The FEU community ably filled their part of the Big Dome Wednesday night matching the green side cheer for cheer as the Tams dethroned the Archers, 67-64, behind Mac Belo’s buzzer-beater of a trey.

The NU supporters did the same against Ateneo in the first game, when the Bulldogs completed their two-game reversal of the top seeded Eagles, 65-63.

“Today was the biggest crowd we’ve witnessed sa FEU; ako personally surprised kasi kaya pala namin (we can bring in the crowd). We’re hoping pagdating sa finals ganoon din ang suporta nila (the support will be the same come finals),” said Racela.

“It’s so overwhelming, nakakatayo ng balahibo seeing the crowd, the support of the NU community. Nagpapasalamat kami, para sa kanila ito, although hindi pa tapos. Andito na kami so itutuloy-tuloy na namin ito (We’re thankful to the NU community, this one is for them. But the job isn’t done; now that we’re in the finals, we’ll try to go all the way),” said NU’s Eric Altamirano.

Competitive-wise, FEU and NU are expected to deliver. After all, this is a showdown of teams that toppled the No. 1 team and booted the titleholders. Of protagonists hungry for title and recognition.

The Bulldogs haven’t been in the finals since 1970 and they haven’t tasted a championship since 1954. The Tams haven’t captured the crown since 2005 and their last two appearances in the finals (2010 and 2011) ended in disaster.

“We’ve broken our ‘Jericho walls’ and now we’re near the Promised Land. We’re going to really prepare and do what we do. What got us to this point will get us to a higher level – if we have to win with our defense, with sharing the ball, that’s what we’ll do,” said Altamirano.

Four mainstays of the Tams – Mike Tolomia, Roger Pogoy, Carl Cruz, and Russel Escoto – have previously been in the finals but saw little action back then.

“This will be the first time for most of us, even for the coaching staff,” said Racela.